The Cookie Crew

Tell you what guys, I used TNC Carbon for what was just a fraction over one month - maybe 5 weeks - and the plants have gone ballistic now...  aquatic jungle city...!!!   

I've only ever tried the TNC Carbon Matt and so, alas, am unable to give a comparison verdict etc...   

TNC's recommended dose is 1ml per 50 litres, per day...  My tank holds an estimated 150 litres of water, after allowing for substrate and decorations etc, and so a full daily dose would be 3ml...

My regime was to slowly build up to 2ml per day and then eventually drop that back down to 1ml per day and finally stop completely...  So, at the highest level, I was still only on two thirds of the recommended daily dose... 

What I have noticed both times I've used liquid carbon is that you don't necessarily notice much difference initially, and then after a little while things take off nicely...  I would imagine that it may be different from tank to tank according to set up, plant levels and nutrients etc... 

Ditto Dave...  I dunno the answer though...

Flourish Excel contains polycycloglutaracetal which is a polymerised isomer of glutaraldehyde.
TNC carbon contains glutaraldehyde. This is from The Nutrient Company's website

Contains :- 2% Gluteraldahyde

If there are any other 'liquid carbon' products I'll see if I can find what's in those.

You may well be on the brink of a growth explosion Helen...  Well, "explosion" is an exaggeration, but don't be surprised if growth rates do start to increase any day now... 

Worth considering one of those potassium test kits Helen...  I was convinced my K was lacking and came very close to supplementing with Seachem Potassium...  Turned out that the Potassium levels were fine in the end... 

It would be remiss of me to not admit that I did exactly the same Helen...  Bought the kit, then didn't use it for a good while...  Glad I did in the end though... 

I've had my first fish fatality...       One of the eleven Cardinal Tetras was found floating, brown bread, the evening of the same day I did a water change...  No signs of anything wrong with him/her, just an apparently random death... 

Parameters all checked of course and absolutely no change in any department: 0-0-5

Dunno if the death is related to the water change somehow - Severn Trent have issued a low water stock warning, so I dunno if that may mean that the new water could have included something "from the dregs" kinda thing, although that's hard to imagine... 

Sorry to hear about your loss.
Unfortunately sometimes these things happen, an an unexplained loss can be frustrating.

Thanks guys... 

I'm more perplexed than I am upset, kinda thing...  There was no sign of anything wrong whatsoever...  Being one of eleven, sorta softens the blow a bit - I would be more upset had it been my lone BN Pleco or one of my four Cories etc... 

The Oto Cats all seem fine and from what I've understood, they're a great barometer for potential issues, so this and the water test results assure me that it is more likely to be a random death...  My one concern is that the one Platy I have can be a bit of a bully at times, so perhaps there is a chance that he's had something to do with this...?