Iām seeing all kinds of fertilizers and nutrient supplements, but I havenāt found any test kits to see what your water may be in need ofā¦ is there anything out there???
How to test aquarium water for plant nutrients???
- Thread starter Magnum Man
- Start date
Hello Magnum. Supplementing the nutrients provided by the fish isn't always necessary. If you keep medium to low light plants, the fish will provide all the nutrients your plants need. You just need to feed the fish a balance of freeze dried, pellet and frozen foods. Their waste material dissolves in the tank water and nourishes the plants. Now, plants that require much stronger light will likely need more specific nutrients and in different quantities. This type of plant is out of my league, so someone else will need to wade in on this.
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CaptainBarnicles
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I'll be keeping an eye out on this thread as I'm interested too...I know JBL do a test kit for plants but I've not seen another brand
You don't have to worry about testing for micro nutrients but most of the macro nutrients have liquid test kits that can be bought from pet shops or online. Most shops don't always carry the kits but should be able to order them in for you.
The main test kit I used for plants was iron because I used an iron based plant fertiliser. It didn't contain the 3 macro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) but did contain a lot of the other elements needed. I kept the iron level at 1ppm and that was safe for fish and provided the plants with sufficient nutrients to grow.
If you can't get the kits or they are too expensive, just do a really big (75%) water change before adding another dose of fertiliser. This will dilute any remaining nutrients so you are less likely to overdose and poison the fish in the tank.
The main test kit I used for plants was iron because I used an iron based plant fertiliser. It didn't contain the 3 macro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) but did contain a lot of the other elements needed. I kept the iron level at 1ppm and that was safe for fish and provided the plants with sufficient nutrients to grow.
If you can't get the kits or they are too expensive, just do a really big (75%) water change before adding another dose of fertiliser. This will dilute any remaining nutrients so you are less likely to overdose and poison the fish in the tank.
OP
OP
Iām most concerned in 2 phasesā¦ my rainbow tank, which is by itself, on the opposite side of the house from the rest of the tanksā¦ it has a little line plumbed to itā¦ unfortunately at this point itās from the whole house water softenerā¦ on this tank, the fish donāt seem to mind as much as the plants do
The other concern, if my main fish area, is just getting a new RO water systemā¦ the water already in the tanks is from the whole house softenerā¦
So, assuming the softened water has salt ions in place of elements the plants can use, and the RO is going to be void in both micro and macro elementsā¦ I already have live plants in most tanksā¦ I could probably just add elements like the whole tank is RO, and it would work out after several water changesā¦ but Iād like to know what is good, and what is needed, as I go forwardā¦
Tried looking in hydroponics & aquarium topics, havenāt found what I was looking for yet
The other concern, if my main fish area, is just getting a new RO water systemā¦ the water already in the tanks is from the whole house softenerā¦
So, assuming the softened water has salt ions in place of elements the plants can use, and the RO is going to be void in both micro and macro elementsā¦ I already have live plants in most tanksā¦ I could probably just add elements like the whole tank is RO, and it would work out after several water changesā¦ but Iād like to know what is good, and what is needed, as I go forwardā¦
Tried looking in hydroponics & aquarium topics, havenāt found what I was looking for yet
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
The plants need macro nutrients and micro nutrients and trace elements. As note the macros are often provide mostly by one's fish unless onne keeps the more demanding type of plants. What may be lacking are the latter. I am a huge fan of Tropica. I have used their ferts for well over 20 years. Today they make two ferts.
In tanks that I consider average in terms of fish and plants I tend only do add the Premium. In tanks with hevay planting and not a ton of fish, I use the Specialized. Finally, in tanks that are in between I may use both. However, I adjust the dosing so I am not double dosing by a lot.
Next, some years ago Tom Barr devised a method of fertilizing called Estimative dosing. Basically is says to have more of everything than the plants need so they lack nothing and then do major water changes once or more per week and re-fertilize. Here is a link to it all and I am sure the volume of the main post is a it daunting. But the more you know, the better you can manage things.
https://barrreport.com/threads/the-estimative-index-of-dosing-or-no-need-for-test-kits.52/
I have always had lots of planted tanks but I have never joined any ot the plantcentric sites. I am only on general fish sites for the most part and then Planetcatfish. However, not joining doesn't mean not reading on them.
The link above is to a pretty long thread. It starts by describing the method and then handles a bunch of Q&A. Tom Barr chimes in. Here is his Bio infor https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-barr-25a3b5b0
In tanks that I consider average in terms of fish and plants I tend only do add the Premium. In tanks with hevay planting and not a ton of fish, I use the Specialized. Finally, in tanks that are in between I may use both. However, I adjust the dosing so I am not double dosing by a lot.
Next, some years ago Tom Barr devised a method of fertilizing called Estimative dosing. Basically is says to have more of everything than the plants need so they lack nothing and then do major water changes once or more per week and re-fertilize. Here is a link to it all and I am sure the volume of the main post is a it daunting. But the more you know, the better you can manage things.
https://barrreport.com/threads/the-estimative-index-of-dosing-or-no-need-for-test-kits.52/
I have always had lots of planted tanks but I have never joined any ot the plantcentric sites. I am only on general fish sites for the most part and then Planetcatfish. However, not joining doesn't mean not reading on them.
The link above is to a pretty long thread. It starts by describing the method and then handles a bunch of Q&A. Tom Barr chimes in. Here is his Bio infor https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-barr-25a3b5b0
OP
OP
I am seeing some EC testers, for hydroponics ( not sure of the whole crossover between aquaria and hydroponics??? )
Had to read up on EC
hollandhorticulture.co.uk
Had to read up on EC
Why EC Is Important In Hydroponics
This article takes a look at why checking EC (electrical conductivity) in nutrient solutions is important when growing in hydroponics for bumper crops at harvest
hollandhorticulture.co.uk
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Btw- there is another method for measuring conductivity, TDS. Conduxtivity is measured in microsiemens (no ththe are not tiny sailors). the abbreviation for a microsiemen is "Typically conductivity measurements are displayed in either MilliSiemens per centimetre (mS/cm) or MicroSiemens per cm (Ī¼S/cm)."
TDS are expressed in ppm and I find that easier to grasp than Ī¼S. TDS take the conductiviy number and apply a formula to convert it to ppm. There are two conversion factor one might use. The 500 and the 700 scales.
I use the 700 scale and consider it to be TDS as well as the 500 scale. Basically it seems as if one is better for FW and the other for SW.
TDS are expressed in ppm and I find that easier to grasp than Ī¼S. TDS take the conductiviy number and apply a formula to convert it to ppm. There are two conversion factor one might use. The 500 and the 700 scales.
from https://support.bluelab.com/hc/en-u...ferent-conductivity-scales-what-do-they-mean-
I use the 700 scale and consider it to be TDS as well as the 500 scale. Basically it seems as if one is better for FW and the other for SW.
OP
OP
A TDS test just tells you the total dissolved solids, correct??? It doesnāt tell you what the components percentages areā¦ not sure if my sodium ions from the house softener are part of the readable tdsās???
When I started, I was hoping to have water lilies and lotusās in a few of my tanksā¦ those have been pretty disappointingā¦ I donāt think they liked the softened water with the sodium ions in place of the calcium ions
When I started, I was hoping to have water lilies and lotusās in a few of my tanksā¦ those have been pretty disappointingā¦ I donāt think they liked the softened water with the sodium ions in place of the calcium ions
If the water currently goes through a softener (ion exchange filter) then it will probably contain a lot of sodium, which can affect plants and fishes from soft water. Rainbowfish are fine with a bit of sodium.
You could use r/o and unfiltered tap water to get a GH around 150ppm (depending on fish kept) and that would provide some minerals to the plants. However, you will still need to add the missing elements.
Do not overdose with plant fertilisers, especially in the rainbowfish tank. They are sensitive to chemicals and overdosing can kill them. Chemical poisoning will usually cause the fish to gasp at the surface and either turn black or get black patches on their body.
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TDS meters will read everything that is in the water including sodium ions from the water softener. And it won't tell you what the individual breakdown is of the stuff in the water. It just gives you a number.
You could use r/o and unfiltered tap water to get a GH around 150ppm (depending on fish kept) and that would provide some minerals to the plants. However, you will still need to add the missing elements.
Do not overdose with plant fertilisers, especially in the rainbowfish tank. They are sensitive to chemicals and overdosing can kill them. Chemical poisoning will usually cause the fish to gasp at the surface and either turn black or get black patches on their body.
--------------------
TDS meters will read everything that is in the water including sodium ions from the water softener. And it won't tell you what the individual breakdown is of the stuff in the water. It just gives you a number.
OP
OP
Yep pretty much been through all that in my other thread, minus the relationship with the plantsā¦ thatās the reason the RO unit is going in my fish roomā¦ I already had the rainbow tank plumbed ( from 15 years ago ) thought I had read that the rainbows could handle the house softened water the best of my current fishā¦ but appears that the water lilies do not tolerate the sodium ions wellā¦ I may end up plumbing a line from my RO mix barrel across the house to the rainbow tank eventuallyā¦ if I get everything figured out n the fish room
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