Buying ferts

[reefdiver]

I'm looking at buying some ferts just boost up my plant health. My tank is low light. The planted aquarium has a pre mix macro micro bundle and I'm wondering if this is good or better to just buy them separate?

 

[BBradbury]

Hello reef...

I keep plants that require only subdued light too and rarely dose fertilizers. You likely know this already, but aquarium plants need macro and micro nutrients. The macro or "large" dose nutrients, like nitrates, phosphates and sulfates are in most public water supplies. So, large, frequent water changes will maintain healthy levels of these nutrients. The micro or "trace" nutrients come from the fish. So, to get those in healthy amounts, you just need to have a reasonable number of fish in the tank and feed them a balanced diet.

Just a thought.

B

 

[Rivercats]

I dose PPS-Pro and use these ferts... PPS-Pro | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums. You get 2 dosing bottles with this package but I recommend getting 3 so you can mix nitrates in one bottle, phosphates and potassium in one bottle, and micros in the third bottle. This allows you to custom dose to the needs of your tank. Normal dosing is 1ml of each bottle for every 10g of tank water. But for example if you have too high nitrates one week you can lower the dose of nitrates or not dose at all if needed. If you macros (nitrates, phosphates, and potassium) are all mixed in one bottle you can't make adjustments.

Here's a good thread to read about PPS-Pro dosing but only read the opening post as the rest are just comments. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/pps-analysis-feedback/39491-newbie-guide-pps-pro.html

Also you don't need to dose MgSO4 magnesium if you have a Gh over 4. Most tap water is high in magnesium. If you have hard water you will have plenty of magnesium and don't need to add that to your macro mix.

Fish waste helps raise nitrate levels and many fish foods can add some phosphates to a tank but that is all that is available for plants. Fish don't add micro nutrients to a tank so dosing micro nutrients are very important. Your macro nutrients are nitrates, phosphates, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. The last two are almost always present in high enough levels from tap water. Sulfates are not a macro nutrient and they are what causes diatom growth if present in higher amounts.

Also something that helps is using a liquid carbon such as Excel. I use Metricide 14 Day Solution at a rate of 1:1 ratio with Distilled or RO water. Metricide 14 costs about $20 for a gallon and then when mixed at the above ratio you get 2 gallons for about $27 including shipping. Way cheaper than name brands like Excel. You use it at a rate of 1ml per 10g of tank water and if you have higher light use a 1ml per 5g of tank water.

 

[Rivercats]

Here's another link for PPS-Pro dosing... https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro

 

[reefdiver]

Thanks for the reply. Greatly appreciated.

 

[jetajockey]

If it's just a simple low light setup I'd use flourish comprehensive and call it a day. If you notice any issues with the plants then at that point I'd look into more complex fert dosing. In a really low light setup the ferts inherent in the water system are usually enough to keep the plants going fairly well, but it's different for everyone.

 

[reefdiver]

I just think it would be better in the long rung since I have a 36,46 and 75. I have the usual plant Anubias, fern, swords and crypts. Looking too add more different variety

 

[jetajockey]

It really depends on how low light and how densely planted you are talking. Have you seen any plant deficiencies yet? Tested for nitrate/po4 etc?

My concern is just that I try to avoid recommending EI dosing to low light setups just because a lot of times there's already more than enough ferts present in the water as-is.