New Plants

[Jay]

I am new to live plants in the aquarium. I have just planted approximately 12 anubias of various types nana, coffeefolia, etc. I chose anubias because of their forgiving nature and low light tolerance. My question is, should I be considering using fertilizer or any additives to the tank to encourage and support plant growth. I am not interested in mixing my own just yet, light upgrade is months away, so it is anubias and what ever is best off the shelf. Any suggestions?

Tank Specs:

75 g
Light a little less than 2 watts per gallon
PH 7.4
KH 53ppm
GH 17 ppm
NH3 0
N02 0
N03 10 – 20 depending on which side of the weekly water change I test on.
Temp. 77.4 F

Substrate: 100% Flourite

Fish: 6 zebra dianos, 8 neon tetras.

The tank eight weeks old and is obviously a work in progress.

 

[Tempest]

You may not need to but I found the plants in my sister's lower light tank looked better if I gave them a dose of trace w/iron and potassium every couple of weeks. (Heehees.. She kept asking me why my plants had such a nicer color than hers.)

You can get what you need for low light plants in an all purpose type mix from the LFS.. I'm not sure the names since I use the separate KCl and/or K2SO4 and Flourish.

 

[djlen]

Agree with Tempest. You're not going to need a lot of nutrient supplementation at this time, but if you keep a low fish load you'll need to dose lightly.
I don't usually recommend the Flourish line of ferts. for that size tank, but if you intend to keep the plant load down, you can get all the necessities from that line of nutrients because they will last quite a while at 1/2 strength dosages, or so.

Len

 

[aquabillpers]

Hi,

i would be very careful about adding more nutrients to that tank. The plants are slow growing and probably don't need more than they are getting. Perhaps wait a while to see how they do before
adding anything.

I've added Flourish to a low lght, low plant tank and ended up with a green mess.


Bill