What liquid fert to use?

[swifty]

My current tank has 2 amazon swords, 1 giant anubias, 1 red crypt, and 1 green crypt (just recently discovered I have crypts instead of ferns).

Lighting is 2x 18w 6700k/colormax T5NO, 8 hour exposure. I have a Seachem flourish root tab placed 1-2 inches from each crypt/sword.

I wanted to know since the aquarium is very lightly planted, what liquid fertilizers should I look into? I've heard of flourish's line as being very good, such as comprehensive and excel.

The crypts are doing pretty good since being planted (I thought they were ferns so I tied them to driftwood, lol) but the swords are growing very slowly. One I was told is in a dormant phase, and the other is still shedding its older leaves but still pretty slowly growing. I'd like to know what the best option to use is to increase growth without C02 injection.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well you said it, flourish and excel are great actually. But those root tabs are a must have for the Swords and Cypts, being that they are heavy root feeders. The anubias will benefit from the water column dosing... you can add java fern and/or mosses as they would too.

 

[aqua_chem]

It's pretty hard to beat Flourish Comp. and Excel. They are one of the staples of the hobby.

 

[swifty]

I read some experiences with it and a couple warned to be careful of overdosing or you'll get an algae outbreak, or if you don't have decently planted tank.

Would the 5 plants I have in there benefit from either liquid fert? Or is those 5 too little and I'd get nothing but algae?

 

[Fdsh5]

With the crypts and the sword I would use root tabs under each plant. The anubias doesn't require too many ferts. If you want to use liquid ferts I would pick up a bottle of seachem flourish and dose weekly. That should be just fine.

 

[jcolon]

Agreed! ... Excel and Comprehensive is as good as it gets for an LFS purchased product.

I have Crypts and Swords in my 75gal that do benefit greatly from root tabs ... in my case, I use Osmocote (indoor / outdoor) pellets encased in ice cubes (6per cube) as my root tab. MUCH more cost effective and just as beneficial option than root tabs ... IMO.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Agreed! ... Excel and Comprehensive is as good as it gets for an LFS purchased product.

I have Crypts and Swords in my 75gal that do benefit greatly from root tabs ... in my case, I use Osmocote (indoor / outdoor) pellets encased in ice cubes (6per cube) as my root tab. MUCH more cost effective and just as beneficial option than root tabs ... IMO.

I second the Osmocote tabs. I use them as well. I was getting low on my seachem tabs and I decided to add the Osmocote ones (I only used 3-4 per cube since I also had my seachem tabs) and my amazon sword has gone crazy!

 

[BBradbury]

Liquid Ferts

My current tank has 2 amazon swords, 1 giant anubias, 1 red crypt, and 1 green crypt (just recently discovered I have crypts instead of ferns).

Lighting is 2x 18w 6700k/colormax T5NO, 8 hour exposure. I have a Seachem flourish root tab placed 1-2 inches from each crypt/sword.

I wanted to know since the aquarium is very lightly planted, what liquid fertilizers should I look into? I've heard of flourish's line as being very good, such as comprehensive and excel.

The crypts are doing pretty good since being planted (I thought they were ferns so I tied them to driftwood, lol) but the swords are growing very slowly. One I was told is in a dormant phase, and the other is still shedding its older leaves but still pretty slowly growing. I'd like to know what the best option to use is to increase growth without C02 injection.

Hello swifty...

I rotate different liquids every few days, so my plants get a variety. I like Nutrafin, API, Earth Juice and Tetra liquids. All are good quality ferts. I generally dose a bit less than the instructions recommend and only when I top off my tanks or I do my weekly water changes.

B

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

Swifty,

If you choose to go the Flourish Excel and Comprehensive I would recommend dosing both daily. IME dosing Comprehensive weekly is not as good as dosing daily because,
1. The plants aren't getting a steady supply of fert. They have more then less and less and less, and then once you add more they have more and less and less, etc. Plants are just like fish, They love a stable environment.
2. When you dose weekly there's always the "next days" fert in the water column that algae is using to grow, the plants can not and will not use a weekly dosing in 1 day so you always will be encouraging algae when dosing weekly.

Also, If you haven't noticed flourish comprehensive and excel are pricey and aswell don't have all of the elements needed, it does have most though. If you're looking to find a cheaper alternative I would look into AquariumFertilizer.com.

Here is a list of ferts I would recommend you starting with.
Mono Potassium Phosphate
Plantex CSM +B
Potassium Nitrate
I would still use the Excel here because you need the source of carbon.

 

[Sharpchick]

Swifty,

If you choose to go the Flourish Excel and Comprehensive I would recommend dosing both daily. IME dosing Comprehensive weekly is not as good as dosing daily because,
1. The plants aren't getting a steady supply of fert. They have more then less and less and less, and then once you add more they have more and less and less, etc. Plants are just like fish, They love a stable environment.
2. When you dose weekly there's always the "next days" fert in the water column that algae is using to grow, the plants can not and will not use a weekly dosing in 1 day so you always will be encouraging algae when dosing weekly.

Also, If you haven't noticed flourish comprehensive and excel are pricey and aswell don't have all of the elements needed, it does have most though. If you're looking to find a cheaper alternative I would look into AquariumFertilizer.com.

Here is a list of ferts I would recommend you starting with.
Mono Potassium Phosphate
Plantex CSM +B
Potassium Nitrate
I would still use the Excel here because you need the source of carbon.

What dose do you use daily? I would think the full dose of Comprehensive on a daily basis would be too much, wouldn't it?

 

[aqua_chem]

If you're dosing Flourish daily, it's probably time to look at DIY ferts with dry salts.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

WOOPS!

I forgot to add in "You divide the week's dosing into 7 day's. For example, In my 10g I dose 0.3ml daily, which is 2.1ml a week."

It says 5ml treats 60g so
1ml treats 12g
1ml/7days=
~0.14ml per day

0.14 per day * 7days=
0.98ml per week.

The bottle also says that you can add it twice a week, which I recommend in a heavy planted tank or a tank with heavy nutrient demanding plants. (Which I have)

So I double dose which would be the
0.14ml per day * 2=
0.28ml per day
which I round up and dose 0.3ml per day.
Which is 2.1ml per week.