Best Nutrients / Macros for Planted Aquarium

[The sea monkeys Rock]

Hello All,

I was looking for some advice on what kind of product to purchase for keeping my plants healthy.

I have a new tank with:

- Rotala Macrandra
- Rotala Wallichii
- Hemianthus Callitrichoides

It is covered in Diatoms at moment to which I am reliably informed is due to silicates in the water. I will be investing in an RO unit shortly, but for the time being its plain old dechlorinated tap water.

I know that Macrandra like their iron and phosphates, and low Nitrate. I cant help them out with nitrates at the moment until the RO is installed, but I could perhaps correct the other parameters.

I am using Columbia 'Flora Base' which is a nutrient rich substrate (nutrients last about a year) and its about two months old.

My JBL iron and phosphate (PO4) test kits arrived today. I have tested the tank and both iron and phosphate read '0'. Despite there being no iron, which Macrandra like, the leaves at the top are going pink! I thought that could only happen in good conditions?

Would it be best to use pellets or liquid and any recommendations on brands?

Many Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

Good light plays a large part of why plants change color even if nutrients are poor. As for the Macrandra almost the entire stems of leaves turn from light pink to a very dark red pink depending on how much light and how much of the proper nutrient levels are maintained. Stem plants also take most all of their nutrients from the water so you want a fertilizer that is added to the water and not the substrate.

 

[The sea monkeys Rock]

Good light plays a large part of why plants change color even if nutrients are poor. As for the Macrandra almost the entire stems of leaves turn from light pink to a very dark red pink depending on how much light and how much of the proper nutrient levels are maintained. Stem plants also take most all of their nutrients from the water so you want a fertilizer that is added to the water and not the substrate.

Thank you, I am about to purchase a selection of liquid fertilisers that will include iron and potassium from my LFS.

How can I tell the difference between stem plants and others? As in, its got a stem? So Hemianthus would not be a stem plant?

What nutrients do I need to feed?

- Iron (for Chlorophyll grown and supporting photosynthesis)
- Potassium (to aid uptake of Nitrate and Phosphorus)
- Phosphorus (no idea but I know its needed)
- Co2

Micro Nutrients:
- Nitrogen (no idea why plants need it)
- Nickel (no idea why plants need it)
- Copper (no idea why plants need it)
- Magnesium (no idea why plants need it)
- Boron (no idea why plants need it)
- Calcium (no idea why plants need it)
- hydrogen (no idea why plants need it)
- sulphur (no idea why plants need it)
- chlorine (no idea why plants need it)
- manganese (no idea why plants need it)
- molybdenum (no idea why plants need it)
- zinc (no idea why plants need it)

Is there like a deep explanation on the internet somewhere that you know of, or perhaps you could advise me from the many years of your experience.

I mean, do I need to worry about ALL the above? Or are some of those just present in tap water? What if you use RO, do you have to manually add all of the above and then test for the PPM of each? You'd spend your whole life with a test kit in your hand!

Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

It's not as complicated as you think and for me once a week testing for phosphates and nitrates is all I do. Once a month I check my Kh and Gh since my tanks are quite mature.

If you use ALL RO water then you have to use a product like Seachem Equilibrium for planted tanks to reconstitute the minerals back in. BUT if you use RO to cut and mix with tap water you don't have to add anything back into it

You can use a product like Seachem Flourish Comprehensive 1 or 2x a week along with API Leaf Zone for extra potassium and iron. Or is you want to dose dry ferts which is best as it gives you all the micro and macro nutrients your plants need. In this instance you would use: Potassium Nitrate (KNO3), Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4), Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4). For macro's and CSM+B for micro's.