Plant maintenence....

[Fawke]

Sorry to sound a complete idiot, but do i need to feed my new plant....?
i am gradually replacing my fake ones with real ones, do i need to add plant food? and if so, which is the best?
Can they live off of the nitrates or matter in the tank?

If i need plabt food, do i add it directly? during water changes? does it effect fish?


Sorry for appearing nieve - iv never kept live plants before, and i have high nitrates i want to start to reduce - plus i think they look better

Cheers

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Good for you! You're doing the right thinig by having more plants. Your tank would look better, and, most importantly, your fishes will love them.

Yes, you'll need aquatic plant food. I use 'Nutrafin Aquatic Plant Food.' Like fish, plants need a balanced diet which your tank won't provide, such as iron, manganese and zinc. Don't use terrestial plant, on the cheap, as they could damage/kill your tanks' inhabitants.

 

[Fawke]

O, well i have just added some nutrafin aqautic plant food directly to my tank, it says for weekly maintenance - presumably i woul add this once a week - preferably during a water change (else id be diluting it)?

Cheers

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Guess what? I'm doing my water change right now, and I've just added a half-cap full to each finished tank. The other half-cap will be done mid-week. Good luck with yours.

 

[Tropjunky]

well plant food is added after ur water change and nitrafin's plant GO is fairly gd. nutin special needs to be done part form cutting it back wen it gets too much.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Forgot to also mention I've also got an air pump that disperses the plant food 'evenly' in the tank.

 

[Fawke]

I added mine right next to the filter outlet, so it quickly dispersed around the tank.

However, my water seems to have slightly clouded up..... is this normal? from now on i will add the plant food to the new buckets of water, during a water change, weekly.
But this first time (because iv had the plant in there without any food for a few days) i added it direct, and its made my water kind of cloudy....

Also, I am running with activated carbon and a UV steriliser - will this make a difference?

Thanks, and sorry about all the q's, just want to get this right

Cheers

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Firstly, I have to say that I am speaking from my experience with my plants, and cannot be considered an expert in plant affairs.

I don't own a UV steriliser. I shouldn't think the UV rays should affect the plant food, because its not living matter, just chemicals.

I should think the activated carbon would take out the metals in the plant food. That's why I try to insert the plant food as far as I can away from the filter.

I've heard that there are products available that you could bury beneath your plants, amongst the roots. I think there was a thread on this, perhaps you could do a search?

 

[BOD]

I use plant root tabs these by my experience seem to work better than a liquid, you put them next to your plants roots and then it feeds them for quite a few weeks.

 

[OzzieGirl]

Hello,

Again only from my own experience, I don't add anything to my tank, and I have just found that over time and with trial and error you find out which plants die off quickly and which ones last for ages. I also like a change of scenery so new additions every month or two, is not expensive and gives a new look to the tank.

Steph

 

[Fawke]

Cheers for the replies.....

My tank is pretty cloudy now...... a little worried.....

Is there any way that i have put too much in (i put just under the dose for 35Gal, i have a 35 Gal tank, but 1 plant) and its caused an algal bloom (feeding off the food?)
I would have thought the UV.S woulda sorted that out, but its just a guess?

Hmmm, hopefully it'll be ok in the morning.....

 

[Fawke]

Anybody? anyone have any ideas why my tank would have gone cloudy?

 

[lucky62]

Anybody? anyone have any ideas why my tank would have gone cloudy?

wait day or couple of days , as long as your fish are acting normal , if cloudiness doesn't subside do water change and add nothing , wait and see what happens .

[If your fish are showing signs of stess , do a partial water change]

When things get back to normal add less plant food , you may have to go by trial and error here , adding more or less plant food.

How many plants?

Algea can easily out compete regular plants for food .[ this may be the case here ]


My plants live off of fish waste for the most part , every 3rd [ about ]water change I add seachems "flurish iron "and" flurish excel" and usually add less then the recommended dose .

My plants are my main filtration , as well as under gravel driven by power heads , three years now .

I would only use carbon after some kind of treatment [ fish illness], as it removes chemicals and impurities from the water [ trace eliments ]

 

[Fawke]

Thanks for that, i was beginning to worry....

The cloudyness is getting a little better, im a bit gutted as my tank was absolutely crystal clear before....
So what do you reckon it is then? it came on in around an hour after i added the food!
I added the dose for 35UKGAL (4capfuls) which is just under, but i only have 1 plant
I guess i should of added 1 cap or less...... oops

My fish seem to be ok.... im not gonna bother with plant food again, and when or if i do it will be well under the recommended dose...

Maybe when i have more plants......

 

[lucky62]

Thanks for that, i was beginning to worry....

The cloudyness is getting a little better, im a bit gutted as my tank was absolutely crystal clear before....
So what do you reckon it is then? it came on in around an hour after i added the food!
I added the dose for 35UKGAL (4capfuls) which is just under, but i only have 1 plant
I guess i should of added 1 cap or less...... oops

My fish seem to be ok.... im not gonna bother with plant food again, and when or if i do it will be well under the recommended dose...

Maybe when i have more plants......

I think you'll be o.k.

They don't tell you to put more or less in on the bottle of plant food [ some companies may ], it's just something you've got to work out on your own somtimes .

See what happens over the next few days , consider getting some more plants , they seem to do better when there are more .

As for the cloudiness , I'm not sure what caused it , maybe an algea bloom .