i am thinking about adding ferts or anything that will help my plants health and growth. i have a fluval roma 125 with the 2 t8 lights (aquaglow, powerglow), i have in the tank eleocharis acicularis, lilaeopsis brasiliensis and eleocharis parvula, java fern, vallis and abit of weeping moss, all this is planted in aquasoil and topped with sand the tank also has cherry shrimp, black neons, cardinal tetras and sterbai corys. i have read threw alot of articles but it all gets mind boggling and i get 2 deep into it all so which shall i get? also how much and what would i need to setup up CO2 system with everything?
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which ferts?
- Thread starter liamb2324
- Start date
Hi all,
I have a system where I use the growth and leaf colour of a floating plant to indicate when fertilizer is required. I've called it the "Duckweed Index" <Low maintainence, long term sustrate | UK Aquatic Plant Society>, but it is just a simple solution to adding nutrients in low tech situations.
cheers Darrel
The plants you have are all fine low tech, so you don't need CO2.
Just buy an "all in one mix" from one of our sponsors, (this sort of thing <APF Plant Nutrition in Bottles (dry) - APF Complete - Fertilisers>). You can then either dose it regularly, or when plant growth slows.
I have a system where I use the growth and leaf colour of a floating plant to indicate when fertilizer is required. I've called it the "Duckweed Index" <Low maintainence, long term sustrate | UK Aquatic Plant Society>, but it is just a simple solution to adding nutrients in low tech situations.
cheers Darrel
Tyler
Seedling
- Joined
- 6 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 2
Hi Darrel, I have a small tank only 30 ltr and I have planted some java fern and Anubis onto it a few days ago,hoping it will help with my nitrites being high do I need to feed them thinking of florish excel,? Hope you don,t mind me asking you.Thanks
Diane.
Diane.
Hi all,
Welcome Diane, no you don't need to add any fertiliser at the moment. If your tap water is high in nitrates (NO3) it is probably high in potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) as well. Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) and Anubias (Anubias barteri), are both fairly slow growing, so they won't tend to mop up that many nutrients. As a general rule the faster a plant can grow, the more nutrients it can take up. You can think of it as Ferns and Anubias are more like orchids than Tomatoes. You could add a fast growing plant "stem plant" like Cabomba caroliniana, Ceratophyllum or Ceratopteris, but an added complication for under-water plants is that CO2 is in much more limited supply in water than in the air (400ppm in the air, ~1ppm in water), this is why I like to use a floating plant (usually Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum)) as my "Duckweed Index" plant, they have access to aerial CO2, so any deficiencies are from the mineral nutrients. They are also very easy to remove. When you harvest plant material you export the nitrates (and other nutrients) from the tank.
Excel is a liquid carbon source, this means that it is like adding CO2, but the plants can only make use of this, if nutrients are not limiting. This is why EI ("Estimative Index") <The Estimative Index | UK Aquatic Plant Society> was developed, it is a system where nutrients are always available (including CO2), and productivity is limited by the length and intensity of the photoperiod. It allows you to grow a wide range of more demanding plants, but requires a lot more maintenance and equipment.
The "Duckweed Index" is a much more rough and ready method, where you don't add CO2, or regular fertiliser additions and you use the colour and health of your floating plants as an indicator of when to add nutrients.
I hope that makes sense.
cheers Darrel
Welcome Diane, no you don't need to add any fertiliser at the moment. If your tap water is high in nitrates (NO3) it is probably high in potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) as well. Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) and Anubias (Anubias barteri), are both fairly slow growing, so they won't tend to mop up that many nutrients. As a general rule the faster a plant can grow, the more nutrients it can take up. You can think of it as Ferns and Anubias are more like orchids than Tomatoes. You could add a fast growing plant "stem plant" like Cabomba caroliniana, Ceratophyllum or Ceratopteris, but an added complication for under-water plants is that CO2 is in much more limited supply in water than in the air (400ppm in the air, ~1ppm in water), this is why I like to use a floating plant (usually Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum)) as my "Duckweed Index" plant, they have access to aerial CO2, so any deficiencies are from the mineral nutrients. They are also very easy to remove. When you harvest plant material you export the nitrates (and other nutrients) from the tank.
Excel is a liquid carbon source, this means that it is like adding CO2, but the plants can only make use of this, if nutrients are not limiting. This is why EI ("Estimative Index") <The Estimative Index | UK Aquatic Plant Society> was developed, it is a system where nutrients are always available (including CO2), and productivity is limited by the length and intensity of the photoperiod. It allows you to grow a wide range of more demanding plants, but requires a lot more maintenance and equipment.
The "Duckweed Index" is a much more rough and ready method, where you don't add CO2, or regular fertiliser additions and you use the colour and health of your floating plants as an indicator of when to add nutrients.
I hope that makes sense.
cheers Darrel
Tyler
Seedling
- Joined
- 6 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 2
Hi Darrel sorry to bother you again wondering what you think of Java moss grown on bogwood, and slate,? I like natural plants, and with only having a small aquarium at the moment I do not have the room for many, got a a few pieces of Java fern, again planted on bogwood.I am wondering when I do get my big aquarium what substrate to use heard various comments about dirt planting,etc. thanks. Diane
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
I like Java moss (in fact all moss) grown on anything. The easiest ones to manage are ones that attach themselves like Java Moss.
Have a look through a few of the threads, we have a "substrates" forum <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/forums/substrates.17/> and threads in "low tech" and "Tutorials", this is a good one: <The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - A How to Guide | UK Aquatic Plant Society> as well. Try this one <which potting compost ? | UK Aquatic Plant Society>.
cheers Darrel
