Should I fert. new set-up?

beviking

beviking

Senior Member, Sophomoric Attitude
Feb 16, 2002
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Just planted everything 3 days ago(see "Another great shipment from Aquariumplants.com!") and I'm following advice from Chuck's Planted Aquaria Pages by NOT adding any liquid ferts. Everything looks awesome and is taking off except the Stargrass. It looks o.k. (actually it looks good, just compared to everything else it looks o.k.) so I'm getting the itch to add some ferts!

Should I go ahead?
 
Sit tight

beviking, I would sit tight and let everything settle in. Check your tank everyday (pH, etc.) to see that everything remains stable. Aquarium.com has very healthy plants, so they will hang in there. Good things come to those who wait. :D
 
Stargrass almost always looks mushy and sickly when it's first planted.
When I bought my first batch, it looked good in the store and when I got it home it looked terrible. And it does not travel well. I've sent some out, around the country with the same replies.....mush. But with good light it will improve.
It takes about a week to improve in color and texture, and then to establish itself. It can be trimmed back to allow branching and thickening once it starts to grow.
If it's a brand new set up with all new plants, wait week or two to start fertilizing. If you've got some established plants in there continue fertilizing lightly or as in the past, and allow the new ones to settle in.

Len
 
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O.k., I'll relax then. Thanks!
It isn't a completely new set-up. I had it planted for 10 months +/-. I moved all the fish to other tanks, pulled the existing plants (relocated them temporarily) and drained the tank completely doing light gravel vacuuming. I partly refilled 2 times and drained doing light vacuuming to clean up "stuff" pulled up from roots when pulling the plants out. The filter media I divided up to fill filters on tanks the fish went into. I cleaned the filter/hoses and put clean filter floss in it.
So, there should be decent nutrients in the Onyx sand substrate, I used a thin layer of peat moss 10 months ago and I don't do deep gravel vacuuming.

The plants that were in there previously: crypts, sword, anacharis, sunset hygro, corkscrew vals, J.fern, A.nana, E. tennelus. I pulled them, trimmed some roots and put them back in along with the newly ordered plants...um...I guess I'm not sure about the "established plants" part?
 
That being the case, I would fertilize at 1/2 strength for a couple of weeks to allow the re-planted ones to re-establish themselves.

It's a matter of giving them only what they can use. They will not use as much after being shocked, for at least a couple of weeks. Also remember that they have stored nutrients.

As plant mass increases, if you start to see slow growth or signs of under nourishment, you can increase as needed.

Len
 
Unless you plan on adding NH4 and urea to your tank, I see no merit in suggesting less ferts on a new tank.

That is what will cause algae, not the excess fertilzer.

If you add mulm, that takes care of new tanks and cycling as far as bacteria go. f you add enough plants from the start and add ferts from the start, you don't have NH4 since the plants remove it.

If you have good evidence that "excess" NO3, PO4, Traces etc cause algae, I'd like to hear about it.

New plants do not use as much until 2-4 weeks, but the excess in and of itself causes no harm and may help to get the plants up on their feet.

It still goes back to taking care of the plants and stop worrying so much about the algae.

If the NH4 issue is addressed, then there is no issue and no merit.

I dose the same day I set up a new tank and full strength after a few days once I'm sure about the CO2.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
No, no NH4. No evidence to excess causing algae. I've had PO4 up to 3ppm w/o algae.

I'm curious to know why the plants don't use much initially. Seems if their roots were trimmed, they've been wrapped up for 24 hrs, they'd be nutrient deficient (at least their stores would be) and they would soak nutrients up like a sponge. :confused:

BTW- seeing new growth on the Stargrass!
 
plants only use or uptake nutrients when there is light enought for photosynthesis. so if they were wrapped up for 24 hours then no nutrients needed, thier stores are enough to get them by for some time.

no light, no growth... no growth, no nutrients needed on a measureable scale
 
I think Tom is right with regard to dosing. There is no sense in cutting down on what you were dosing before planting the new plants.
Plants that are newly planted can use a little time to adjust. During that time they use less nutrients and adding them can cause algae issues. Also, in many cases, they come loaded with stores of them and can draw from them without using extra elements.
However, in a case where you've got an established tank with growing plants, there is no need to cut back on the previous dosages.

Len
 
Why would you need to cut back in any tank at any time if the CO2 was good and the plant biomass was high etc?

The notion is that more nutrients causes algae, but if you remove NH4, then what is causing the algae?

I'd argue you'll have worse algae without the dosing.

I'm setting up a 300 gal amano style tank for a client soon. I can detail it out and show you what I mean.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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