Do I have to dose all macronutrients?

[maronov]

I read the informal FAQ (the sticky at the top of this page) but still have a question. Right now, I'm dosing Flourish for traces, Flourish Excel as a C02 substitute, and Kent Nitro+ as a Nitrogen supplement. However, I saw that Potassium and Phosphates are listed as "absolute must haves", along with Nitrogen. Am I doing more harm than good by dosing only one of the Macros and not the two others?

[Mgamer20o0]

a imbalance might cause algae or your plants might not grow to their fullest with out all ferts. i put PNK in my tank with trace.

[djlen]

What is the wattage of the lighting over the tank?
Generally, dosing imbalanced nutrients can cause issues. Lower lighting is more forgiving when it comes to nutrient imbalances, but it's not a good idea to dose some and not others.
I would suggest that you consider Flourish Phosphate and Flourish Potassium to balance. I'm assuming that we are talking about a small tank here. Anything over a 20 gal. tank would cost quite a bit of money to dose with the liquids.
So, again what is the wattage and what is the tank size?

Len

[John N.]

I would add all the fertilizers NPKs and traces. The lighting over the tank will determine how much is actually needed. All the NPKs, traces, Seachem Excel (CO2), and good lights can only help the plants. Any missing aspect of then can only hurt the plants, especially if there is an abundant of light involved to drive the plant metabolism.

-John N.

[maronov]

What is the wattage of the lighting over the tank?
Generally, dosing imbalanced nutrients can cause issues. Lower lighting is more forgiving when it comes to nutrient imbalances, but it's not a good idea to dose some and not others.
I would suggest that you consider Flourish Phosphate and Flourish Potassium to balance. I'm assuming that we are talking about a small tank here. Anything over a 20 gal. tank would cost quite a bit of money to dose with the liquids.
So, again what is the wattage and what is the tank size?

Len

I have a 14W bulb for a 5.5G tank. I guess I'll do NPK, trace, and Excel for carbon. Should I use root tabs as well? I'm using Eco Complete and I heard that root tabs aren't necessary - true or false?

[djlen]

You obviously haven't been around here long.:):)
I hate any type of root tabs and find them totally unnecessary for most applications. In fact I can't think of an application that they would help in. In short, lose the plant tabs. Just my opinion.
Is your lighting CF or NO fluorescent? In either case that is not considered high light for that particular tank. I have a 5.5 with 28 watts CF over it and I'd call that just medium/high light.
My suggestion would be to go with the Flourish products I mentioned in the my first reply or instead of Flourish P, you could pick up Fleets Enema (this is what I use for P in all my tanks) at the pharmacy which would save you some money.
If you intend to dose Mg as well, you could pick up some epsom salts at the pharmacy as well.
Depending on your plant mass, I would start with 1/2 dosages of the recommendations on the bottles (except the excel) and watch the plants for growth and color.

Len

[maronov]

Is your lighting CF or NO fluorescent? In either case that is not considered high light for that particular tank. I have a 5.5 with 28 watts CF over it and I'd call that just medium/high light.
some money.
If you intend to dose Mg as well, you could pick up some epsom salts at the pharmacy as well.
Len
I have the stock bulb that came with the hood, so not CF. Most people would agree that 28W for a 5.5G is very high light... over 5WPG! How much Epsom Salt do you dose for a 5.5G?

[djlen]

The watts-per-gallon rule is on a bit of a curve when you're talking about smaller tanks. I have a 10 gallon with two 23 watt CF screw in's over it and that 46 watts is not high light either, IMO. I do maintain a heavy plant mass and inject CO2 to keep the plants growing and using the nutrients I dose. I also shade all tanks with floating plants that hold down the light and use a ton of extra nutrients. Once the tank starts to mature and grow in the need for floaters lessens and the in-substrate plants can handle the light.
For your purposes you will not need CO2......the excel will do the job for you. With your lighting you could get away with 1/4 - 1/2 recommended dosages of the liquids we've discussed. I always recommend under dosing and watching the plants. They will tell you if and when they need more.
You might get away with even less depending on the types of plants you're intending to grow.
Mg is not a must unless you have very soft water. I dose it because it helps the other nutrients interact better under my tanks' conditions.

Len