# Newbie Fertilizing Questions



## sreccd (Mar 16, 2016)

So I've recently switched to live plants in my 20 gallon. It's low light with Eco Complete substrate. Moderately planted with some Anubis, Amazon Swords, Java moss, and some other typical low maintenance plants. The tank is divided and I have one male betta in each side. That's where I'm concerned actually. Given the low fish load I'm afraid the plants won't get what they need from fish waste alone. So I have a few questions about fertilizing.

1. Would the method described here be ok? http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/planted-aquarium/low-tech-planted-tank-guide/#fish
"1/4 Teaspoon of Seachem Equilibrium (for traces and Calcium + Magnesium). (1.42 ppm Ca, 0.42 ppm Mg, 3.43 ppm K and 0.02 ppm Fe) 1/8 Teaspoon of KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate) (5.27 ppm NO3 and 3.32 ppm K) 1/32 Teaspoon of KH2PO4 (Potassium Mono Phosphate) (1.61 ppm PO4 and 0.66 ppm K)"

2. What would a good water change schedule look like with that routine? I'm very paranoid about accumulating fertilizers killing my fish.

3. Do I need to worry about the nutrients in my tap water at all? I use prime as a water conditioner.
Thanks for the help!

4. If the above route is overkill, what do you suggest?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

1) The amounts listed are fine, a good ratio of KNO3 and KH2PO4. 
IF...
...there is very little NO3 from fish food. (Never mind the fish. They are not the source of fertilizer, it is the fish food you are adding)
THEN...
Add the fertilizers in amounts that the NO3 test will show that the level has doubled through the week, and you would do a 50% water change.

Add the fertilizers in amounts that the NO3 test will show that the level has increased a bit, but nowhere near doubled and you can do smaller water changes.

In a low light tank with no CO2 I would start by adding those doses once a week. You could cut the dose in half and add it twice a week, if you want. 
Then test. 
Then adjust to suit the water change schedule that suits you.

About Seachem Equilibrium:
What is the GH (General Hardness) of the tap water? This supplies calcium and magnesium. 
Bettas seem able to handle a very wide range of GH, so if your water already has a GH of at least 3 German degrees of hardness, you probably do not need to add a GH booster. If you thought the Ca or Mg was missing from the tap water you could use a small amount. Read the label for dosing. Add it just once a week, when you do a water change, and add just enough to maintain a stable GH. IME plants do not use very much, and I cannot tell through a week if they have used any. I am just using hobby level test kits, and they are not showing any change.
Equilibrium is not a trace mineral source. There are some traces in it, but I would not use it as a source of traces.

If you want to add traces, then I would get Nutritrace, a product that has been called CSM+B for many years, and may still be called that in some sites. Use a dose of this at about the same amount as phosphorus, or less. Do not over dose. Do not mix this with the KH2PO4.
http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/i...rnEdit=5&Returnitemname=&ReturnShowItemStart=
If the plants show they need more iron, then add chelated iron such as one of these:
http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/index.asp?Option1=cats&Edit=4&EditU=1&Regit=4

2. Do enough water changes to keep the NO3 under 20ppm. 
You can adjust the dosing to match whatever water change you like. You can certainly do larger water changes, and keep the levels lower, but low levels or inconsistent levels seem to lead to algae.

3. See comments about Seachem Equilibrium in 1.
You can get a water quality report for your tap water if you are on a public water source. Some companies are better about reporting more things. Most of these are on line.

4. It is not overkill to fertilize the plants. If the fish food is not supplying enough (and I agree, it probably is not) then looking into the right amounts of each element to add is important. 
Using dry fertilizer is definitely the cheapest way to go. You might not need this sort of economy with a single low tech 20 gallon tank, though. Here are some options.

A.) Just dose potassium and iron, assuming the fish food has the N, P, and traces taken care of. a.)Something like Leaf Zone, a liquid fertilizer is such a product. 
b.) Get K2SO4 and chelated iron in dry form, and just dose these. 
c.) Get Seachem Flourish Potassium and Seachem Flourish Iron.

B.) Get all the ferts and dose, and ignore the fish food. Probably need bigger water changes. 
a.) Any products in the store are likely to be liquids. This may be OK, but dry is cheaper. 
b.) Do the full Estimative Index method for low tech tanks with dry ferts. 
KNO3, KH2PO4, (optional is K2SO4), CSM+B, chelated iron. (Dose GH booster only if needed)
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/15225-estimative-index-dosing-guide.html
c.) Get the full Seachem product line including N, P, K, Fe, Comprehensive and Excel. (Again, GH booster is optional) Dose in a similar manner to the EI method. Use this function here at APC to help figure out dosing.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php


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## sreccd (Mar 16, 2016)

Diana K said:


> 1) The amounts listed are fine, a good ratio of KNO3 and KH2PO4.
> IF...
> ...there is very little NO3 from fish food. (Never mind the fish. They are not the source of fertilizer, it is the fish food you are adding)
> THEN...
> ...


Thank you! This was incredibly helpful! I have some dry KNO3 and KH2PO4 (got it cheap a while ago since I knew I wanted to plant someday), so I'll probably do those and grab some CSM+B with chelated iron if needed. I'm expecting around weekly 50% or biweekly 25% water changes, but I'll test for sure.

Not sure of my tap's GH, but I'll test it and see. I meant to explicitly ask about equilibrium too. I saw it was a GH booster and was a bit confused, so thanks for clearing that up. Thanks!


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