Do amazon swords need Root tabs? Or can they be fine with no fertilizer/Leaf zone?

[UnityLover]

Im planning to start a 10 gallon carpeted betta tank. Will swords need root tabs?

 

[sharkweek178]

Swords get too big for a 10 gallon. But there are plenty of good alternatives like crypts. Since they're root feeders then root tabs would help.

 

[UnityLover]

Ok

 

[UnityLover]

Also, for a carpet I'm planning to use tiny leaf plants and long hair plants. What species is the tiny leaf plant? But how big do swords get? And how fast do they grow?

 

[UnityLover]

Should I get liquid co2 supplements made by api or root tabs?

 

[Essjay]

Root tabs are fertiliser. Plants need fertiliser.


There are a few tiny leaved carpeting plants. The one I have (which is struggling to cope with amano shrimps pulling it up all the time) is Marsilea hirsuita.

 

[Byron]

Should I get liquid co2 supplements made by api or root tabs?

No, you do not need CO2 supplements of any type. The substrate tabs will help some plants. A comprehensive liquid supplement will benefit all plants. But this needs explaining.

Aquatic plants grow by photosynthesis. The light intensity drives photosynthesis, but the plants also need sufficient nutrients. Light and nutrients are a team, and without one or the other plants will slow and may even stop growing.

Light involves intensity but also spectrum. White light is made up of colour wavelengths. Think of a rainbow, or a spectrum when white light shines through it. All the colours show side by side. Through evolution, plants have made red and blue the light essential for photosynthesis. Without sufficient red and blue, with red slightly more important, photosynthesis cannot occur. Adding green does improve plant response.

To the nutrients. Plants require 17 nutrients. Some are termed macro-nutrients because plants need more of them, compared to micro-nutrients. But all have to be present. These occur from feeding fish and doing water changes. Sometimes this is sufficient, without additional fertilizer. Sometimes not. But overdosing any fertilizer can cause problem algae, because the plants need the nutrients in balance with the light intensity.

A comprehensive supplement is a fertilizer that has most of everything (I do not need to go into this detail) and they assume your source water (tap) will have some nutrients already. This is why the GH is important. You are in Long Island which I take to be New York, so I believe you have soft water. But if memory serves me, the GH is fine for what we are talking about here. So I would suggest a comprehensive liquid may be all you need. Substrate tabs do benefit substrate-rooted plants like swords because these are heavy root feeders, but you do not want one of these giants in a 10g. The smaller swords, like the pygmy chain swords, would do well, and they are fine with the liquid comprehensive.

As for brands, Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium is one of the best, as is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. There are others too that I have not used, and I don't know where they may or may not be available. But these two are all you will need, sparingly probably, if that. The API root tabs are a mess from what other members have mentioned, but you don't need tabs anyway. Both companies make many products under the Flourish and Florin names, so only get one of the two I've spelled out.

 

[UnityLover]

No, you do not need CO2 supplements of any type. The substrate tabs will help some plants. A comprehensive liquid supplement will benefit all plants. But this needs explaining.

Aquatic plants grow by photosynthesis. The light intensity drives photosynthesis, but the plants also need sufficient nutrients. Light and nutrients are a team, and without one or the other plants will slow and may even stop growing.

Light involves intensity but also spectrum. White light is made up of colour wavelengths. Think of a rainbow, or a spectrum when white light shines through it. All the colours show side by side. Through evolution, plants have made red and blue the light essential for photosynthesis. Without sufficient red and blue, with red slightly more important, photosynthesis cannot occur. Adding green does improve plant response.

To the nutrients. Plants require 17 nutrients. Some are termed macro-nutrients because plants need more of them, compared to micro-nutrients. But all have to be present. These occur from feeding fish and doing water changes. Sometimes this is sufficient, without additional fertilizer. Sometimes not. But overdosing any fertilizer can cause problem algae, because the plants need the nutrients in balance with the light intensity.

A comprehensive supplement is a fertilizer that has most of everything (I do not need to go into this detail) and they assume your source water (tap) will have some nutrients already. This is why the GH is important. You are in Long Island which I take to be New York, so I believe you have soft water. But if memory serves me, the GH is fine for what we are talking about here. So I would suggest a comprehensive liquid may be all you need. Substrate tabs do benefit substrate-rooted plants like swords because these are heavy root feeders, but you do not want one of these giants in a 10g. The smaller swords, like the pygmy chain swords, would do well, and they are fine with the liquid comprehensive.

As for brands, Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium is one of the best, as is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. There are others too that I have not used, and I don't know where they may or may not be available. But these two are all you will need, sparingly probably, if that. The API root tabs are a mess from what other members have mentioned, but you don't need tabs anyway. Both companies make many products under the Flourish and Florin names, so only get one of the two I've spelled out.

I already have leaf zone from a previous tank. Api co2 amazon reviews for it claim that it kills algae well, people with small tanks said it boosted growth quite a bit, others with big tanks said it didn't do much. Long island is... an island. Our water seems to be neutral in ph, like 7.5ish. My java fern in my 5 gallon is all dead, but my anubias is thriving. Massive leaves and tall. I haven't water changed it in a very long time. Also, is a fluorescent light bulb low light or medium light?

 

[FranciscoB]

I don't know what kind of "mess with root tabs" is being alluded to.
I use API root tabs (1-2 times per year), and have been doing it for decades. I also use SeaChem Flourish Comprehensive (sparingly, after each weekly water change).
The root tabs may not be strictly necessary, but I do feel they help root-feeding plants, and getting new tanks going. Swords are heavy root feeders, but of course also take nutrients from the water.
[Possibly] All "carpeting plants" are root feeders, but as stated, all benefit from nutrients in the water.

 

[sharkweek178]

Also, for a carpet I'm planning to use tiny leaf plants and long hair plants. What species is the tiny leaf plant? But how big do swords get? And how fast do they grow?

There's a few "tiny leaf" plants. Maybe Pearl weed?

 

[UnityLover]

There's a few "tiny leaf" plants. Maybe Pearl weed?

Those ones on Amazon just called tinyleaf? Sold cheap, like 10 bucks for 1 ounce of seeds. I don't know the species, and I would like to do research on them.

 

[UnityLover]

I don't know what kind of "mess with root tabs" is being alluded to.
I use API root tabs (1-2 times per year), and have been doing it for decades. I also use SeaChem Flourish Comprehensive (sparingly, after each weekly water change).
The root tabs may not be strictly necessary, but I do feel they help root-feeding plants, and getting new tanks going. Swords are heavy root feeders, but of course also take nutrients from the water.
[Possibly] All "carpeting plants" are root feeders, but as stated, all benefit from nutrients in the water.

Does fluval stratum contain nutrients? How long do they last?

 

[Byron]

I already have leaf zone from a previous tank. Api co2 amazon reviews for it claim that it kills algae well, people with small tanks said it boosted growth quite a bit, others with big tanks said it didn't do much. Long island is... an island. Our water seems to be neutral in ph, like 7.5ish. My java fern in my 5 gallon is all dead, but my anubias is thriving. Massive leaves and tall. I haven't water changed it in a very long time. Also, is a fluorescent light bulb low light or medium light?

API Leaf Zone is liquid fertilizer, but only iron and potassium. And I have never seen any scientific evidence it actually does whatever people say. But I do know it can promote problem algae due to the excess iron. Iron is a micro-nutrient that if overdosed can kill plants (I had this, twice). And as I tried to explain, there are other nutrients just as important if not more so.

I tried to explain the balance.

The issue for plants is GH, not pH. The GH is the level of calcium and magnesium. Long Island is a granite rock island, this is not going to add calcium or magnesium to the water, so I will assume it is soft like all of New York area. GH is not an issue here.

Anubias and Java Fern are both slow growing plants, which means they need less light and less nutrients in balance. Both do best under floating plants for the shade.

There is no way to tell how intense a fluorescent tube is, unless we know the way it was made. There are T8 and T5 tubes, but the newer ones are more intense for less wattage (energy-saving). What is the type and the spectrum? These may tell us something.

 

[Byron]

Does fluval stratum contain nutrients? How long do they last?

This is another problem creator. We have another thread going on now about ammonia, nitrite and nitrate problems from this substrate. As soon as you mess with the basics, you set up different balances and that is where people run into trouble. But that is up to you. I do not believe you will se any plant improvement using this, only bacteria issues.

 

[UnityLover]

This is another problem creator. We have another thread going on now about ammonia, nitrite and nitrate problems from this substrate. As soon as you mess with the basics, you set up different balances and that is where people run into trouble. But that is up to you. I do not believe you will se any plant improvement using this, only bacteria issues.

Thats not what I mean. Cause Ive heard that you cant grow root plants with normal gravel, which I use. Do you need special substrate? If so, any recommendations that can be found on amazon or at petsmart?