Planted Tank Basics - Plant Nutrients

Now that you have your tank setup with a good substrate and good lighting you need to supply your plants with a balanced diet of nutrients to begin growing a beautiful planted tank for your fish. First of all, the stronger the lighting you have, the "hungrier" your plants will be. If they lack any specific nutrients you may find yellowing leaves, stunted growth, spindly stems, etc., all of which are signs of a nutrient deficiency.

The key is to find a good balance between lighting and nutrients to get the optimal growth from your plants without being overcome with algae. Algae will normally appear when we ignore an important piece of the nutrient plan.

When should I start fertilizing my tank?
It is common practice to allow the plants to get established in your tank for about 4 weeks or so before they show a need for fertilizers. This time could be longer in a lower lighted tank or sooner in a higher watt situation. The only way to know when to start is by watching the plants health. Growth rate is normally slow in a new tank but plant health is easily determined.

What do they need?

Micro Nutrients
These are available to us through our tap water and commercially sold liquid fertilizers such as Flourish, Kent , Tropica MasterGro , etc. Start off by dosing per the bottle instructions. With time and plant growth you may find the need to up your dosages slightly. Excessive dosing will promote algae growth.

Macro Nutrients (Nitrogen, Phospherous, Potassium)
Nitrates supplied using potassium nitrate (KNO3) Target is 5 - 10 ppm
Phosphates supplied using monopotassium sulfate or Fleet Enema Target is .5 - 1 ppm
Potassium supplied using potassium sulfate (K2SO4) or potassium chloride (No-Salt) Target is 20 ppm

Warning - Additional care must be taken when dosing macro nutrients .Over-dosing of macro's at best will only create algae, but at worst will kill your fish. Be sure to have quality test kits on hand and dose the tank in small increments. The process of determining your fertilizing regimen takes weeks to set and it can change again with time.

Substrate Fertilizers
Many plants (Swords,Crypts etc.) feed primarily through their root systems and need to be fed accordingly. There are fertilizers sold on the market in tablet form which get pushed into your substrate at the root base of the plant. Popular brands are Tetra Initial Sticks, Flourish Tabs, Root Tabs Use these per package instruction and always bury them deep in substrate.

My recommendations:

Liquid Fertiliser: Seachem Flourish & Trace, LushGro Aqua & Micros
Substrate Fertilisers: Ferka Stemma & Rosette capsules

Feel Free to contact me if you have any further enquiries or need assistance
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