# whats a good plant food?



## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

i have 4 small. swords 4 cypts and anacharis and water wisteria all planted in min 3" fine gravel substrate.what supplement can i use for them in my 3 way divided 10g tank. i use Co2 booster already and they are nice and green but a little thin and translucent, which i dont like even though they are healthy. i have the lights on my tank on for at least 6 hrs and the rest of the day it has dim sunlight. what would better tabs or liquid plant food?

thanks for yalls help


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

A good rule is leave and root frets also algae cannot use root ferts the small bottle with the marine stuff is good so is the stuff that looks like water dechlorinators.


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

so the best one to use is root tabs for fertilization??


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

tsukiowns said:


> so the best one to use is root tabs for fertilization??


A good mixture of both allows floating and rooted plant to get nutrients.


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks so much I won't have any flooring plants yet but I can use the info for future reference


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

flourish is great , make sure its just flourish though. not flourish excel or anything like that...


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

aokashi said:


> flourish is great , make sure its just flourish though. not flourish excel or anything like that...


 flourish only contains micro nutrients, you still need to add macro.

get root tabs for your crypts and swords and dose flourish and a macro fert blend for your wisteria and anarchis, you could use something like API leaf zone,aqueon aquarium plant food for more macro ferts, or if you want to have fun you can buy dry ferts and make your own


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

I'm just scared that the dry fert will rise up into the rank and cloud my water really bad


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

it shouldnt, you add only a small amount a week, for instance since I have a low light tank, I only dose 1 time a week. And I mix my ferts into a solution so every week I add about 50ml of liquid in when I do a water change. No clouding since it is already dissolved


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

Cool, then what I can do is add the tap for my crypt and swords... An then use flourish liquid with a Aqueon plant food liquid mix once a week for my anacharist and wisteria even though they will be planted... I also have 2 marineland 10w bulbs that run for 6-7hrs a day.. Would I get algae??


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

just push some root tabs in close to the swords and crypts and then add the fertiilzer straight to the water column. The wisteria and anarchis can absorb through roots they grow but they do much better with it in the water column.

You shouldnt get algae, just add once a week, if you see any algae run your lights for less time, though TB I run my lights for 12 hours a day and havent had any algae issues. Algae wont grow unless there is too much of something so if you get algae you either need to add less fertilizer or use less light.


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

Yeah I think I was using to much fert hen I got my Alfred for the amOunt of plants I had oh cool so that mixture should last me for a while... What is the ratio or math you use to make the mix for a ten gallon tank?? And how much o the mix use a week?? Sorry for so many question I just got into the NPT realm lol


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

if you use the liquid stuff (api, seachem, aqueon) then it will say on the bottle how much to use. For dry ferts there are a bunch of different methods you could use. i would probably do something like this:

1/8 tsp KNO3 (unless you have high nitrates in your tank than I would use KS204)
1/32 tsp KH2PO4
1/32 tsp trace elements (flourish if you want or csmb+)

I would add all of that into a solution, say 500ml and dose 250ml one week and 250ml the next week (unless you wanna split the above into two, which would be a pain, not sure you can get 1/64 tsp measures lol)

This is based off of EI or estimative index dosing. Do you have a dirted tank (soil etc?).


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

No it's just fine gravel... And I don't think I want to dive In to dry ferts yet lol so I will use the mixture of Aqueon and flourish for macro and micro which I just cut half the dose for 10g and add Half and half to my tank with the root tabs for the root aspect of the aquarium... Does this sound like a good plan ???


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

ok

I would add root tabs, 1 under swords and 1 under crypts (usually people put them every 6 inches or so, for a 10 gallon I would put 2 under where your rooted plants are), then dose the liquids as they are recommended on the bottle. If you are unsure about the amount on the bottle start with half for teh first month and then you can up it if your plants show signs of deficiencies.


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## corwinlame (Sep 4, 2012)

I think both mixture are best for nutrients so always try to prefer good plants food. I think this is perfect light for your tank and if you use CO2 booster it make your plant green. Plants are living things that require food.


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## tsukiowns (Sep 22, 2011)

Yeah I put three tabs one for each section of my tank no more than 2 inch away from my plants and I added Half the recommended dose of flourish and aqueon plant food as well as a full dose of co2 booster these plant should be healthier looking in no time I will post pictures of before and after


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