What to do about this?

[giffmastaflex]

I have some holes in my plants and they just seem to fall right off the plant I use seachem flourish twice a week and I have led lights that came with the combo kit. I was thinking of using dry ferts but I have no idea on what ferts to buy? Here are some pics...

 

[Rivercats]

What's your stock? Some of those leaves look more like they are getting chewed on. Do you know what your nitrate and phosphate levels are? If you have stock light then it's very low lighting. Using a liquid carbon such as Excel daily will help and unless you have a large tank or a ton of plants Flouish Comprehensive 2x a week is good. You can also use API Leaf Zone along with using the Flouish as it will add extra potassium and iron. If you want to do dry ferts this is where I get mine from... Aquarium Plant Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[giffmastaflex]

I have a African leaf fish, African featherfin cat, 3 angels, one rainbow shark and a sailfin pleco. Also some of my java ferns have holes in them too, any idea what type of dry ferts to get? I'm not even sure on what to do? I don't have any thing to test my water except the ph and ammonia. Souls I bother to get new LEDs? Like the ray 2 or something? Or should I do a co2 setup?

 

[Rivercats]

A lighting upgrade is always good but I'm not the greatest with LED's except the Build My LED fixtures I use.

You can do either liquid carbon or CO2. That is a choice you need to make to see which is in your budget. You can buy Metricide 14 Day Solution, a gallon for $20 online, with $7ish shipping. You mix it at a 1:1 ratio with RO or Distilled water and get 2 gallons for around $27 which is dirt cheap. You dose at 1ml per 10g water and in a couple weeks if you upgrade your lighting you can dose 1ml per 5 gallons of water.

You really need to get a nitrate and phosphate test kit and I would also suggest a Kh and Gh test kit as well. I use API one's.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Ill look into the kit first and ill post In a few days and tell you the results

 

[eAts]

What size is the tank? I use the ray 2 paired with a finnex monster ray with pressurized co2 and everything grows great. I also use the fertilizer pack Rivercats posted. What is your goal with this tank? Lush low tech with low to medium light or a high tech, high light setup?

 

[giffmastaflex]

I have a 55 gal, and I want it to look natural I guess I want my plants to be full and green but I don't want to spend a whole lot of money. I was thinking of the ray 2 before but not sure if that light is strong enough and it is pretty expensive. Also with the co2, I wouldn't mind buying a setup but idk how expensive I should go, or if I should make my own.

 

[Rivercats]

You can always go with liquid carbon instead of CO2 and if you want can move up to CO2 later. You can get a gallon of Metricide 14 Day Solution with $7 shipping on line. Mix it at a 1:1 ratio with RO or Distilled water and get 2 gallons for around $27. Start dosing at 1ml Glut per 10 gallons of water and move up to 1ml Glut to every 5 gallons of water. It's quite cheap. A DIY CO2 wouldn't work on a 55g.

You can usually get a T5HO 2 bulb fixture for a good price but remember over time the replacement of bulbs yearly will add up the extra money you pay for a good LED.

 

[giffmastaflex]

What would be a good led light for it? What if I don't have RO water. You mentioned distiller water. Would that be good for the fish? Should I add seachem prime to it? I use to add liquid co2 buy API but I didn't see that much of a change. Does it really work? Should I still do it

 

[eAts]

What would be a good led light for it? What if I don't have RO water. You mentioned distiller water. Would that be good for the fish? Should I add seachem prime to it? I use to add liquid co2 buy API but I didn't see that much of a change. Does it really work? Should I still do it

The distilled water can be bought in a gallon jug at Walmart and most grocery stores and its only used to dilute the glut, which isn't completely necessary. For the tank just is tap water treated with prime. As far as LEDs go, many people recommend the buildmyled fixtures, but I haven't used them before. I use a finnex ray 2 and a finnex monster ray together. There are other fixtures available like the current freshwater plus, which is a cool fixture, but won't bring you into high light. The ray 2 alone is great at growing green plants, but the monster ray adds more red light for red plants. The current and buildmyled fixtures have the RBG LEDs also do promote the growth of red plants also. I hope that helps a little . Yes the glut works as a co2 substitute, and I would recommend using it with any of these led fixtures along with a comprehensive fertilizer regimen.

 

[giffmastaflex]

I'm leaning more towards the ray 2 and the link that rivercats posted has a bunch of different dry ferts it seems like. How do I know which one to use? And will the led fixture ruin my low light plants? And I was thinking of co2 system but not sure on what name brand to go with?

 

[eAts]

I'm leaning more towards the ray 2 and the link that rivercats posted has a bunch of different dry ferts it seems like. How do I know which one to use? And will the led fixture ruin my low light plants? And I was thinking of co2 system but not sure on what name brand to go with?

It will not ruin your low light plants, just make them grow faster. I recommend the ray 2, but suggest getting that and the monster ray for better color and growth. You will want I think the EI fert pack from GLA and 3 dosing bottles, I'm sure Rivercats will chime in to give further instructions.

As far as co2 goes, many use the aquatek regulator with solenoid and it works great. I personally use a smith series regulator with solenoid and an ideal needle valve from GLA, which is overkill, but I liked the sleek look. You can order everything you would need from amazon and have the tank filled locally.

 

[giffmastaflex]

What should I do first? Lights, co2, or dry ferts? Right now I am using seachem flourish.

 

[eAts]

I did lights then dry ferts, then co2, but I was using excel for my co2 supplement. All are important pieces to a planted tank, so IMO its hard to say what to get first since all must be balanced to have a successful planted tank.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Should I just get them all then wait to install until I have everything. And I want to clarify that my plants are all green just holes. And the LEDs I have are these...

 

[eAts]

Yeah, but I would start the fertilizers as soon as you get those, they will help with the holes in the plants.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Should I still use the flourish or would that be too much and cause over growth of algae? I have like one full bottle left

 

[eAts]

To could still use the flourish comprehensive.

 

[Rivercats]

Here are the 3 dosing bottles you'd need to order.... Fertilizer Dispenser | 500 mL (16 oz) | Green Leaf Aquariums.

This is the fert package you need to order... Estimative Index | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums.

Once you get your dry ferts you can post and we can tell you have to mix them and dose them daily. It's not hard. Be sure you have a nitrate and phosphate test kit.

If you plants have small pin holes that slowly expand that is a potassium deficiency which dosing PPS-Pro with the dry ferts will fix. The new growth will no longer come in and get holes.

Yes liquid carbon works. I ran my 220g 100% planted tank for over a year with high lights, liquid carbon, and dry ferts. The thing about liquid carbon is you have to dose it to the needs of your tank. Depending on how high your lighting is, how many plants you have, and your bio-load all determine how much you need to use daily. You start out at 1ml Glut per 10g water, then in a week or two increase to 1ml Glut per 5g of water, and if you have high light you may have to increase the Glut dose once more.

I have several Build My LED fixtures and they are very nice with a good red spectrum so you don't need to buy 2 different fixtures. If you get one I suggest getting the dimmer which makes it really nice for low light evening viewing. Plus you can start out using lower light and build up to more intense lighting. IMO they are worth the price.

 

[giffmastaflex]

Here are the 3 dosing bottles you'd need to order.... Fertilizer Dispenser | 500 mL (16 oz) | Green Leaf Aquariums.

This is the fert package you need to order... Estimative Index | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums.

Once you get your dry ferts you can post and we can tell you have to mix them and dose them daily. It's not hard. Be sure you have a nitrate and phosphate test kit.

If you plants have small pin holes that slowly expand that is a potassium deficiency which dosing PPS-Pro with the dry ferts will fix. The new growth will no longer come in and get holes.

Yes liquid carbon works. I ran my 220g 100% planted tank for over a year with high lights, liquid carbon, and dry ferts. The thing about liquid carbon is you have to dose it to the needs of your tank. Depending on how high your lighting is, how many plants you have, and your bio-load all determine how much you need to use daily. You start out at 1ml Glut per 10g water, then in a week or two increase to 1ml Glut per 5g of water, and if you have high light you may have to increase the Glut dose once more.

I have several Build My LED fixtures and they are very nice with a good red spectrum so you don't need to buy 2 different fixtures. If you get one I suggest getting the dimmer which makes it really nice for low light evening viewing. Plus you can start out using lower light and build up to more intense lighting. IMO they are worth the price.

Thank you for all the information and how would I make my own led lights? And what ones that can dim? And what liquid carbon did you use? Can you post pics of your tank?