How Often Should I Use Plant Fertilizer?

[FishAddict99]

I bought Nutrafin Plant Grow Iron Enriched Aquatic Plant Fertilizer. On the back of the bottle, it says to use an Iron Test Kit to monitor chelated iron levels. The only problem is that I can't find a test kit for Iron. The last time I dosed my tanks with the liquid fertilizer was almost 3 months ago. Since then, I've done many water changes. Is there a rule of thumb as to how often I can dose my tanks with the fertilizer? My plants don't seem to be doing well and I really want to add it soon.

 

[john starkey]

I bought Nutrafin Plant Grow Iron Enriched Aquatic Plant Fertilizer. On the back of the bottle, it says to use an Iron Test Kit to monitor chelated iron levels. The only problem is that I can't find a test kit for Iron. The last time I dosed my tanks with the liquid fertilizer was almost 3 months ago. Since then, I've done many water changes. Is there a rule of thumb as to how often I can dose my tanks with the fertilizer? My plants don't seem to be doing well and I really want to add it soon.

Hi,most liquid plant fertilizer is dosed three times a week if you follow ei, but it depends on the size of your setup and the amount of plants you have, regards john

 

[FishAddict99]

i only use it in two of my tanks, one is 5.5 gallons and the other is 10 gallons

 

[Colin_T]

the shop that sold you the fertiliser should be able to get in iron test kits.

 

[Themuleous]

Don't bother with an iron test kit they are very very unreliable. I would dose the iron once a week and see how things go. You cant really overdose iron so you dont really need to worry. I would however add that plants dont just need iron. Whilst iron is very important they need other trace elements as well so you'd be better off getting a better liquid fert like seachem flourish or tropica plant nutrition. In low light tanks both these are dosed weekly

Sam

 

[Colin_T]

Don't bother with an iron test kit they are very very unreliable. I would dose the iron once a week and see how things go. You cant really overdose iron so you dont really need to worry.

A brand name test kit will be reasonably acurate. I use Sera Florena and test with the Sera Iron test kit and find them reliable.
If you just dose the tank once a week without monitoring the iron level, then you can overdose and kill the fish. Any creature that has iron in its blood can suffer from too much iron. At the other end of the scale the plants could use up all the iron in a day or two and you will prevent them from growing as well as they could.
If you use iron based fertiliser then remove any carbon from the filters to prevent it from absorbing the iron from the water.

 

[FishAddict99]

omg, thanks for mentioning that! it never registered in my head that what i bought had only iron in it. i'll get a new fertilizer tomorrow. thanks guys!

 

[FishAddict99]

Update:
my plants have been doing ok, not great though. Growth is slow and over time, some parts of the leaves turn brown. I add Seachem Flourish and Plant Gro Iron Enriched fertilizers once a week. I have activated carbon in my 2 tank filters, but I always thought I could leave the cartridges if they were old/mature. I figured that since the cartridges were older, they wouldn't absorb much of the iron out of the water. Plus, I also have the CO2 factory in the tank. I keep trying to find a good pattern to promote plant growth but I haven't found it yet.

On Monday, I'm hoping to buy Eco Complete for another tank I have. I figured I can also use it in my 2 existing planted tanks. Although I already have gravel laid down in both tanks, I thought I could just add the Eco Complete around the base of the plants. This way, I wouldn't have to re-do my tank's substrate.

What my tank looks like now:

 

[SuperColey1]

I think what Sam (Themuleous) was trying to say about iron is Why are you dosing this seperately?

None of us (apart from it seems ColinT - Maybe different in Aus) dose Iron seperately. We just dose NPK + Trace or buy a combined off the shelf fertiliser. Some people using the Seachem and ADA routes do of course but its not really needed. This is more a get sales method IMO where the companies want to sell several different bottles instead of one or two.

Therefore we don't overdose Iron because it is a minimal part of the ferts regime. Iron is very overplayed in planted tanks and some people often forget about all the other 'metal' elements needed.

As an answer to the original question it is user preference really. The bottles say weekly, EI/Dry Ferts are normally dosed alternately every 3 days but can be dose daily if preferred. I personally use an off the shelf and dose daily. After you have got to grips with the hobby and dosing etc you will work out what is best for you.

Andy

 

[FishAddict99]

so let me see if i get this straight:

~i should stop using Plant Gro Iron Enriched fertilizer
~i should buy Seachem Phosphorous, Nitrogen & Potassium (NPK supplements)

I should use my Seachem Flourish weekly
I should use the Seachem Phosphorous, Nitrogen & Potassium 2-3 times a week

Is this correct?

 

[SuperColey1]

No idea.

Check out the Seachem site. There is a routine for dosing all of their products on there somewhere with what to dose each day.

Andy

 

[Themuleous]

It depends on your light levels.

Sam