plant food

[Gavilb]

hi,

whats the best product for general plant feeding/fertiliser that will help establish roots and do no harm to fish??

thanks!

 

[George Farmer]

It depends entirely on your set-up.

What lighting, CO2 (if any), substrate, planting, tank size, water chemistry do you have?

 

[Gavilb]

i have a juwel rio 180 with standard red and blue tubes. no c02, fine gravel, 180 litre(45 gal), hard water tank!

the plants i have at the moment are pretty standard amazon swords, straight and twisted vallis and java moss.

i just want to keep them healthy without harming my fish.....

thanks!

 

[zig]

standard red and blue tubes

The lights are red and blue?

 

[Gavilb]

yes, i 1 reddy pink and 1 blue

 

[George Farmer]

They'll be the supplied tubes, not great for plants - one cool, one warm, both cheap and to be frank - rubbish for growing plants.

With your current set-up you won't need fertilisers as your plants will not be growing fast enough to utilise them. Adding ferts will do nothing or worse, resulting in algae.

If you have the cash I recommend replacing your tubes for two full-spectrum types (see a list in the lighting article in my sig). Another cheaper option is to try these out - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=107609&hl=

Add the Juwel or Arcadia reflectors to improve intensity if you haven't already.

These simple steps will greatly improve your chances of success without much effort or expense. Adding one of the many available micronutrient fertilisers will suffice i.e. API Leaf Zone, Waterlife Tropiflora, Tetra Florapride. All are perfectly fish safe if dosed as per instructions.