# Plants and fertilizer



## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

Hi guys,

I have a sword fern, java fern, water spirte and Anubis in a 2 gallon. Is it necessary to buy some fertilizer liquid to put in the tank?

Thanks!


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

Fertilizer isn't always necessary. I rarely add ferts to my tanks, especially my smaller tanks.


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## jibruno (Dec 26, 2011)

do you have fish in the tank too or is it just plants right now? 

im guessing you have a betta in there so in my opinion i would upgrade to a 5 gal to give the betta and plants more space. The plants you have will do well with ferts, i use the same plants as you. They are hardy plants to the point where they do not need ferts to survive but will flourish with the right help. be considerate of the other living creatures though, some ferts contain metals that could kill snails (if you have any)


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

What you should do is get a pack of root tabs. This way you break up one tab into 3 or 4 pieces and push them under the substrate in your tank in various spots (generally under the plants) especially under that sword. All Swords are very heavy root feeders meaning they get all their nutrients from their roots! So any liquid ferts would not benefit your sword whereas root tabs are slow dissolving fertilizers and can be soaked up from the plants roots.

And you only have to replace them every 2-3 months! So that's a plus too.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

Great, I appreciate the advice! Unfortunately I don't plan on upgrading the 2 gallon spec anytime soon. I bought the biggest size that would work for my guy and the space I have. I just love the fluval spec. Although I buy small plants that work well with his space.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

I'm sure glad I listened to everyone on here and replaced the plastic plants with live ones. They not only look better but he doesn't get poked and cuts anymore.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yup! And the best thing about live plants is they generally reproduce themselves too so in the long run, you save money :-D

Just be warned about the Amazon Sword though, they can reach up to over 1 foot long and get very big. So no, it's not a small plant haha but it should be alright.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

I didn't know that about the sword. That aquarium guy sure didn't listen to me when I said slow growing little low light plants.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

That's alright and yeah they usually don't listen or really know what they're doing. Some do, but other's don't  It should be okay though, the leaves will probably get a little soft without much fertilizer unless you get the root tabs but otherwise will live.


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## ElizabethB (Sep 16, 2012)

I have a question- Sorry to hijack a thread, but I am using Flourish Excel in my 20 gallon betta tank, and I really wanted to get root tabs. However, I don't know where to get them, the brand, or anything. The FE is all my LPS sells. I have an Amazon Sword, an Aponogeton, a dwarf water lily, and a ball of Java moss. I feel that the Sword would benefit from a different type of fertilizer in particular. 

Thanks, and sorry!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Flourish Excel is not a fertilizer!!! It's actually a CO2 supplement which is different from fertlizer! Yeah I don't know why SeaChem did that with the names but it's not a fertlizer. The regular fert is just Flourish, not Flourish Excel.

If you've got access to a credit card you can find them online. I like to use ThatPetPlace.com and SeaChem also sells some root tabs as well and they're pretty good.


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## ElizabethB (Sep 16, 2012)

lilnaugrim said:


> Flourish Excel is not a fertilizer!!! It's actually a CO2 supplement which is different from fertlizer! Yeah I don't know why SeaChem did that with the names but it's not a fertlizer. The regular fert is just Flourish, not Flourish Excel.
> 
> If you've got access to a credit card you can find them online. I like to use ThatPetPlace.com and SeaChem also sells some root tabs as well and they're pretty good.


Good grief! That is what I get for listening to the LPS. :evil:
Is it hurting my fish?! I have a debit card, that isn't a problem; I just wanted to make sure that I am purchasing the correct thing.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

No it's not hurting them as long as you do not overdose. That's the only reason I don't use it is because it's really easy to overdose, but it shouldn't hurt your fish. It's just putting CO2 back into your water that is taken out by aeration. It's technically a fertilizer because plants do need CO2 to grow but there's enough of it in your water that they should be fine without it. CO2 is taken out of the water by aeration so like your filter splashing into the water and making those bubbles, that helps get rid of CO2. But you won't be "out" of CO2 unless you've got like 2 bubble wands and the filter splashing around all going lol

And yes all root tabs are basically the same plus or minus a few ingredients but I know SeaChem's brand is good and trusted so I suggest those ^_^


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## darkangel (Jun 11, 2013)

Becareful with ferts, if you use too much say hello to algae. I use excel, my tank is like only 1.5 gals so I use 1 drop a week. Its pretty nice.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

If you've got fast growing plants there should be no algae problem since they'll soak up all the nutrients needed for algae. Of course if you don't, then yes you can get algae as well. Also depends on the lighting situation as well, higher lights will produce more algae than low lighting will.


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