# Planted Tank Fertilization



## kevinli1021 (Sep 9, 2010)

Hi everyone, I have a challenge for all the experienced FW aquascapers around.

I am currently only dosing with:
1. Flourish Comprehensive 
2. DIY Root tabs in substrate (Substrate: fine Netlea substrate)

I am also:
3. Spot treating with hydrogen peroxide
4. Running CO2 at 2 bubbles per second for a 30g tank

Lighting:
3 x 24 watt T5 lights

Planned Fauna:
6-8 Cardinal Tetras
Lots of Amano Shrimps and Neocaridinas

Plants:
Lots of mosses and carpet plants (UG, HC, Dwarf Hairgrass, blyxa, staurygen repens)

What I want is to be able to maximize growth as much as possible. What other liquid fertilizers or soil additives should I use? Also what are your opinions on Flourish Excel in addition to the CO2 - is it any good as an algaecide over hydrogen peroxide?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

If you have things balanced, co2, lighting and ferts, algae shouldn't be a problem and won't have a need for excel. If you are using co2 the only reason for excel would be for killing algae which if your balance is right, should not be a problem.

You might want to check phosphate levels, high phosphate can cause algae. Regular water changes can help in a few ways, keeps phosphates down, controls nitrates and adds fresh minerals. Lots of minerals in tap water that plants like and they use them up and you can get low minerals with not doing regular water changes.

Algae could by caused by the lights being on too long. Not enough co2 or maybe too much ferts.

You don't mention the size of the tank or tank height which would give us an idea of how high the light is.

I also recommend a drop checker to read the co2 levels


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

kevinli1021 said:


> Hi everyone, I have a challenge for all the experienced FW aquascapers around.
> 
> I am currently only dosing with:
> 1. *Flourish Comprehensive *
> ...


My observation is that all the plants you list (except moss) are known to benefit from a rich substrate bed, that said they can also benefit from some water column dosing.
I often see folks using the Flourish comprehensive as a all in one water column fertilizer, my understanding is it falls short in the macro nutrients ( NPK), yes it says on the label it has some, but if careful consideration is given you will soon find out it is in very small amounts that is well below suggested targets. I personally use it as a Trace fertilizer.
I would suggest doing some research on the nutrient requirement of plants , why & when we fertilize, to this end there is an e book available for pennies that puts the different approaches to dosing in one concise place, that would help .
http://www.amazon.ca/Greg-Watsons-Guide-Dosing-Strategies-ebook/dp/B001O5BW1Q.
BTW I subscribe to the theory that Phosphates in a planted tank does not contribute to algae as is commonly proclaimed, Tom Barr has debunked this & written about it extensively.

Regards


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

what diffuser are you using? would you be suprised if I told you I ran 2 diffuser(cheap glass ones) at 3 bps on a 20g long and it's barely enough? get a drop checker but most important of all get a 4dkh solution so you have an accurate method of knowing if your co2 is enough. Remember as plant mass starts to grow you have to up your co2 and fertz to keep the balance.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

charlie1 said:


> BTW I subscribe to the theory that Phosphates in a planted tank does not contribute to algae as is commonly proclaimed, Tom Barr has debunked this & written about it extensively.
> 
> Regards


I can second this as I've read deeply into this subject and saw that Tom Barr said "GSA= Low phosphates and low co2". I've been dosing flourish potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, trace and iron and find that I have very little algae issues.

In terms of that book suggested though if you read the reviews many people say not to buy it as it doesn't appear or the text is all scrambled/repeated. Try to find that same book but from a different location with more positive views so you don't end up wasting your money. Also another book that's helped me a lot is this book http://www.amazon.ca/Aquarium-Plants-Identification-Cultivation-Ecology/dp/0876664559.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

Hey bud, glad to see your starting up another tank.
Here is a couple of suggestions

1) drop checker to make sure your at the right ranges for Co2, remember its not a set bubble rate, it all changes relative to your growth, and density of plantation. As your tank changes, your co2 dosage must change.

2) FC is your micros on the most part, you will need a macro for water column dosing, especially with a HC which loves water column N. Not many of those plants are heavy root feeders except for steurogen to a degree.

3) I would def not avoid Phophates as long as your numbers are in balance. There have been a good deal of research and observations by forum members both on Tom Barr, APC and plantedtank to show that Phosphate is not the main contributor to algae, they need it all. With that being said, I would push the Nitrates in your tank a bit more because of HC. 

4) Be careful with the excel on your HC, you will get brown patches / die offs with excessive dosing, make sure to water it down 50 percent in a syringe and then pump it. And dont leave your filter off for too long with the hc, the rest of the plants will be fine. I do find Excel stronger than peroxide, but also more expensive!. Make sure to leave the filter off, and do a water change after peroxide use. I have had a few instances where I used way too much peroxide, and it musta killed a great deal of the bacteria in the tank/ filter to a point where I started getting Ammonia spikes. 

In well maintained tanks, the type of algae, specific plant growth/weakness will depict what you are lacking, but if your too lazy like me, then EI dosing is the best way to do it. Crank it all up, then water change, and as long as the shrimps are not dyeing, your gonna be fine!

Other than that, your all set =).


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

And that book looks interesting, I just bought it lol 9 bucks .. you cant go wrong



TorontoPlantMan said:


> I can second this as I've read deeply into this subject and saw that Tom Barr said "GSA= Low phosphates and low co2". I've been dosing flourish potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, trace and iron and find that I have very little algae issues.
> 
> In terms of that book suggested though if you read the reviews many people say not to buy it as it doesn't appear or the text is all scrambled/repeated. Try to find that same book but from a different location with more positive views so you don't end up wasting your money. Also another book that's helped me a lot is this book http://www.amazon.ca/Aquarium-Plants-Identification-Cultivation-Ecology/dp/0876664559.


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## kevinli1021 (Sep 9, 2010)

jimmyjam said:


> Hey bud, glad to see your starting up another tank.
> Here is a couple of suggestions
> 
> 1) drop checker to make sure your at the right ranges for Co2, remember its not a set bubble rate, it all changes relative to your growth, and density of plantation. As your tank changes, your co2 dosage must change.
> ...


That was a very good response. Very informative.

I have a drop checker but never had the right 4dkh solution for it. I'll try to make a batch this week.

As for the excel, I agree it is quite expensive. Since I am comfortable using peroxide and CO2 injection I think I would avoid it for now.

I am wondering if the use of Osmocote DIY root capsules will be sufficient for the plants in terms of nitrates, phosphates and potassium. From what I recall, I think the numbers were 15-9-12 respectively.

Should I ditch the osmocote root capsules completely and go for a macro dosing solution or do you think this will be sufficient?


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

I do both, I make premade EI dosing bottles, and dose relative to my plant load, instead of doing full EI method in most of my tanks. I Just make sure to be mindful of the type of algae you get. When I get some time, ill post the type of algae associated with certain nutrient imbalance.



kevinli1021 said:


> That was a very good response. Very informative.
> 
> I have a drop checker but never had the right 4dkh solution for it. I'll try to make a batch this week.
> 
> ...


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