Easy ferts?

[JfromHouston]

I know a lot of you guys enjoy dosing ferts and working with your tanks but I am not one of those people. I like looking at my tank and watching it evolve but not the daily/weekly ritual of dosing and pruning. The only thing I like to do is feed the fish. So with that in mind, here's my question: Are there ferts out there that are easily used? Something in a liquid form like Flourish Excel or 24 (both of which are the only ferts I currently dose)? I'm mainly looking for macros because I think I have my micros covered. Brand names etc would be greatly appreciated.

Basic tank specs:

20 High
CO2
75 PC watts
flourite substrate

I have really good plant growth (bordering on to much) and I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks or so. The tank is about 9 months old and all my parameters are in check but I want to make sure my tank stays the way it is.

Any advice on adding ferts or keep doing what I'm doing since all is going well?

Thanks!

[m.lemay]

Hey J, don't fix it if it aint broke. If you can sustain your tank the way it is and your happy with it, leave it alone. Sounds like you got things under control.

[shuks]

Go to the Greg Wattson site (www.gregwattson.com). Buy the PPMD pre-mix. That should cover your macroes.

[plantbrain]

Sounds like you might need 2-3 things,

SeaChem Equilibrium
KNO3
KH2PO4.

Add these 2 x a week, about 1/4 teaspoon of the KNO3
Rice grain worth of the KH2PO4.
1/4 teaspoon of the Seachem Eq after water change only.

To slow growth, reduce the light.
Run 10 hours or stagger the light if you use two bulbs.
one on for 6 and the other on for 6 so that there is a 4 hour over lap in the middle part of the day.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[JfromHouston]

Thanks alot guys...I really appreciate it.

I checked out tomwatson.com and it looks to be easy enough (and the price is right too). Maybe I'll put a little more effort into the tank and see what happens.

I know this isn't water parameter related but maybe you guys can help me out. I've got a layer of detritus that is slowly growing towards the bottom of the tank through the flourite bed. I can see it through the glass on all sides. Is this normal/healthy? Should I leave it undisturbed or does this need to be vacumed? The entire bottom of my tank is covered by pygmy chain sword, amongst other things, so it would be tough to do without disturbing the swords but if it needs to be done I'll do it.

Thanks again!

[Salamastre]

Don't get rid of that mulm! Pack it and sell it! Insta-Cycle Mulm!

Now seriously, I beleive that mulm is beneficial. Even more if vaccuming it would disturb your plants.

Years ago, before reading anything about planted tanks, I had a plain gravel tank with plain gravel. I had lots of Valis en Egerias, and a swordplant in there. No fertilization, low light, no CO2, 1 box filter. The plants where doing OK until I decide to vaccum out the 'dirt' that had accumulated for 2 years under the gravel. Result: Plants stopped growing and eventually died.

Years later I read Diana Walstad. It seems all that mulm, mainly fish waste and excess food, was providing all the nutrition my plants needed.

[shuks]

hay jfromhuston...

You say your using fluorite... Did you miux the fluorite with regular gravel, or did you put a layer of fluorite on the bottem and a layer of gravel over top?? or did you just use 100% flkuorite.

I filled my tank with fluorite yesterday, and the water is looking alot cleaner this mourning, but there is still a white cloudy hase in the water. Will this go away by itself???

[shalu]

A little mulm is good. Too much mulm is bad.

[JfromHouston]

Originally Posted by shuks

hay jfromhuston...

You say your using fluorite... Did you miux the fluorite with regular gravel, or did you put a layer of fluorite on the bottem and a layer of gravel over top?? or did you just use 100% flkuorite.

I filled my tank with fluorite yesterday, and the water is looking alot cleaner this mourning, but there is still a white cloudy hase in the water. Will this go away by itself???

The substrate bed is 100% flourite about an inch and a half thick. If I were to do it again I would probably mix it with another substrate strictly for aesthetic reasons. The flourite looks nice but it doesn't have a really natural look to it because all the chips are about the same size. If you grab a handful of sand off of the bottom of a local streambed you will see there are varying sizes of sand and gravel and for me personally, that's the way a substrate is supposed to look. But I also like things to look natural so....

Yes, the haze will go away in a few days. It's just got to work itself out of the water column. If you are using a HOB filter try putting some filter floss in it for a few days. That always polishes my water nicely without stripping stuff out of the water like carbon.

[shuks]

thanks for the tip bro..

[A Hill]

shuks,

i just bought flourite for a tank of my own and used just flourite to get a 2inch bed,.... this may sound like a stupid question but what color is your haze?

flourite is extreamly dirty and i learned that the hard way... if you didnt know this alreday you should wash it out thurally with a garden hose or something.. i washed mine out by putting it into a small 5g plastic tank. then i put a pair of stockings over the top that you can get all over i personally got an old pair from my mom then i put the flourite into the tank and put the hose in while off then put the stockings over the top. turned the hose on and manually washed the flourite for a half hour to get it all clean... and that was only one bag lol.... some bags are dirtyer than others so its your call what to do if its a light white haze it should clear up soon but when you plant your tank it will get hazy again and there will be dust on your plants....

just my 2 cents

Fish Newb?

[shuks]

hay...

ya, I think I got one of the dirtyist bags of fluorite possible. I washed the 45 Lb of it, and it took me over an hour. Then I let it dry out in the sun. dispite all the cleaning, it still turned my water a light brown colour. I did a bunch of water changes and my filter took care of the rest. For the first day or two I was cleaning my filter twice a day. After 24 hours all the brown hase went away and was replaced with a white cloudy hase. A couple days, and a few waterchanges later, my tank was looking pretty clear. It's still not crystal clear, but it's on its way. I predict within a couple more days it will be back to crystal clear again.

EDIT: I also put 1mm silica sand over the fluorite so when I do water changes it doesnt stir the fluorite around and make another big mess. But you're probably right, when I plant the tank it will get stired up again and mabey make a mess; hopefully not a big one. I don't get how people use 100% fluorite?? wouldn't it get stirted around alot and keep making a mess of the water?

[Wasserpest]

With time, the smaller particles in Flourite make their way down to the bottom, and the dust clouds become less of a problem.