Fertilizer Question

[Tyler718]

I've been doing some reading on fertilizers. I'm a little confused. How do you know what to add? How much to add? And how often you add? I'm on my first planted tank and this is the only thing I'm still trying to understand.

I have a 20 gal that is as follows:
Ph-7.1 (constant measurement at light turn on and at turn off)
KH- 7 dkh
CO2- 17ppm
NitrAte- 8-10 ppm
GH- 9 dgh
Photo Period- 9 hrs

Is there any other test kits that I should buy. A friend at the my lfs gave me these 3 bottles and want to make sure before I use them. He gave me Flourish Excel, Flourish Potassium, & Flourish. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dave

[plantbrain]

If your CO2 is 17ppm and you are adding CO2 gas (from DIY?), then Excel is not needed.

Trace= the flourish, this will help. Add 5mls 2x aweek.
Flourish potassium: Add enough to get 20ppm once a week.

Do 50% weekly water changes. Call tap water company, see what the PO4 is or if they add polyphosphates to their/your supply. If so, that will take care of the PO4 needs of the plants.

K2SO4 is cheaper than Flourish K+/potassium. 5$ worth would last 10 years, maybe more for all the K+ needs.
KNO3 can be added if the levels dips down below 5ppm. About the same cost as the K2SO4.

For some more info:
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/fert/est_index/est_index1.html

You'll spend much less time measuring and guessing if you do a simple routine.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Tyler718]

Thanks plantbrain!!:) You where able to explain everything that I read into something that I could understand.

Thanks for the help,
Dave

[plantbrain]

You know more than you think. It is evident in your initial post.
Regards,
Tom Barr

[wetmanNY]

With 50% water changes, I hope that fertilized fish water is going onto your garden.

[beviking]

Dug this up from the link in the sticky.

Why 50% water changes? And why weekly? My impression of having live plants is that they use up some nitrate so you have better water quality and may be able to do less than weekly water changes. I realize there is more to water quality (and chemistry) than nitrate, unfortunately I don't understand all the whats and whys. There must be something else going on?

[djlen]

beviking - I thought I was in a time warp or something when I looked at the dates on those posts. Don't do that to me anymore:) .
The best reason I've heard for doing weekly water changes is from Tom Barr. It will re-set your tank after a week of dosing.
When dosing ferts, some of us have a tendency to over fertilize or just plain make mistakes. There are some substances in what we put into our tanks that can be toxic if allowed to build up. Most Trace elements, for example, contain copper. This can accumulate in the water table and needs to be removed/diluted.

Some of us operate(dosage-wise) right on the edge and I personally feel the need to do a 30-50% change for my own peace of mind.
I also love to watch the fish during and after the water change. Mine obviously love it.......plants as well. My plants, IMO wouldn't grow as well without it. The 'clean' water also helps to curb algae, especially when combined with an occasional gravel vacuuming.
And it's an enjoyable activity for me.

Len

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by djlen
beviking - I thought I was in a time warp or something when I looked at the dates on those posts. Don't do that to me anymore:)

You are not the only one.:D This seemed so long ago.

Dave

[djlen]

Hey Tyler - how's that tank doing, 9 months later?

Seems like ages doesn't it!!??!!

Len

[plantbrain]

Time warp x3.
I said what? when?

Good frequent water changes= prevent anything from build up
Dosing regularly 2-3x a week prevents anything from running out

This maintains a good supply of nuttrients all the time for the plants.

It also removes any dissolved organic material and wood tannins and extra detritus/dead plant materials.

Do it and see what you think for 3-4 weeks.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[beviking]

Sorry for the jolt! I've yet to begin serious dosing and am comfortable doing bi-weekly water changes (though not opposed to weekly either). Mainly b/c I'm not heavily planted (not even moderately planted) and am not trying to get explosive growth.
Should I go moderately to heavily planted, is it possible to dose less, do bi-weekly water changes, keep the plants healthy (not necessarily growing at full potential) and have a healthy tank?

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by djlen
Hey Tyler - how's that tank doing, 9 months later?

Seems like ages doesn't it!!??!!

Len

Not to good, it's in the process of being started over again. :( I was deployed to Iraq in early May and didn't return until October.

My wife took care of our kids and all six of my tanks. She did a GREAT job, except with the planted tank. She felt so bad, but I figured that this would happen.

There is a plus side to this story though. She refers the tanks as HERS now. We are moving to Texas this summer and wants to buy another 150g for her when we get there. The best part is that when it is time to clean tanks she cleans half of them while I'm doing the other half. She's HOOKED now. :D

Dave

[Fishgovno]

Not to good, it's in the process of being started over again. :( I was deployed to Iraq in early May and didn't return until October.

My wife took care of our kids and all six of my tanks. She did a GREAT job, except with the planted tank. She felt so bad, but I figured that this would happen.

There is a plus side to this story though. She refers the tanks as HERS now. We are moving to Texas this summer and wants to buy another 150g for her when we get there. The best part is that when it is time to clean tanks she cleans half of them while I'm doing the other half. She's HOOKED now. :D

Dave

That's the trick :bowing:
Now I know what to do to get my wife to be more interested in my tanks :devil:
Thanks for the info.

[IndianaSam]

Speaking of time warp...

[plantbrain]

Better the tank, than Dave! :bday:
Glad you are back. A plant tank we can bring back to life.

Regards,
Tom Barr