OD on fertilizer

[lucky777ca]

I was just thinking, I've heard that you would be able to make the plants grow faster when you add fertilizer... Anyways, I currently have PlantGro (Iron enriched) here and I was wondering whether I would be able to overdose on the addition of fertilizer and cause no harm for the plants?

The Java moss has been starting to look brown and dead (almost, some parts are still green, like about 5% of the clump) and the Elodea doesn't grow fast enough and the leaves get eaten by the kribensis frys so I was thinking about making it into tons of plants and then put it into the grow out tank. This way, I don't have to worry that the frys will be eating on every single leaf and it will have some time to recover from that.

*** Also, I will be dosing the PlantGro, once I place the plants in and remove the fish from the tank. There won't be any fishes in with the plants.

[beviking]

The plants need light and nutrients (which includes a source of carbon) to grow. Without enough light, you can add all the nutrients you want and they won't grow any faster.

[lucky777ca]

So I would be able to put the plants in a 10G tank with 30 watts of CFL lighting with a colour temperature of 6500K and I would be able to add fertilizer if there aren't any fishes in the tank. This should increase their growth, faster that it is currently?

[fresh_newby]

You need a carbon source. Without that, the plants cannot utilize the ferts you dose.

[kjf91004]

Also, you need a BALANCE of light, nutrients, and CO2 or you will have major algae problems!

[beviking]

For a 10gallon tank, Flourish Exel might be an affordable carbon source.

[lucky777ca]

I will try that. Thank you everyone.

[Mgamer20o0]

Also, you need a BALANCE of light, nutrients, and CO2 or you will have major algae problems!
kjf91004 said it right. giving plants just one thing wont do. in order of what they need is light co2 and ferts. you can add all the co2 and ferts in the world but without light it wouldnt do any good.

[epicfish]

Something that's a step up from Flourish Excel is DIY CO2 injection, or heck, you could even do both to get even better growth. There are DIY CO2 threads here, so I'll leave it be. Another option to consider.