Ferts

[m00ms]

hi all,

i have into fish keeping for the last 4 years and seam to do well with keeping fish well and happy but struggle with plants!!

only time i have done ok i was using ferropol when doing water changes and using easycarbo daily,when i ran out of ferropol i tried using just the easycarbo and now my plants are not well!!

is there a basic/idiot guide to plant keping anywhere so i can read up and hopefuly have a nice looking tank with healty plants.

my set up is 120 lt 3 ft tank with 2x t5 39w tubes which are arcadia 1x plant pro tube at the back and a arcadia day light tube at the front which is currently disconnected.i dont have a c02 kit and would like to not have to use it if possible.

any help or advise be very welcome to both me and my fish who must think they live in the desert!!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Ya know I dont think there is, I just looked through the Resource Centre and there isnt one there which is weird. Anyway the reason your plants are not well is easycarbo is just a source of carbon, your plants need fertiliser to use the carbon up and vice versa. You need an all in one fert like TPN+, it has all the essential elements that aquatic plants need to photosynthesise, dose that with your easycarbo and you'll be on a winner. You'll get good growth too as your lighting is on the high side so with out ferts and CO2 your plants would just turn yellow then brown and die. Hope this helps.

 

[jojouk]

Steve, you should write one!!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Yeah maybe, I'll contact a mod first in case someone's already on it and I spend hours typing for nothing lol.

 

[stu40]

i always find this helpful
My link

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Where was that?

 

[stu40]

Main 'plants and planted tanks' forum-7th paragraph down = Archived PARC threads.It's down near the bottom.
Don't know how many times i've reread it, in the last year.
all the links still seem to work to.

 

[m00ms]

thanks for your reply

can i ask what tpn+ is ? i google and ebayed it and found tropica plant nutrution,is that it?

would you recommend i run both my tubes or stay with just the plant pro tube running? when i had both tubes running i did seam to have lots of roots growing above the substrate.

can you also recommend some plants for my set up please.

 

[stu40]

thanks for your reply

can i ask what tpn+ is ? i google and ebayed it and found tropica plant nutrution,is that it?

would you recommend i run both my tubes or stay with just the plant pro tube running? when i had both tubes running i did seam to have lots of roots growing above the substrate.

can you also recommend some plants for my set up please.

Tropica Plant Nutrition is indeed TPN .(note the +, there's 2 types)
Re-the number of bulbs to run, and what plants to recommend.
Do you have an idea what you want the tank to look like? What i mean is, do you know what you like and what you want to achieve?
At the moment, with one bulb, you can have a lower light-easier maintenance tank, which will grow certain plants (but not all), and won't need co2 or easycarbo (probably).Plant growth will be slower.
or go for 2 bulbs, add easycarbo & ferts and grow more plants, more quickly but need more maintenance (dosing, waterchanges, pruning etc)
Have a look through the journals for inspiration, about the overall look or style and any plants that take your eye.
Advice might be easier to give then.
Hope this helps

 

[m00ms]

just ordered some tpn+ off ebay (not sure if my lfs sells it and possibly being lazy!!)

im fairly easy on which plants realy but will prob go for the high light option as i have 2 t5 ready to go i might as well use them both.

can you sugest some high light plants so i can go shopping and thanks for your help so far

 

[stu40]

With that lighting, you can probably have a crack at growing anything you like the look of.
With that lighting you will need co2 or liquid carbon & that means all in one ferts such as TPN+ that contain N & P.
50% weekly water changes are recommended for a more high tec approach.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Although if 50% puts you off a bit you can get away with 25%, mine are high light, carbon and ferts dosed and I do water changes evey two weeks 25% and I get no algae or problems. Depends how established you tank and equipment is too and if you have a good balance, ie not a lot of dying/melting plants etc.

 

[stu40]

Although if 50% puts you off a bit you can get away with 25%, mine are high light, carbon and ferts dosed and I do water changes evey two weeks 25% and I get no algae or problems. Depends how established you tank and equipment is too and if you have a good balance, ie not a lot of dying/melting plants etc.

Good point, well made.But you're experienced, i'd tend to err on the side of caution for us beginners/new to planted.We're less likely to see warning signs of upcoming trouble.
Just an opinion.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Yeah its up to you guys, I'm not that experienced mate, Ive only gone fully planted for around a year, just had a lot of different problems Ive had to deal with so prob sounds like Ive been doing it longer lol.

 

[m00ms]

thanks for all your help so far its much needed.

i have just had a little tank tidy up and change around ready for new plants at the weekend,i cant wait now to get planting!! my fish seam to be very curious to what the heck has just happened with new rocks and drift wood swapped around.

i shall post some pictures up once i have got it done so you can all give me some feedback/advice.

i have just found a website called "the green machine" which had a good idiot guide to plants and seams to have lots of tips,advice and links to other planted tanks.

thanks again and look out for some pictures coming soon......