Should I use fertilizer... and ? about water sprite

[dwayne]

Should I use any type of fertilizer in my tank? I have one sword plant, some java moss tied to a clay pot, and a java fern attached (by fishing line) to driftwood.

The sword is definately growing great, I just cut off a long stem that had 2 babies growing off the top of it... it's hard to tell what the moss is doing, but it's still green, so I guess it's healthy... the fern is still green too, and growing a little taller... My pleco LOVES to chew on the sword plant (so much so that I had to cut off 3 leaves this weekend that were just the 'veins' left).

Do I need any type of fertilizer?

Also, I really like the looks of water sprite (someone has it posted a few threads up)... is this a low maintenance/low lighting plant? I just have a regular bulb - nothing at all fancy... it's on from 7am-ish until 8pm-ish.

As always, thanks in advance!
~Tara

[Somethingsfishy]

Dosing the tank with some Flourish would definately make them grow faster.....but that's up to you..It would definately make them look more green and healthy. About the Water Sprite it should be fine. If you have at least 1 wpg it should do well :) GL

HTH

[dwayne]

Thanks!! Is there anything I should know about the fertilizers (will they cause a ph crash? GH and KH are very low - like 2 drops)...

~Tara

[ChicoRaton]

ferts shouldn't cause a ph crash, but CO2 will if you use it. be sure to oharden your water before using CO2.

If you use fertilizer, you probably won't need to dose macronutrients with that low of a plant load, so get something that has K and micronutrients/traces. Flourish would be good. hth

[dwayne]

Flourish, I think I remember seeing that at petsmart last week... so that will not cause a ph crash, that's good to know. I had it in my hands and put it down because I was worried... I'm not a chemist, but from what I gather my gh and kh parameters being so low (soft water, I think) can make me susceptible to a ph crash.

Something like this: (link didn't work)
"Seachem Flourish 500 ml
Flourish is a growth stimulator for aquarium plant stems and leaves. It contains a broad spectrum of essential trace elements, vitamins, and amino acids. Flourish is rich in gluconate iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, potassium, inositol, chlorine b12, biotin, and other factors that have been determined to be beneficial to aquatic plants. It contains no phosphate or nitrate or other fertilizers that would promote algae proliferation. A 100 ml bottle treats up to 5,000 gallons. It is also beneficial for household plants. Guaranteed analysis."

I remember seeing this at petsmart...

thanks again!

~Tara

[Somethingsfishy]

Yup GL hope the plants do well :)

[djlen]

Tara-
Your water will be unaffected by dosing nutrients(pH,gH,kH-wise).
However, I would dose Flourish and anything else at 1/4 - 1/2 strength, and watch the plant's response before increasing.
You report good growth at present. Depending on your fish load, you may or may not need much nutrient dosing.
IMO, keep it simple and light unless you see a need for more.

Len

[dwayne]

Awesome, thanks guys! I get paid Thursday (i think :) ) and will head to petsmart for some flourish!

~Tara

[happychem]

Sound advice from Len. As always when adding anything to your tank, start small and work up.

Always keep in mind that it's much easier to add more if more is needed than it is to remove the excess.

[dwayne]

Thanks Happy. In reading some other posts about plants, both in this forum and the general fresh, I realized that my ferns are NOT dying, they're just slow growers... I kind of knew they weren't dying, since the leaves are green (very dark green, but definately not dead), but was worried because they weren't growing at all.

I'm still going to get the flourish this week though, and will heed len's advice of dosing 1/3 to 1/4, wait a week or so and see what happens.

Thanks guys! :p

~Tara

[happychem]

Java fern was the first plant I ever owned. It didn't grow very well, basically, it grew fast enough to replace the leaves that were dieing and/or being cut off because of the bba that seemed to flourish on them. Finally, when I added some fast growing stems, CO2 and better lighting (this was on my 10g, towards the last few months that it was really an active tank), it took off. Now in my 33g, it's one of my favourite plants and grows very well for me.

I think that part of growing this plant is just giving it some time to settle in and having some other plants around to absorb excess nutrients, since it's not particularly fast growing.