Jark

I would just get the tank going and see if you have problems down the line and worry about it then.

For later, check out the fertilizer section in the forums. There are some stickies of what different holes, coloration, and deformities can indicate.

Check out your tap water details. The city or water company should release a water report about once a year or more. It will have details on Mg, K, Ca,..... I found it helpful.

I' not sure about pure calcium carbonate, as I haven't used it. I have used crushed corral (which I guess is mostly calcium carbonate) and in my case the little I had under the soil didn't break down fast enough to keep up with the plants demands. The tank was very packs and vals seem to need a little extra calcium. Seachem equilibrium or Tom Barr's GH booster helped out for me.

Qwedfg

I checked around the web and it seems my town does not list all its parameters http://www.northkingstown.org/sites/...%20%282%29.pdf . I believe what I am using is crushed coral as well unfortunately it doesnt seem its going to help much. Would I be able to test Mg and Ca using a salt water kit?

edit

I was just reading your 55 g thread... How is your HC doing? I just planted a bunch in this tank that I had in a emersed set up for a while. I am planning on at least using half doses of excel daily (i have read cherries can handle excel ok). How much light do you think would be appropriate over a 2 gallon? Right now I just have the standard led light that comes with the evolve but its pretty wimpy. I was thinking around a 10w CFL but Im not sure if thats too much. My tank pretty much gets indirect light all day as its near a window.

Jark

I'm not sure about the evolve tank. I had run across some threads a few days ago where people were liking them for low light tanks. Search around this forum or theplantedtank forums you might find a group of people trying them if you haven't already.

See if you can find other people using the evolve tank and see if they needed extra light. I would say 10-13w spiral bulb would be enough for a 2 gallon depending on how high above the tank you have the light. Over my 5g tank I have a 10W bulb that is a few inches over the water. It also gets some light from the room which have bright lab lighting and a little from a window with the shades mostly closed.

The 55g has been retired. After the drystart and I flooded the tank the HC didn't do well. It eventually died out, but the marsilea took over and replaced it. If you want a foreground plant for low light/tech tanks look into marsilea. It starts out very slow but once it the main runners branch it goes exponential. I will grow under things that you will have no idea how it is getting any light.

Qwedfg

Thanks for the reply! Too bad about your 55 it was really nice. I will definitely look into marsilea if this hc doesnt grow. I split it up into small portions and spread it all over my substrate. I have to say I am pretty impressed with myself as I was able to do it with my tank flooded! I found this thread http://www.barrreport.com/showthread...Compressed-CO2 where someone had great success with HC with 15w lighting, AS substrate and 1 mL of Excel every other day. I just went out and bought a 15w CFL that is about 3-4 inches above my water line (I bought a 10w as well just incase I start seeing algae). I have been dosing 6 drops of excel per day for the last couple days. Hopefully it will work out.