All In One "shrimp Safe" Plant Fertilisers

Okies, I have a 4 foot communial tank also containing cherry and amano shrimps (so reccomendations MUST be shrimp safe).
Ive been using Flourish and dosing weekly and have sand as substrate.
Ive noticed most of my plants have started to develop small holes in the leaves that brown around the edges of the holes and grow larger over time.
After browsing these forums ive come to the conclusion that its a Phosphorus deficency as there was a post recently with photos of plants
that look the same as mine problem wise.

The question is, what should I be using fertiliser wise?? The seachem line seams to be a total nightmare where you require about 4-5 different
products for a full dosing regieme and dont even get me started on the rip off Flourish Trace I purchased at same time as my regular flourish.

I do have some API root tabs that ive held off using till I can confirm they are shrimp safe should I try them?

Ive recently changed from Gravel and a UGF Filter to sand, so maybe its because the sand is so sterile at moment? (Ive just completed the mini-cycle)

Again any reccomendations need to be shrimp safe as I couldnt bear to loose the little buggers hehe and preferably something thats "All-In-One"


PH 7.6, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, Temp 78, No C02 system.
Tank contents.. Plecos, Clown Loaches, Khuli Loachs, Zebra Danios, Red Tailed Shark, Black Widow Tetras, Neon Tetras, Cherry and Amano Shrimps

I used API leafzone once and I'm sure it killed my shrimp.

Maybe someone else can cast some light on this, as i'd also be interested in what 'all-in-one' would be recommended>?

Z

RMcdowell said:

Okies, I have a 4 foot communial tank also containing cherry and amano shrimps (so reccomendations MUST be shrimp safe).
Ive been using Flourish and dosing weekly and have sand as substrate.
Ive noticed most of my plants have started to develop small holes in the leaves that brown around the edges of the holes and grow larger over time.
After browsing these forums ive come to the conclusion that its a Phosphorus deficency as there was a post recently with photos of plants
that look the same as mine problem wise.

The question is, what should I be using fertiliser wise?? The seachem line seams to be a total nightmare where you require about 4-5 different
products for a full dosing regieme and dont even get me started on the rip off Flourish Trace I purchased at same time as my regular flourish.

I do have some API root tabs that ive held off using till I can confirm they are shrimp safe should I try them?

Ive recently changed from Gravel and a UGF Filter to sand, so maybe its because the sand is so sterile at moment? (Ive just completed the mini-cycle)

Again any reccomendations need to be shrimp safe as I couldnt bear to loose the little buggers hehe and preferably something thats "All-In-One"


PH 7.6, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, Temp 78, No C02 system.
Tank contents.. Plecos, Clown Loaches, Khuli Loachs, Zebra Danios, Red Tailed Shark, Black Widow Tetras, Neon Tetras, Cherry and Amano Shrimps

Click to expand...

Seachem trace is basically a watered down version of Seachem Flourish so don't wate your money on it.

You are right however, Seachem's range requires seperate Nitrogen and Phosphorus to be added.

You do have a lot of fish in there and I guess you feed them. With the amount of poop plecs produce I am struggling to understand why you would have a phosphorus shortage!!

With a decent amount of fish I would expect nitrate to be higher as I would for phosphorus.

All normal all in one off the shelf ferts are shrimp safe dosed at sensible levels. Unsafe products are Flourish Excel and EasyCarbo when overdosed. These are carbon additives.

Before you go for another off the shelf fert I would suggest you get to the real root of the problem which I am assuming is not a phosphorus defficiency.

Can you give us some more detail of your tank. lights and filter.

Most off the shelf ferts will be very low (if they have any) on phosphorus and nitrate so they often need supplementing. Much easier and cheaper to buy your own powders and mix your own.

AC

i use tetraplant plantamin for my shrimp tank feeds the plants well and does not harm the shrimp
I only used it after confirmation from tetra that it was 100% safe with shrimp

#copy of email

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for your question

TetraPlant PlantaMin is most certainly not toxic to freshwater shrimp. As a plant fertiliser, this feature would be a massive disadvantage to the product as many planted aquaria contain shrimps as part of the algae control crew. Obviously the product is completely fish & filter bacteria safe too.

I hope this has been of help

Yours sincerely and Happy Fishkeeping!


Dave Hulse B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.

Tetra Club Help Desk

Okay,
Further information..
Im running 2 X fluval 3+'s (1 at each end of the tank) with a spray bar attached to each aimed more towards the surface of the water (one fluval has fine particle remover media inside)
Like I posted earlier, I have just changed from gravel to sand and just completed the mini-cycle envolved.
My tank is 2 years mature (bar the change from gravel to sand) and both the fluvals have mature filter media (both were in the tank at same time as UGF)
My Nitrates may be low due to the water changes ive been doing (mini-cycle is over - Ammonia, Nitrite both been stable and 0 for 4 days now).
My PH has gone up since change to sand.. Used to be 7.2 now its constant 7.6.
I have no C02 system.
The plants were doing well in the gravel and were fine in the sand that ive had for 2-3 weeks now, but a few days ago started to take a turn for the worst.
Saying that, I did take my light system apart and "Tin-Foiled" the inside of my tank hood for more reflection about 4 days ago (I would guess its 20% brighter now).
Lights are on 12 hours a day (on a timer) I have cold blue cathode tubes that come on for an hour a night when normal lights turn off (installed 10 days ago).
I dose weekly with Flourish (water change and hoover before I dose)
Light is a "30w 900mm 36" Arcadia Original Topical Lamp 026mm Promotes Plant Growth" and I also have a Evaporation cover (clear plastic) on the whole tank under the light.
Im slightly over stocked fish wise, 9 Zebra Danios, 4 Black Widows, 4 Neon Tetras, 1X 5" red tailed shark, 2 X 5"+ Common plecs (1 is going to be rehoused soon), 5 X clown loaches (3 =small and will be
rehoused when too big), 4 Khuli Loaches (somewhere lol), and 5 Panda Corries (+ about 20+ Shrimp).

Ive also added a few bubble walls as was told they help with oxygenating the water to speed up or help the cycle (will take out soon) Was wondering if the continuous bubbles were damaging the plants..

Few pics so u can see the plant damage (sorry for quality)..

Another

With no CO2 you want to reduce surface turbulence. This may mean you have to remove some scum film from the surface until your plants are healthy again. You should also minimise water changes as this will also destabilise CO2 levels. (Tom Barr suggests doing water changes 6 monthly on Non CO2 tank!!!!) Ditch the bubble walls they will be adding to the turbulence. The theory behind this is that in a tank without CO2 injection there is a natural amount gained from the same gaseous exchange at the water surface that brings in Oxygen. Therefore the more you disturb the surface the more CO2 you lose. When you are trying to maintain stable levels without injection you can't realy afford to be letting any leave. Water changes will add to destabilising the consistency levels because tap water is saturated with CO2 and therefore means that it boosts CO2 each water change. The idea with injection is that we try to keep a consistent level of CO2. Without injection to maintain a consistent level means not letting too much out at the surface and not banging huge amounts in with new water.

If you mean by fine particle remover the black carbon pads then take it out. It will remove the fertiliser nutrient.

The sand shouldn't raise the Ph. what type of sand did you get.

The turn for the worst could be that the light has increased and therefore their hunger has increased whilst you haven't increased their food so they are starting to starve. Those holes look a little like Potassium defficiency to me.

I would start dosing the Sechem twice weekly as suggested on the bottle and I would up the dose. There will be nowhere near the levels of copper in it to hurt the shrimp.

With the lights I would reduce them to 6 hours and then each week add an hour. Let the plants get used to the light and as they perk up then give them an extra hour. Try and make 8-10 hours your max and use the moonlight for longer (some will tell you that the moonlights cause algae. Don't believe them)

Original Tropical is a horrid light. Ridiculously pink and very dull. Should work OK but I would personally swap it for an Arcadia Freshwater. They will both do the same. (All light promotes plant growth)

If your tank has a hood, ditch the condensation tray. Pointless (IMO) Just add ½litre fresh water back weekly.

I know you are overstocked. So are many planted enthusiast. lol. This is why I questioned the nitrates being so low and your suggestion of phophorus defficiency. I think the plants are using all the nitrate and phosphorus up and then starving because of another nutrient being defficient (Seachem and C)

AC