Plants

[ducatirider]

Info plz.i dont inject co2 into my tank.so whats best liquid co2 to dose my tank with.and the best fert as well.and can i use them both at same time cheers

 

[DreamertK]

Some liquid CO2/ferts kill plants. Plus in the long run it can be more expensive depending on the size of the tank.
 
Generally I like the Excel ferts, though API can have a good deal on it.

 

[ducatirider]

Thanks for the info ill have a look into it.

 

[attibones]

Really it all depends on what plants you've got. I don't dose CO2 in any method, but I've got decent lighting and plants which don't necessarily need the CO2 injections or liquid doses. My plants are very healthy. 
 
What plants have you got right now? What ferts do you currently use? (I use Flourish and Flourish tabs with soil as part of my substrate.) What is your lighting like? LEDs, fluorescent, incandescent, etc? 

 

[Byron]

I agree with others here.  CO2 naturally occurs primarily from the breakdown of organics in the substrate (one good reason for not cleaning into the sand/gravel) as well as the respiration of fish, plants and bacteria.  And there is usually more of it than some realize, depending upon the fish stock and your maintenance.  Many plants will be easily satisfied with this, along with moderate lighting in balance.  Adding other nutrients like trace minerals may help, again depending upon your plant species, water GH and fish load/feeding.  All of these contribute plant nutrients.
 
Adding CO2 by diffusion is the safer method when this is necessary, as it usually is for the high-tech planted tank that is primarily an aquatic "garden" with less emphasis on fish.  I would never resort to the liquid carbon supplements like Seachem's Excel or API's CO2 Booster as these both contain glutaraldehyde which is a very dangerous disinfectant.  I've written on this elsewhere.  They may be other "liquid carbon" supplements that are better, and I mention this as you are in the UK.  George Farmer (who I believe is a member here) has written on these in PFK, but I didn't pay much attention as I have no intention of every using them no matter what they may contain.  I've plenty of natural CO2 for my plants in all seven tanks.
 
I do use mineral supplements, and currently am using Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement, Flourish Trace, and in two tanks Flourish Iron as well.  The latter is because of the plant species in those tanks; as mentioned previously, different plants have differing needs.  For several years I only used the Flourish Comprehensive Supplement, but twice weekly.  I changed to using both the Comp (but only once a week) and Trace as an experiment, and found the plants benefited a tad and brush algae disappeared.  Finding the right proportional balance sometimes takes a bit of experimentation, and every tank is biologically different.
 
Byron.

 

[Freedom]

I have planted tanks (3), I do not use CO2, I stay low tech.  I have good lighting, on timers. 
 
I use Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Trace, I add one capful once a week of each of these.  My plants are growing like crazy!