# Fert Program Recommendation



## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Can anyone recommend a fert program that is fairly simple for a beginner so I can get a handle on things. I know it's not that simple, but I'll tell you what I have now and what I currently do. I have/had bouts with thread algae and brown soot on my leaves, so I don't think I'm covering all my bases. 

Tank - 46 Gallon 
Light - 96 watts (11 Hours) 192 watts (4 Hours)
C02 - DIY 1.9 litre and .5 litre (t-valve)
Fert - Nutrafin Plant Grow 0.15-0-0 (iron enriched) 1 tsp /week
KNO3 - 1/4 tsp 3 times/week
Substrate - ecocomplete
Water changes - 20% weekly

Right now, I don't have any high light plants. I currently have:

Hygrophila difformis 
Hygrophila polysperma
Hygrophila Sunset
Java Moss

I would like to eventually included long strand plants like Vallisneria.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Give this thread a read:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=7980

It may answer some of your questions since your tank is about the same size. Pay close attention to Plantbrain's (Tom Barr) recomendations for fertilizing. You can also do a search on the EI method of fertilizing for more information.

The thread algae may be attrributed to either low CO2 levels or low PO4 levels.

Since you are new to planted tanks, you may also want to read this thread:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=3105

Chuck Gadd's site is an excellent source for beginners, especially his articles pages. He also has a downloadable calculator to help you figure out how much fertilizer to add based on your tank size. Here is the link for Chuck's page:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/articles.htm


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Thanks much, I'll give it all a look.


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## bensaf (Jun 20, 2005)

Definately look up Tom Barr`s Estimative Index, a very simple easy to follow method. It can be tweaked to suit almost all set ups.

Notice you are adding KNO3 but not PO4. This may be the missing piece of the jigsaw that will really promote optimum plant growth and eliminate the minor algae problems.

First place to look with algae problems is usually the Co2, that or the PO4 may need to be increased.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Bensaf,

The following statement is from a link I found at APC. I believe it's from Chucks' Planted Page. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/index.htm

"_In a well lit tank, excess phosphorus (phosphates) can lead to serious algae problems, so extra phosphate is almost never added. And most fish foods contain sizable amounts of phosphorus, so the plants will most likely be able to get as much as they need. _

_Potassium is an important macronutrient, and it is commonly in short supply in an aquarium. The amount of potassium from food and waste is often much less than the amounts of nitrogen or phosphorus. So adding potassium is often a good idea. _"

_There are several commercial aquarium plant additives that contain potassium. You can also obtain Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4) or Potassium Chloride (KCl) from a gardening store as a source. K2SO4 is often referred to as "Sulfate of Potash", and KCl is referred to as Muriate of Potash. I only recently (in the past couple months) starting adding potassium, and the improvement in plant growth and health has been amazing. _

It doesn't sound like you agree with this. I was going to start adding K2S04 to my tank and not PO4.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

This belief is now dead. You will find a lot of these old beliefs out there, but they are no longer religion. EI and PPS are the tried and true methods of the present. I prefer EI over PPS, but they both do the same thing.....give plants what they need to grow (and that includes PO4). As long as you have high CO2 with 3 wpg.....you will not run into any probs with elevated PO4.

Read up on EI. It works!!!
jB


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

JB thanks for keeping things current. Can you give me a link to EI?


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## bensaf (Jun 20, 2005)

As Jason said, a lot of articles on the internet should come with sell by dates  Some of the stuff we read may have been written 5 to 10 years ago. Most of it was anecdotal at best anyway. Luckily people like Tom Barr have done a lot of work since backed up by testing and research since then.

Whenever possible when reading something on the net try to get an idea of when the article was written. There was a time some thought the world was flat  

As I mentioned, like many others here, adding PO4 in my case reduced algae (specifically green spot) and never induced algae.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

houseofcards said:


> JB thanks for keeping things current. Can you give me a link to EI?


http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

thanks Bensaf and Laith. I'll give this one a good read.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Split the Nutrafin stuff up into 3x a week dosing, not weekly.

CO2 and CO2 and CO2 are the main challenges you face with your routine.
Lots of light and DIY CO2............not a good combo, stick with the 96 w, not both 2x96w. 

Until you get a gas tank set up at least.....

I'd add about a rice grain's worth of KH2PO4 3x a week with the KNO3.
GH and KH are at least 3 degrees?

That's about it.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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