I put some live plants in my tank but they're failing hard. Had a convo with a guy at the LFS and he said my water is the reason the plants were dying.... Using an API test kit my amonia, nitrite, and nitrate were all zero. He suggested I back off the water changes to allow the nitrate to increase to help the plants. Ive been adding a fertilizer as well but he suggested I let the nitrates get to 15-20ppm before doing water changes, and only top up for evaporation.
It's been 2 months since i did a water change now. Amonia and nitrite are still zero, the colour for the nitrate has changed a bit. Not as high as 5ppm which is the lowest colour band on the card, judgement call here but looks like 2, maybe 3 ppm. The plants still have a bit of green but are sickly and nearly dead. What can I do to help?
It's been 2 months since i did a water change now. Amonia and nitrite are still zero, the colour for the nitrate has changed a bit. Not as high as 5ppm which is the lowest colour band on the card, judgement call here but looks like 2, maybe 3 ppm. The plants still have a bit of green but are sickly and nearly dead. What can I do to help?