Q for the plant gurus

hey guys i have recently been on the Plantedtank forum checking out scaping ideas etc for my tank and wat i see very often is that most of the guys there use dry ferts, and get great results and seem to cost alot less then the liquid stuff.

so the question is do any of the guys here use dry ferts and wats the results like.

thanks in advance...........

 

Hey Linga,

The dry ferts are same the liquid stuff that you buy, except you can change the dosage to fit your tanks specific needs, eg: how much lighting u have what substrate, the demands of your plants, the water chem, Co2 and and a bunch of other factors.

This is extremely difficult 2 get right because each tank will be different and therefore you would have 2 work out the correct dosage in which time your tank would be in imbalance causing all sorts of problems.
That is why most of the guys use an estimative index that gives u the general idea of what ferts are needed and in what quantity but thats still not easy 2 get right!

As for the results they can be better and it is alot cheaper in the long run( no expensive namebrand) but for a beginner-intermediate I world suggest staying away from this method..

Ps. you should ask on that forum they will give a more detailed explanation.

 

hi eskimo thanks for the reply, yes from the reading i have done it does seem that there is a bit of trial and error.

what was actualy causing the confusion and questioning from my side is the dosing regime. i am currently using the Prof's liquid ferts and as per instructions it says only dose once a week with water change but the guys doing dry ferts dose every day almost, do i need to dose more often with the liquid ferts or should i just stick to once a week with water change.

i dont have an overly dense planted tank, i dose happycarb for c02 looking at getting some pressurised c02 in the next month or so, my plant growth seems slow thats why im thinking of adding more ferts.

substrate; flourite and tetra complete mix
lights; cfl 4 of (says = to 400 watts but i think more like 250watts) so thats about 2.5 watts per gallon. any suggestions as to what i should do.

 

That sounds like a very good setup but the lights although acceptable are not enough to promote fast growth(this may sound expensive but I would aim 4 atleast 4wpg. Also whats your kh reading, photo period and what plants are u not happy with?

I would stick to dosing at waterchanges, you not having algae problems are you? Also your enriched substrate should be enough to keep most plants happy so Im assuming the problem isn't entirely with ferts..

 

hi there i will be adding 2x 54 watt T5's shortly i think that should get my lighting right. i did not want to add too much light to start with as i dont have the c02 for the high lighting. as for plants this is my very first planted tank so i dont know the names, but my main focus has been on my micro swords which in 3 weeks hasnt seemed to grow at all. some of the taller stem plants seemed to have grown about 8cms or so.

i had BBA during the cycle but after dosing the happycarb no signs of any algae.

sorry dont have a kh reading only tests i did was amonia, nirite and nitrate. will check KH when i get home

 

If I were you, I would remove the CFl's and only use T5's. The problem with energy saving lights, Which T5's are, is that you still need to use the wattage on the globe itself, not the = to 400watts rating. So if you have an 11watt CFL, it's still only 11 watts. Adding Co2 to a low light tank wont give you anything extra, in terms of growth, because now your limiting factor is light. Your plants still need light to photosynthesize. The more Co2 in the water, the more light they need. The more light, the more Co2 will be used. You see what I mean?

Then you need to find the right balance of fertilization for your tank, which will be a constant trial and error scenario, until you find the right balance. I use Dry ferts. N,P,K and liquid trace elements... Since using EI and Co2, the growth rate of plants in my tank has been astonishing! Plants growing nearly 600mm in 3 weeks!!!!

 

hi slagter, thanks, so if i change to t5 only will 6x54watt t5's be ok. that is awesome growth, hopefully i can get it all right

 

I am actually at the point where I detest fast growers. Unfortuntely most stem plants you can use for the background are fast growers. I have high(ish) light (around 3WPG) but in tanks with a water column depth of 45cm or more one needs HID lights to achieve good carpet growth. So my carpet plants don't really grow very fast but the stems go wild. I trim 20cm weekly. I am looking for green medium growers. Any ideas? And I actually want to increase the lights to get better colour in my red plants, but then I would have to start injecting CO2...

 

What size is your tank Linga? If you have a 400l tank up to a 500l tank, the 324watts of light will be fine. You'll still be over 2watts per gal. Make sure the tubes you get are from 6500K though. This promotes plant growth. then get some 10 000K bulbs to make the tank look whiter rather than yellow. But that light spectrum is better for plant growth.

@ Laure - Try some of the Ludwigia species. They don't grow quite as fast, but you'd be better off with Co2 at that amount of light anyway. It's pretty pointless going over 4watts/gal anyway, from what I've read...

 

cool thanks guys really appreciate the input. the tank slagter is actually just over 300 liters so i will be at 3wpg which should just be perfect

@ Laure

this is my fav plant in the tank im not sure on the name, but it is ultra green and the underside of the leaves are red

 

It kinda looks like a Ludwigia... Not sure though. You have a closer pic?

 

UM... is eskimo & Philfarm the same person???

 

Yup...

 

lol, yeah, its his other screen nick, wonder why using both?

anyway, linga, keep us posted when you decide to change the lighting

 

This is probably gonna cause some confusion but my nick should actually be philfarm, Im sure Slagter understands..

 

It's cool eskimo and/or philfarm... heehee...

Your picture in your signature gave you away!

 

Need a closer pic

Its either Ludwigia or Lobelia Cardinalis

 

this is the closet pic i could get, i also tested my KH and P04 this morning, got a KH of around 3 and P04 at about 0.75 (if that was in my marine tank i would have went crazy) but are these numbers ok for a planted tank

 

Looks like Ludwigia to me... Not sure though...

 

maybe some type of ludwigia, but the shape of the leaf doesn't fit Ludwigia repens, at least it doesn't look like mine... :hmmmm: