dwencel24
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi everyone,
I have been into aquarium plants for quite some time now. I have been successful in growing plants by research and trial & error. After getting into aquarium plants, I decided to try fertilizer. Before starting, I was in a dilemma because I have dwarf crayfishes, kuhli loaches, and snails (assassin and netrile). So, I tried to apply my engineering background to properly fertilize my plants without poisoning my fishes.
Most of aquarists just dump fertilizer into their aquarium. Majority of them are successful in growing plants. I will say this is wrong (dumping), and this is scary (growing plants). I said that JUST dumping fertilizer is wrong because the fertilizer are being wasted. First, assuming that the aquarium is cycling properly (which means ALL the aquarium water is being run through the filter), the fertilizer are being absorb/adsorb by the filter. Probably, only 5-10% of the fertilizer are being use by the plants. This make sense if the snails and others that are sensitive to fertilizer are still alive.
"Wait, can you explain then why my aquarium plants are propagating?" I said this is scary because it means that the aquarium water is not properly cycling. Water test for pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite may show great results. But is that true for EVERY part and/or side of the aquarium? Probably not. This means that the fertilizer contents (depending on molecular weight, solubility, diffusion, etc) will likely stay on the area it was dumped. This is highly true for large and cycled (long-been stablished) aquariums. This could also mean that the plants are highly relying on debris and fish food that are not being suck out from the aquarium as fertilizer.
I have done and been doing direct-root injection to my plants. The result is astonishing!! They are propagating crazy (which they are suppose to be). I used to have problems with algae that even my algae-eaters could not solved, which this technique have solved. Some may argue that soon enough the fertilizer will come out to the water. Indeed, this is true. However, if the dosage is small, this won't likely happen. In addition, I have sand as my substrate. This means that the fertilizer will have slower diffusion out from the sand. As for my rock/wood rooted plants, I put sponge and/or coconut coir on their roots. These will serve as fertilizer-holder. Very small amount of dosage will make sure ALL the fertilizer contents will be absorb before they can even diffuse (absorption rate >> diffusion rate).
That's it!! Any comments, opinions, and suggestions are appreciated.
I have been into aquarium plants for quite some time now. I have been successful in growing plants by research and trial & error. After getting into aquarium plants, I decided to try fertilizer. Before starting, I was in a dilemma because I have dwarf crayfishes, kuhli loaches, and snails (assassin and netrile). So, I tried to apply my engineering background to properly fertilize my plants without poisoning my fishes.
Most of aquarists just dump fertilizer into their aquarium. Majority of them are successful in growing plants. I will say this is wrong (dumping), and this is scary (growing plants). I said that JUST dumping fertilizer is wrong because the fertilizer are being wasted. First, assuming that the aquarium is cycling properly (which means ALL the aquarium water is being run through the filter), the fertilizer are being absorb/adsorb by the filter. Probably, only 5-10% of the fertilizer are being use by the plants. This make sense if the snails and others that are sensitive to fertilizer are still alive.
"Wait, can you explain then why my aquarium plants are propagating?" I said this is scary because it means that the aquarium water is not properly cycling. Water test for pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite may show great results. But is that true for EVERY part and/or side of the aquarium? Probably not. This means that the fertilizer contents (depending on molecular weight, solubility, diffusion, etc) will likely stay on the area it was dumped. This is highly true for large and cycled (long-been stablished) aquariums. This could also mean that the plants are highly relying on debris and fish food that are not being suck out from the aquarium as fertilizer.
I have done and been doing direct-root injection to my plants. The result is astonishing!! They are propagating crazy (which they are suppose to be). I used to have problems with algae that even my algae-eaters could not solved, which this technique have solved. Some may argue that soon enough the fertilizer will come out to the water. Indeed, this is true. However, if the dosage is small, this won't likely happen. In addition, I have sand as my substrate. This means that the fertilizer will have slower diffusion out from the sand. As for my rock/wood rooted plants, I put sponge and/or coconut coir on their roots. These will serve as fertilizer-holder. Very small amount of dosage will make sure ALL the fertilizer contents will be absorb before they can even diffuse (absorption rate >> diffusion rate).
That's it!! Any comments, opinions, and suggestions are appreciated.