What fertilizers should I use to for my low tech tank
- Thread starter ramtsi
- Start date
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Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
What sort of plants are in the tank?
Post a picture of the tank so we can see how much light is in it and how many plants you have.
What are the tank dimensions?
What sort of lights are above the tank?
Do they have red, green, blue, etc, light?
I used Sera Florena. It is an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser. I used a Sera iron (Fe) test kit to monitor the iron levels and keep them at 1mg/l (1ppm).
You might not need to add fertiliser (depending on the plants), or your light might not be bright enough to warrant adding fertiliser. If there is good light and lots of fast growing true aquatic plants, then you add fertiliser.
Post a picture of the tank so we can see how much light is in it and how many plants you have.
What are the tank dimensions?
What sort of lights are above the tank?
Do they have red, green, blue, etc, light?
I used Sera Florena. It is an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser. I used a Sera iron (Fe) test kit to monitor the iron levels and keep them at 1mg/l (1ppm).
You might not need to add fertiliser (depending on the plants), or your light might not be bright enough to warrant adding fertiliser. If there is good light and lots of fast growing true aquatic plants, then you add fertiliser.
more info
It's a 60 by 40 by 30 cm dirted tank with two white 10W led lights.
Plants:
- Hygrophila Polysperma
- Lymnophilia Indica
- Hygrophyla Pinnatifida
- Anubia nana
- Micranthemum Monte Carlo
- Java fern
- Java moss
- Amazonian frogfoot
The photo is not from recent time, the plants have grown since then.
It's a 60 by 40 by 30 cm dirted tank with two white 10W led lights.
Plants:
- Hygrophila Polysperma
- Lymnophilia Indica
- Hygrophyla Pinnatifida
- Anubia nana
- Micranthemum Monte Carlo
- Java fern
- Java moss
- Amazonian frogfoot
The photo is not from recent time, the plants have grown since then.
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Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
NPK is nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Nitrogen is used for leaf growth and aquatic plants get it from fish food and waste (ammonia).
Phosphorus is generally used for root growth and to help thicken the cell wall in the plants. It also encourages algae in natural waterways and most aquatic plants don't use it because they have limited root systems and take in most of their nutrients via their leaves.
Potassium is used to produce flowers and fruits. Most aquatic plants don't produce flowers (Aponogetons, Water lilies and Vallis do).
I wouldn't use NPK.
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The Seachem flourish would be fine to use. Just do a big (75-80%) water change before re-treating the tank with it. The big water change will dilute any residual fertiliser and reduce the risk of the tank being overdosed, over a period of time.
The Anubias, Java Fern and Java Moss don't use a lot of fertiliser or light and might get algae on them if kept under bright light. Floating plants will reduce this as will the Hygrophila and other plants when they grow across the tank.
Nitrogen is used for leaf growth and aquatic plants get it from fish food and waste (ammonia).
Phosphorus is generally used for root growth and to help thicken the cell wall in the plants. It also encourages algae in natural waterways and most aquatic plants don't use it because they have limited root systems and take in most of their nutrients via their leaves.
Potassium is used to produce flowers and fruits. Most aquatic plants don't produce flowers (Aponogetons, Water lilies and Vallis do).
I wouldn't use NPK.
-------------------
The Seachem flourish would be fine to use. Just do a big (75-80%) water change before re-treating the tank with it. The big water change will dilute any residual fertiliser and reduce the risk of the tank being overdosed, over a period of time.
The Anubias, Java Fern and Java Moss don't use a lot of fertiliser or light and might get algae on them if kept under bright light. Floating plants will reduce this as will the Hygrophila and other plants when they grow across the tank.
Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Are the plants not growing anymore? Why do you think they need fertiliser?
There should be plenty of nutrients in the soil. You can use Thrive which is an all in one for the water column.
There should be plenty of nutrients in the soil. You can use Thrive which is an all in one for the water column.
