# fertilizer question



## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

Probably some form of root tabs (basically fertilizer pills) once every few months for the substrate, and dose _Seachem Flourish_ for the water column. See links. There are a million other products that do similar things, I only linked to these because they are popular as an example. 

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlourishTabs.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Flourish.html


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

thank you! , after reading around the internet was confused, some of those dosing regime's seemed very involved and complicated







. glad to hear i can keep my plants healthy using these 2 products.:thumbsup:


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

Well keep reading, but those two will cover most of your basis for most plants. :hihi:


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## kcartwright856 (Jan 16, 2012)

You aren't the only one! I'm new to this as well and all of the information out there is so overwhelming! I just ordered like a complete kit (root tabs and water column ferts) from someone on here to simplify things until I get a good handle on all of this nutrient information.

I wish you the absolute best of luck! May your thumbs be green!


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

kcartwright856 said:


> You aren't the only one! I'm new to this as well and all of the information out there is so overwhelming! I just ordered like a complete kit (root tabs and water column ferts) from someone on here to simplify things until I get a hood handle on all of this nutrient information.
> 
> I wish you the absolute best of luck! May your thumbs be green!


Yea..if you buy stuff from people on the forum they will take care of you. 

My only advice to being new at this...being new myself...is don't over think it. :hihi:


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

yes, hoping it is much easier than all that information makes it out to be. 
i am also going to order a complete kit.:icon_wink

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4581&catID=65

and some red sea flora root, for my substrate.


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## kcartwright856 (Jan 16, 2012)

That's a tall order there, Daximus! I over think everything! I hate going into new hobbies without knowing what I'm doing. All of these elements... I just figured. Hey. Gonna get these two bottles, few pumps out of each... I'll figure that stuff out later! If I think about it any longer, my head will explode! I'm focusing on my plants themselves right now.

Starlin, I ordered RootMedic. (Am I allowed to say that?) I really have NO idea about the differences between the products, but if it's good enough for the people here, it's good enough for me!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What lighting are you using, and what are the tank dimensions. Low Tech means low light. With low light the plants grow slow enough that fish poop and excess fish food can provide most of the nutrients they plants need, and fertilizing isn't needed. However, using a fertile substrate like ADA Aquasoil, or mineralized topsoil, is also a very good idea. Eco Complete is not a fertile substrate, so it provides virtually none of the basic nutrients the plants need. With that, using root tabs is a good idea, in my opinion.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Check out Walstad's tanks. They're low tech and use dirt as a substrate with a gravel or sand cap. This provides nutrients and the organic decompositions provides CO2.


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

my tank is 14"w x 48"l x 20"h. 
i am starting from scratch. i have a t5ho fixture with 1x6700k tube. i was planing to have the fixture about 8 inches above the tank. hoping this will give me a good amount of light.

will get root tabs as you suggested.
not sure about the others (flora 24 or floraGro). you say this is not needed. i was going to cycle my tank for a couple of weeks, to let bacteria establish. would dosing small amounts in the beginning, when my tank only contains plants and no fish, be beneficial? would it be beneficial to dose small amounts once my tank is fully setup with fish added. or is it a waste of time?









also, would it be faster to cycle my tank if i added this:
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=2944
or should the bacteria in the eco-complete do fine?:confused1:


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## kcartwright856 (Jan 16, 2012)

Without food to eat (fish waste), the bacteria will die when you put it in. You would have to be adding ammonia, or just fish flakes. Which, if you add those for a few weeks, you will get a cycle without added products.

Just my two cents!


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

kcartwright856 said:


> Without food to eat (fish waste), the bacteria will die when you put it in. You would have to be adding ammonia, or just fish flakes. Which, if you add those for a few weeks, you will get a cycle without added products.
> 
> Just my two cents!


This. 

Bacteria "creating" products are very suspect if you ask me. Bacteria is everywhere, don't pay for it, just feed it. 

Pretend like you have some imaginary fish to feed for a couple weeks. Feed said imaginary fish. You will have a cycle going in no time. :hihi:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

You should have about the right amount of light for low tech. I like how I start a tank: plant it heavily, fertilize normally (probably just root tabs for you), wait 2 weeks at most, add a few fish-maybe 2-4 at most. Wait a week and add a few more. Wait another week and finish adding the fish. Because the plants will be growing during this whole time, any ammonia will largely be used as plant food, but bacteria colonies will also begin to be established to handle any excess. This method has never failed for me. But, I admit most of the tanks I have set up have been with at least medium light. The last one was low light and it worked fine for it.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

I read that Crypts, swords, vals, dwarf sag, and most other rooted plants pull nutrients from substrate. Stem plants pull in fertilizers from the water column. Both benefit from a rich substrate and water column fertilizers, but won't use them equally, Plants take up most nitrogen from water.


For root tabs check out LNT.com. Shipment is free. For an all purpose fertilizer I like brightwell aquatics FlorinMulti.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Virtually all plants, even terrestrial plants can get nutrients through their leaves. And, they can get nutrients through their roots. Aquatic plants with massive root systems have those roots for reasons other than a need to get nutrients that way. For example, many aquatic plants normally live where the water level drops way down in the dry season, so they need to be able to grow when not covered with water - good roots do that. Plants that live in flowing water need to be able to anchor themselves in one spot or they would all end up floating downstream - good roots do that.

Stem plants move to new areas of water by breaking free of their roots and floating to a better living area, where their roots can grow back and anchor them, at least temporarily. If the nutrient supply gets low, or too much competition for light exists, the plants tend to sacrifice their lowest parts, breaking free and floating to a better location.

So, don't judge a plants feeding preferences by looking at their roots. Until or unless someone does some controlled testing to determine what the plant does best with, it is best to assume that they all can equally use both water column fertilizing and substrate fertilizing. Doing both covers all possibilities. (And, if you do both, you are less likely to starve the plants by forgetting to dose one or the other location.)

Sword plants are always said to prefer substrate fertilizing, but I always remember setting up a 29 gallon tank with inert substrate, no substrate fertilizing, high light and EI dosing, and having 3 sword plants in the tank very quickly grow to fill the tank completely. When I removed them, their roots were spread throughout the whole substrate.


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

thanks for the info everyone. am glad to have found this forum. i ordered the last of what i need today. in a couple of weeks, i will put it all together and buy lots of plants, and begin feeding.:hihi:


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

how much fish food, water fertilizer (if any), should i be adding in those first 2 weeks? 200L tank


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

If you do weekly 50% or so water changes, just dose per the table in the sticky in the fertilizing forum, from the first day you have the tank set up with plants. That will be more nutrients than the plants need initially, but not nearly enough to cause any problems, if you do the water changes.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Is your plan to weekly water changes?

If you want to monthly water changes dosing weekly is enough. Still depends on the type of plants. For example red temple plants will need iron and Seachem excel. 

Cheap alternative to excel is cidex. Seachem Excel contains 1.5% Glutaraldehyde.Cidex 2% Glut diluted 3:1 solution which is
75% metricide/ 25% water post 31. A quart is approx $25 on Ebay. At dealmed.com 1 gallon of Metricide 2.6% buffered glutaraldehyde selling for $18.20. shipping $9.99


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

i prefer the idea of monthly water changes, and less dosing. i ordered this kit.
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4581&catID=65
i am guessing the fertilizers will feed the bacteria when i am cycling my tank. will have to look at the direction when it gets here, dosing weekly sounds good, minimally.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

starlin said:


> I prefer the idea of monthly water changes, and less dosing. i ordered this kit.
> http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4581&catID=65


Looks like it is going to be expensive in the long run.

Cheapest thing to do is to get mosses, ferns, anubias, and crypts. For ferts just get the API root tabs. Here Trallen only used root tabs.

Then use more hardware, like wood and rock. Here is an example of mountains that you can make.

I don't see any mention of what size of tank this is. Also what is your light.


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

tank is 14"w x 48"l x 20"h - ~55g.
i have a t5ho light fixture, 1x6700k tube, that i was going to set up, about 8 inches above the tank.
guess my aim is for minimal maintenance. i like the idea of just using root tabs. though, the choice of what i can get, here at the pet shop, will be fairly limited. may just have to go with what they have. guess it cant hurt to fertilizer the water occasionally. from what i ordered, the substrate will be fine for fertilizer for a while, it said the tabs last for 6 months. also, can i use the water fertilizers in my cycling period to feed the bacteria?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

starlin said:


> i like the idea of just using root tabs though the choice of what i can get, here at the pet shop.


Check out LNT.com. They are cheaper there. Also some use oscomote vegetable ferts. You just need to get capsules which can be bought at a health food store. 

Trallen didn't replace his root tabs.


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

sorry, i meant - though, the choice of {plants} i can get, here at the pet shop, will be fairly limited. was worried about what would grow with root tabs alone. guess if i can get the ones you mentioned, will be good, but not sure if i can locally.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

starlin said:


> The choice of plants i can get, here at the pet shop, will be fairly limited.


Perhaps someone on this list could sell you some.


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## starlin (Jan 27, 2012)

found a couple of places in australia that deliver live plants, might look into that if i cant get the right plants from the local pet shop. next thing, will research which plants that would do well with good fertilized substrate and little water fertilizer. those few you mentioned will give me a start.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

starlin said:


> tank is 14"w x 48"l x 20"h - ~55g.
> i have a t5ho light fixture, 1x6700k tube, that i was going to set up, about 8 inches above the tank.
> 
> My aim is for minimal maintenance.i


Then El Natural section is for you then. Wasted, whom started the section, only changes her water 1x a year. She uses a UV sterilizer. I went 3 months and then started having problems. Found because city treats water excessively I have to change my water monthly. Otherwise I loose a few fish.

Your tank reminds me of Hyzer's tank


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

"Contains beneficial bacteria; nitrosomonas and nitrobacter"

NO These are the WRONG SPECIES of bacteria. Do not waste your money. 

If you want an instant cycle, look for Nitrospiros species of bacteria. 
If you are willing to grow the plants for a few weeks, then do a fishless cycle by adding ammonia to the tank. 

Since this is in the low tech forum, my choice of fertilizer would be slow release tablets under the substrate.


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