Ferts Help

[DaveA76]

well ive had my fluval roma 240 running for a while now and is all going well and matured, have been using tetra plantamin and api root tabs to fertilize the plants, but only the vallis (5ft long) the twisted vallis and Aponogeton are the only plants doing well the echinodorus's are doing ok but growning really slow and the anubias seems to have stopped the anubias is planted with the root above the substrate !
now ive seen that easy carbo and profito (think thats the names) are a good way to go but with knowing nothing about plants and not wanting to go down the co2 route is this right??? help

 

[JenCliBee]

well ive had my fluval roma 240 running for a while now and is all going well and matured, have been using tetra plantamin and api root tabs to fertilize the plants, but only the vallis (5ft long) the twisted vallis and Aponogeton are the only plants doing well the echinodorus's are doing ok but growning really slow and the anubias seems to have stopped the anubias is planted with the root above the substrate !
now ive seen that easy carbo and profito (think thats the names) are a good way to go but with knowing nothing about plants and not wanting to go down the co2 route is this right??? help

Esay carbo would be your co2 replacement but im sure profito is only micro nutrients, i guess if your tank is quite fish heavy then the addition of macronutrients may not be needed... if you have a bigger plant mass though i always like to add additional NPK..... Tropica plant nutrition plus is what i would recommended as an all round plant fert contain both macro and micro nutrients.


I may be wrong with the profito but i am sure it is only micro nutrients.... im sure Ian will be along at some point, i think he used to use it

 

[SO19Firearms]

I may be wrong with the profito but i am sure it is only micro nutrients....

It pretty much is. IMO if you start adding Carbon you're moving into high tech, so should probably consider adding extra phosphate and nitrate.
A good Complete fert like TPN+ etc would cover that - (Or Nitro + Fosfo + Profito if you stick with Easylife)
Or make your own - The planted tank

 

[DaveA76]

well now ive got a bit more time i can put the full details of the tank up
its a 240l fluval roma
running 2 filters a fluval 305 external and a a fluval 3+ internal
the lighting is 2 x 40w t8 bulbs
it is quite fish heavy as said the inmates are :
4 angels
5 bristlenose
6 kribs
2 bolivians
2 keyholes
5 golden barbs
5 cardinals
the fish side of it will be cut down to pairs when and if they form, but i do 40-50% water changes every 8 days (thats how my shift pattern drops)

this is the tank

as you can tell there are quite a few plants

so the easy carbo will take care of the carbon side of it, and as mentioned i will need dome ferts, have seen some dry ferts somewhere are these easy to get hold of, im not aiming to go too high tech with having to make things up, just want to open a bottle and add it as and when i have to add it, and of course it has to be cheap

 

[JenCliBee]

Firstly... nice tank mate.... secondly the plant slightly left of the centre looks like java fern, this will need to be removed from the substrate and attached to something (rock, wood etc).... the rhizome and roots will rot if covered as it is now .

Yes the carbon will take care of the co2 side, it's the next best thing to pressurised co2 so will work a treat, the downside is it can be expensive on big tanks like yours.

You can get dry ferts but you will have to mix it yourself, it is very easily done though. If you do prefer to just open a bottle then i would opt for the TPN+ i mentioned earlier. Again like the carbon it can work out quite expensive on bigger tanks.... dry ferts will work out far cheaper in the long run but you do have to mix them as mentioned.

 

[DaveA76]

Firstly... nice tank mate.... secondly the plant slightly left of the centre looks like java fern, this will need to be removed from the substrate and attached to something (rock, wood etc).... the rhizome and roots will rot if covered as it is now .

Yes the carbon will take care of the co2 side, it's the next best thing to pressurised co2 so will work a treat, the downside is it can be expensive on big tanks like yours.

You can get dry ferts but you will have to mix it yourself, it is very easily done though. If you do prefer to just open a bottle then i would opt for the TPN+ i mentioned earlier. Again like the carbon it can work out quite expensive on bigger tanks.... dry ferts will work out far cheaper in the long run but you do have to mix them as mentioned.

that fern was a bunch i bought from my lfs and its just leaves with stems no roots or rhyzomes, thought they would just take root, but they will have to come out now, ive got the anubius planted with thr rhizome above the substrate but the roots in and it has senta a good root system out onder the substrate is that ok ?

what amount of the easycarb do i need to use and how often so i can guage how much it would cost, and also what amount of tpn+ would i need to be dosing and a what intervals ?, like i said im a total newbie at plants and have winged it so far just dosing on water changes with the tetra stuff and api root tabs
the tetra plant food im using at the mins is lasting 5 weeks at £10ish a bottle

 

[JenCliBee]

Firstly... nice tank mate.... secondly the plant slightly left of the centre looks like java fern, this will need to be removed from the substrate and attached to something (rock, wood etc).... the rhizome and roots will rot if covered as it is now .

Yes the carbon will take care of the co2 side, it's the next best thing to pressurised co2 so will work a treat, the downside is it can be expensive on big tanks like yours.

You can get dry ferts but you will have to mix it yourself, it is very easily done though. If you do prefer to just open a bottle then i would opt for the TPN+ i mentioned earlier. Again like the carbon it can work out quite expensive on bigger tanks.... dry ferts will work out far cheaper in the long run but you do have to mix them as mentioned.

that fern was a bunch i bought from my lfs and its just leaves with stems no roots or rhyzomes, thought they would just take root, but they will have to come out now, ive got the anubius planted with thr rhizome above the substrate but the roots in and it has senta a good root system out onder the substrate is that ok ?

what amount of the easycarb do i need to use and how often so i can guage how much it would cost, and also what amount of tpn+ would i need to be dosing and a what intervals ?, like i said im a total newbie at plants and have winged it so far just dosing on water changes with the tetra stuff and api root tabs
the tetra plant food im using at the mins is lasting 5 weeks at £10ish a bottle

The guide we usually suggest for TPN+ is 1ml per 20l per day, because of your plant mass i would at least start off at this level, you may find you need slightly more in time and even more once plant mass grows.

The easy carbo can be done on a guide of the recommended dose for low plant mass tanks, double for medium plant mass and often having to be tripled for heavily planted tanks (this is also dosed daily). Your tank would be medium to low mass IMO... so i would probably double the recommended dose and see how you go.

These really are all guides that i and many others use, you may need less you may need more but at least for now that is something to go on .