OK, now you have a tank, a good substrate, but that's not enough for the plants... They need something more: fertilizers. What kind do you use? Solid or liquid? What ratio? What is important to know? How often? Are they universal or specialized for just some sorts of plants? Anything else?
Thanks! ;)
The answers to some of your question can be very varied, but on a personal basis i use dry hydroponics fertilizers, quite simply it`s way way cheaper & works great.
The fertilizers i use are as follows:
Nitrate - KNO3 - ( Potassium Nitrate)
Phosphate - KH2PO4 - ( Potassium Phosphate)
Potassium - K2SO4 - ( Potassium Sulphate)
That takes care of my Macro nutrition, from my traces i also use the trace mix from the Hydroponic store - namely B&B Hydroponics in Ottawa.
Their are several methods to dosing planted aquariums, a good source of explanation to these methods is the E- book compiled by Greg Watson "Guide to Dosing Stratergies for Aquarium Plants",
http://www.aquaticplantnews.com/
as the book will tell you for the most part they all work well, it`s about finding one that fits with your comfort & style.I personal use the estimative index strategy tweaked to my plant uptake.
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2819-EI-light-for-those-less-techy-folks
Something to keep in mind dosing ferts is highly dependent on several factors - Light, Co2 , plant mass & Livestock bio load, that`s why each tank may differ.
I strongly recommend purchasing & reading Greg Watson`s E book.
Regards
How big is the tank?
If it's smaller than 30 gallons, I wouldn't bother with mixing dry ferts. I use the Seachem Flourish line for my 4 and 6 gallon nano tanks and I'm happy with the results so far. It's very easy to use and doesn't require a lot of experience. Seachem has a recommended dosing schedule that applies to most planted tanks, but you can tweak it depending on the needs of the plants and how heavily planted the tank is. Check out this thread for more details: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/45119-seachem-dosing-calculator-chart.html
How does liquid ferts affect any fish in the tank? Wouldn't tablets in the substrate be a safer choice? Just wondering, as I am planning a planted tank with Angels.
Quote from: ajm1961 on April 28, 2010, 12:28:49 PM
How does liquid ferts affect any fish in the tank? Wouldn't tablets in the substrate be a safer choice? Just wondering, as I am planning a planted tank with Angels.
The quantities required is fish safe, There is some thought out there about Nitrates & other supplementation & it`s impact on some invertebrates.
Thanks, guys!!!
The reason why I call this themes "for idiots" is (as you probably know) to keep a things simple, that even an idiot (or "dummy" if you want more "politically correct" ;) ) can understand what we are talking about and that your post and answers can be a future reference for some other members with a same questions because this is so universal, everyone with a plants will come to fertilizers sooner or later . I've had some not so good experiences on some other websites where some people tend to complicate a things unnecessarily (ex. even the beginner can't use DIY CO2 system for plants, you have to buy immediately pressurized system and spend 300$ "tout de suite" or forget the aquariums ;D etc.). I realy like this site because peoples don't tend to over blow the informations they give you, they don't say that there information is a most important and you have a choice what you will use or not.
Thank you guys (and girls, of course ;)! ) for your patience and help! I realy appreciate it!