My plants are dying.

[Avel1896]

Hello
To me you overfertilisize.
Do you agree with : Seachem Flourish + Seachem Iron + EasyLife potassium + EasyLife carbo (controversial).

• Flourish recommanded dose is 3.3 mL (0.7 caps)
• Iron, being Fe2+ - Fe3+ - chelated : recommanded average dose is up to 1 mg/l. How much do you add ?
• EL kalium recommanded weekly dose is 10 ml/100 L deing 15 ml/150 L. How much do you add ?
• Carbo recommanded dose is 1 ml/50 L being 3 ml/150 L. How much do you add ?

Edit : also did you check IronS in your tank before tou add EL kalium ?

 

[StevenF]

• Iron, being Fe2+ - Fe3+ - chelated : recommanded average dose is up to 1 mg/l. How much do you add ?

Iron is a tricky nutrient which many people don't understand. there are basically 3 types of iron fertilizers in use in aquarium. Fe EDTA, Fe DTPA, and iron gluconate. These are al chelated nutrients meaning they stay soluble in water longer than other forms of iron. But each has its limitations.

• fe EDTA PH is stable up to a PH of6.5. If you exceed this PH limit the chelate will separate from the iron and is converted to iron oxide which is not soluble and generally not available for plants.
• Fe DTPA is good to a PH of 7.5 and may work up to a PH of 8. Above a PH of 8 Theron oxidizes. until recently it was hard to find and seldom used in aquariums.
• Iron gluconate has no PH limitation and for that reason it is the most commonly used in many fertilizer such as seachem flourish iron and flourish comprehensive. Unfortunately the cluconate Chelate is a type of sugar. As a result bacteria quickly consume the gluconate allowing the iron to oxidize. As a result it is typically recommended to be dosed every other day or a iron test kit should be used to monitor the levels.

As a result of these limitations with EDTA and Gluconate is it is often recommended to dose to about 2ppm. For estimated index fertilized tanks with bright light and co2 many people use a micro fertilizer called CSM+B which uses Fe EDTA and that fertilizer is often dosed so that the iron concentration in the water is between 1 and 4PPM.

The 1PPM dosing target has been used for years but the real question is how much iron do plants actually need? For a bright light aquarium CO2 aquarium the consuming was measured with a very accused digital checker. A concentration of 0.1ppm is all that is needed. for one week of growth between water changes. I am personally using Fe DTPA in my aquarium (PH is 7) I am currently dosing 0.02ppm of iron and have no evidence of a iron deficiency

The greater PH stability of Fe DTPAis making this iron a popular choice. Some people are stating to experiment with Fe EDDHA. This iron Chelate is stable to a PH of 10. Unfortunately it colors the water red and cost more.

Based on the ratio of Nitrogen to iron in plant tissueI have calculated that your need about 75ppm of nitrate to consume 0.1ppm of iron. But to do that in a aquarium you are going too need a lot of light and CO2 and nitrogen to consume 1ppm of nitrogen.

Presentation about iron fertilizers.

 

[itiwhetu]

Plants only need fish poo. Why add fertilizer to a tank that has fish poo.

 

[Essjay]

Does fish poop provide the minerals that plants take up from the water?

 

[itiwhetu]

From my experience fish poo provides everything a plant needs. I have never added fertilizer. I have never vacuumed the base either.

 

[Avel1896]

@StevenF I know, that's why I ask if @30galBarbs checked before adding all this stuff.
There'sa way to check Fe2+ Fe3+ and chelated = JBL Iron drop test.