Plant supplements

[plantedtankman]

At the moment I have a bottle of Flourish and Natural Aquarium Vital Carbonizer. What other supplements would help make my plants greener and more healthy?

 

[mohican]

You could try either the E.I. Fert Pack or PPS-Pro Fert Pack from Green Leaf Aquarium. Their dry mixes so they will last a lot longer and more bang for the buck. They conain all the micro and macro nutrients your plants will need to thrive.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Planted Tank

At the moment I have a bottle of Flourish and Natural Aquarium Vital Carbonizer. What other supplements would help make my plants greener and more healthy?

Hello planted...

This would be a good time to first check to make sure your lighting fits the needs of your plants. If you have sufficient lighting, then there are a number of good options for fertilizing. I prefer liquids. They're easy and only need to be dosed when you do a water change, usually once a week or so. API and Tetra have good products. But, you have dry, granules, tabs and hydroponics ferts available too.

B

 

[dragonfisher33]

i would argue the best supplement is a nutrient rich substrate. if you get that right from the start you don't need any other bottle supplements.

 

[aqua_chem]

It would depend on what plants you have, with some plants liking more root ferts than liquid ferts, but if you're not using strong light, CO2, etc, the liquid ferts will probably be fine, especially on a smaller tank. Excel or another glut product would be a nice addition as well, although this also depends on your lighting.



Also, in reference to the Natural Aquarium Vital, from Drs. Foster/Smith:

Ingredients
Vitamins: Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin E.
Trace Minerals: Calcium, Phosphorus, NaCl, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium, Zinc and Fluorine.
Derived from ferment of: Laminaria, Gelidium, Monocalcium Phosphate, DiCalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Oxide, Potassium Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Sulphate, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Zinc Sulfate, Cobalt Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Chloine Chloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium B, Sulfite Complex, Biotin and Vitamin B12 Supplement.
Bio-catalysts: Cane molasses, Aloe Vera and Citric Acid.
Inert Carriers: Gum Alginate, Gum Agar, Crude Protein Extract and Crude Fiber Extract.

General Information
Most aquariums, when out of balance, will demonstrate a higher than normal bicarbonate concentration. Natural Aquarium Vital acts as a solvent buffer relating to this phenomenon. In so doing, carbon dioxide (CO2) is released. The buffer only creates the balance of the CO2 needed to offset the abnormally high levels of the bicarbonates where injectors may over compensate.

Speaking as a chemist (Ex-chemist?), sounds like a load of crap. Stick to the Excel/API CO2 Booster/etc for carbon supplementation.

 

[plantedtankman]

Okay. I have very good lighting. I will probably buy Flourish Excel and CO2 booster.

 

[aqua_chem]

You only need one of the two. They are essentially the same.

 

[MMantelli]

+1 on what aqua said. Also What kind of plants do you have? Stem plants and others that feed from the water column will benifit more from liquid ferts note than say amazon swords and crypts wich do better with a quality root tab stuffed ii need them. I bought the ei kit plus 3 dosing bottles from gla and dose using the pps-pro method and most of my plants grow like weeds.