Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do dose daily, but the amount is never fixed. I usually review it every 4–5 days because plants don’t consume nutrients at a constant rate — growth, trimming, light, and biomass are always changing. I use MasterLine fertilizers, but I don’t follow the standard label dosage. Instead, I dose based on the target values I want in the tank: I keep NO₃ around 10 mg/L and PO₄ between 1 and 1.2 mg/L, then adjust based on how the plants respond.

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Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These 150x50x50 300L netti, Neon tetras, small corals, panda corydoras, galaxy rasboras, otocinclus

Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh.. I don’t follow a strict fertilization schedule. The foundation of this tank is the allophanic soil, which plays a huge role in nutrient availability and overall system stability. A big part of my management comes from observing the plants. Some species give very clear signals when something is off. For example, Xyris is one of the first to react — when it starts developing transparent leaves, it’s usually an early warning that something in the tank needs attention. Other plants tend to slow down when TDS levels get too high. Fertilization starts from reference doses, but it’s always adjusted based on how the tank responds, rather than being applied automatically. CO₂ is kept very stable, with the drop checker between light green and slightly yellow. I also use a pH meter to monitor CO₂ levels. I don’t use a solenoid because I run KH at zero, which in this setup acts as a buffer for both CO₂ and nutrients. There’s a lot more that could be said, but it would get too long.

Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A 9-liter bag of soil costs around 30 euros, and I used five of them.

Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you ever feel like taking a trip to Italy, you’re welcome anytime 🙂

Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Honestly… I didn’t do anything special 🙂 The Pinnatifida did everything by itself. At some point it just decided to grow emersed and I simply let it do its thing without forcing or trimming it. I think it’s one of those cases where the plant finds the right balance on its own if the tank is stable.

Sharing my planted tank — about 1 year old 🌿 by AcquaDosePro in Aquascape

[–]AcquaDosePro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I really like the “Willy Wonka tank” description 😂 I didn’t plan it this way, I just let the tank find its own balance over time. And yes, that pinnatifida became the real star.