# 3-week vacation, high tech tank. Expert opinions please.



## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

Current system:

AI 90P tank
High light LED fixture on full blast for 10h/day
30 small rasboras and tetras
100+ RCS
EI dosing

The plan to keep it alive over 3 weeks:

Reduce feeding to once-a-week
Reduce EI dosing to "regular" dosing described here.
Reduce CO2 (now yellow-lime, make it more green/30ppm)
Reduce LED intensity slightly and reduce photoperiod to 6-7h

I will have a friend come in twice to feed, dose, and top up the water. I can teach him how to do a water change with the python but would rather not if I don't have to.

What do you think? Will it survive? What should I expect? What should I change?

I also have a UG carpet, and am wondering if this will be overcome by algae or detach itself from 3 weeks of lower-than-usual light and fertilizer. Am I worrying needlessly here?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

3 weeks is a long time...

Feedings are fine.

Your reduced dosing is fine (essentially, you are dosing EI at 1/3)

CO2 is fine.

LED intensity I would also reduce. 6 hours is probably plenty; I am not sure how much you are reducing the intensity by, but it is definitely a start.

At 3 weeks, your plants will probably be a bit leggy. Growth might be a bit stunted and some more sensitive plants might melt back.

The UG carpet might detach if it gets leggy enough.

Algae is another concern, but hard to say what might happen.


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

Thanks for the reply,

I am not too worried about plants getting leggy. I know my red plants will probably go green, but they're easy to bounce back. What I am really concerned about is the UG carpet though, because I've already struggled with it a lot. I am going to mow it down before I leave so that as much light gets to the substrate level as possible, or would this just accelerate its demise? Otherwise I'll take the photoperiod down but keep the intensity close to what it is now.

I've had so much bad luck with carpets, this detaching would be the final straw, sand for me, next time hah.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Mow it down as close to the substrate as you can before you leave.

If you leave it thick, the top portions will prevent the lower (attached) portions from receiving light; they'll die and then it'll just float off (had that happen with my _Riccia fluitans_ carpet on more than one occassion).


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