i have rason to believe that i may need to add ferts to my tank, as my crypts are turning yellow. are fish-safe ferts available at any fish store? how much would i add for a 10 gallon tank with 3 crypts, an aponogeton, and a lilly?
fertilizers
- Thread starter RockabillyChick
- Start date
Most the ones at my lfs are generic in the end. The only thing I haven't read anything bad about is flourish. It comes in many varieties (carbon,potassium,trace etc.) and the only place I can get it is off the net(live aquaria, pet solutions).
its a 10 gallon tank with one 18" 15 watt bulb. it contains 1 red honey gourami and 4 glowlight tetras, soon to be 6 (two more in quarentine) i'm thinking about getting a glass lid for it and throwing out the hood because the hood restricts a LOT of light from reaching the tank. the glass panel in the hood that allows the light through is about 6" shorter than the light strip, and its all cloudy and dirty with hard water despisits that i just could NOT get off! believe me, i tried. so i think the light could be a lot brighter if i got a glass top. i might do that today........
Try using a coarse algae pad and some non-iodized salt (many say iodized is OK, but I'm from the old school) or if that doesn't do it, use some vinegar (clear), scrub well and rinse well.
If they don't work, chuck that puppy and buy a new panel.
You could pick up an all-purpose fish food like Kents and dose at 1/2 strength. See how that works out and increase the dosage if needed. IMO, there's no sense in getting 40,000 elements do dose individually when an all-purpose will probably do the job in your tank.
Don't forget your water change weekly. It will also add back some of the essential Traces for you as well as keep the water clean.
If they don't work, chuck that puppy and buy a new panel.
You could pick up an all-purpose fish food like Kents and dose at 1/2 strength. See how that works out and increase the dosage if needed. IMO, there's no sense in getting 40,000 elements do dose individually when an all-purpose will probably do the job in your tank.
Don't forget your water change weekly. It will also add back some of the essential Traces for you as well as keep the water clean.
i tried cleaning the hood with everything, i even took a razor blade to it to scrape the crap off, but it hardly made a difference. this morning i took a sheet of plexiglass that was alrady cut to the size ofmy tank, cut a notch in it for the filter, and put the light strip on top of it. it works perfectly. the light is twice as bright in the tank, and it was free!
There is no "all purpose fert." that's b.s., and 250ml of four types of flourish that would easily last for over a year and cost 3.99 a piece is not overkill to me. It actually takes the guess work out of it, because you know for sure your plants are getting what they need..
Kent makes what I call an 'all-purpose' fertilizer because it yields all of the essential Macros and most of the essential Micro elements.
Many folks with low tech/low light tanks that I've suggested this fertilizer to have reported good results with it in their tanks.
IMO, sending someone with such a tank out to buy 4 or 5 products to dose a low light tank is 'overkill' as our friend sloshy so tactfully put it.
Len
Many folks with low tech/low light tanks that I've suggested this fertilizer to have reported good results with it in their tanks.
IMO, sending someone with such a tank out to buy 4 or 5 products to dose a low light tank is 'overkill' as our friend sloshy so tactfully put it.
Len
i'm gonna see if the better light helps. if after a couple weels, there's no improvement in the color, i'll look into getting ferts.