New to plant world

[Dooboedoo12]

I'm trying to keep healthy plants in my tank. I have 5 swords and A ton of lettuce Lilly's. I've been using liquid fert but it's going to run out. I don't have c02 in the tank bc I'm scared of something going wrong and my expensive fish dieng and 2 it's too expensive for me to buy right now.

My question is: is there a really good fert that can keep my plants happy that you guys could recommend ?

Any other advice on things to buy?

 

[Brookster123]

Are you dosing liquid carbon? Or flourish comprehensive?

 

[Tparkening]

You could switch over to dry ferts and look into EI or PPS pro dosing. This will save you money but it does require mixing of your own ferts. GLA has a nice PPS pro package on their website as well as all of the components needed for EI dosing. Based on the plants that you have now CO2 is not necessary. Metricide 14 say solution is a great way to save money on buying excel or other alternative "liquid carbon." For the swords you are going to want to root fert. Osmocote plus capsules or other premade roots tabs will work. Sometimes I even inject my liquid fert solution down into my substrate using an irrigator.

 

[Old Scales]

Until you get more experience in planted tanks I recommend you start with a medium tech set up. Planted tanks can be a life long pursuit just as satisfying as fish keeping. It's a great long term learning experience but can be frustrating and expensive if not done correctly. A medium set up would be light putting out about 35 to 45 PAR at the substrate, plants to match medium light, dose liquid carbon daily(either Excel or Metricide), PPS-Pro dry ferts(for macro & micro nutrients), root tabs for root feeding plants, and an API master liquid test kit with additional phosphate test. The other key ingredient is research. Spend a lot of time here in the planted tank section also. Here's a couple of links to plant species sites giving light and difficulty levels for many plants. Enjoy looking at them. Good luck. OS.
Tropica Aquarium Plants - Plant list A-Z
Live Aquarium Plants
All Aquatic Plants - Flowgrow Aquatic Plant Database

 

[Coursair]

I'm trying to keep healthy plants in my tank. I have 5 swords and A ton of lettuce Lilly's. I've been using liquid fert but it's going to run out. I don't have c02 in the tank bc I'm scared of something going wrong and my expensive fish dieng and 2 it's too expensive for me to buy right now.

My question is: is there a really good fert that can keep my plants happy that you guys could recommend ?

Any other advice on things to buy?

Amazon Swords need root tabs buried in the substrate. You only need to replace them every 4 months or so.

I use API Leaf Zone and Seachem Flourish comprehensive liquid ferts once a week after water changes.

What size is this tank ??? Small tanks don't take much. If it's a big tank, dry ferts will be much cheaper in the long run.

Depending on size of tank you can use Excel or Glut as a liquid source of Carbon, it won't hurt your fish.

But your lights and lighting schedule play as big a role.

It's best to know details.
Size of tank?
How tall is the tank ?
Substrate ?
Type of fixture and bulbs ?
Photoperiod ?
Type of Fish or stock ?

I can grow plenty of plants under low light because all of my tanks are small and not over 12" deep.

A pic of the tank would help also ?


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