Please help me with plants! 😂

[Bruben]

Quick question, the instructions for the Tropica Premium is to add it when you do water changes. Am I ok to add it with Seachem Prime? The Prime won’t eliminate the nutrients?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Am I ok to add it with Seachem Prime?

Yes.

The Prime won’t eliminate the nutrients?

No.

 

[Myraan]

I remember a post @Byron made where he said he'd contacted someone , perhaps Seachem, to ask about that and they suggested it might be better to add the supplement the day after the water change because of that..... although personally I suspect the plants will still use the heavy metal nutrients in their "detoxified" form.

 

[Bruben]

I remember a post @Byron made where he said he'd contacted someone , perhaps Seachem, to ask about that and they suggested it might be better to add the supplement the day after the water change because of that..... although personally I suspect the plants will still use the heavy metal nutrients in their "detoxified" form.

Oooooo, I’ll remember that for next time!

 

[Byron]

I remember a post @Byron made where he said he'd contacted someone , perhaps Seachem, to ask about that and they suggested it might be better to add the supplement the day after the water change because of that..... although personally I suspect the plants will still use the heavy metal nutrients in their "detoxified" form.

Yes, Seachem did say that Prime detoxifies heavy metals and this would include any added in plant fertilizers but only while Prime was still effective.

The issue is not the detoxification of the heavy metals, but the effectiveness of Prime. The heavy metals are gone, period, not still there in a detoxified form. According to Seachem anyway, I'm not a chemist. So they advised waiting 36 hours for Prime to lose its effectiveness. Adding fertilizer after that time period would allegedly allow the heavy metals in the fertilizer (iron, copper, zinc, manganese) to be effective because Prime (or any similar conditioner presumably) would no longer be effective. I do not and will not use Prime, but the API Tap Water Conditioner like most all conditioners does "remove" heavy metals somehow.

I still do not know if this is necessary. I've been adding Flourish Comprehensive on the day following the W/C ever since, but I've no idea if this is better or the same as it was previously.

 

[Essjay]

I know that API Tap Water Conditioner contains tetra sodium EDTA and this will form a chelate with metals, including those in fertiliser. But as I'm not a botanist I don't know if the metal would still be accessible by plants.

Seachem won't say what's in Prime.

 

[Byron]

I know that API Tap Water Conditioner contains tetra sodium EDTA and this will form a chelate with metals, including those in fertiliser. But as I'm not a botanist I don't know if the metal would still be accessible by plants.

Seachem won't say what's in Prime.

How long does this chelating last? Presumably as long as the conditioner is still effective?

As I understand chelating (which is likely in error, I admit) it is helpful to plants for the absorption of the mineral. So presumably the "chelation" of the API conditioner would not affect the minerals assimilation by the plants. Which in turn means, no reason to wait 36 hours with the API. Does this seem correct?

Not knowing what is in Prime, it may still be a problem.

 

[Naughts]

I believe the Juwel LED day light tube is too bright ( 9000k ) which means algae problems will remain until you can reduce the intensity, you could turn the bulb over.

 

[Bruben]

I believe the Juwel LED day light tube is too bright ( 9000k ) which means algae problems will remain until you can reduce the intensity, you could turn the bulb over.

Yeah the day one is 9000k, there’s also a “nature” one in there too which is 6500k. I had wondered whether 9000k was too much!

 

[Essjay]

If memory serves, the complexes are quite stable. However, a bit of research shows that EDTA is used to bind metals in soil to allow removal metal contamination by plants. If terrestrial plants can take up bound metals, I can only assume that aquatic plants can do the same.

 

[Naughts]

Yeah the day one is 9000k, there’s also a “nature” one in there too which is 6500k. I had wondered whether 9000k was too much!

The nature one is good for freshwater, it's the day one that is the problem (unless you're growing corals!). Turn it over so the opaque side dulls the light into the tank, and move forward with your plan to increase surface plants. Liquid Fertiliser in the water is good for surface plants.

 

[Bruben]

The nature one is good for freshwater, it's the day one that is the problem (unless you're growing corals!). Turn it over so the opaque side dulls the light into the tank, and move forward with your plan to increase surface plants. Liquid Fertiliser in the water is good for surface plants.

I’ll give it a go tomorrow, cheers @Naughts!

 

[Byron]

There may be some confusion over the intensity/Kelvin here, so just to ensure it is understood...

Kelvin is the colour temperature of light, what many of us call spectrum; it has no direct relationship with intensity. The lower the K number, the more red and less blue is in the light, and this is called warm white; the higher the K number, the more blue and less red, called cool white. Plants definitely grow best in the 5000K to 7000K range; once you go above 7000K you are getting too little red for photosynthesis, but the high blue will allow algae to grow. I assume much the same can occur the opposite way, but there are very few lights with a K below 4000-5000K, it is the high blue (cooler white) that is usually the problem. Most "basic" aquarium lighting in LED is in the higher K range, which is excellent for marine tanks with corals but not advisable with freshwater especially with plants.

Your 6500K light is absolutely bang on; this light is high in the red, blue and green colours, which has been shown to aid plants; not surprising since it is closest to mid-day sun. Don't use the 9000K, use the 6500K.

 

[Bruben]

There may be some confusion over the intensity/Kelvin here, so just to ensure it is understood...

Kelvin is the colour temperature of light, what many of us call spectrum; it has no direct relationship with intensity. The lower the K number, the more red and less blue is in the light, and this is called warm white; the higher the K number, the more blue and less red, called cool white. Plants definitely grow best in the 5000K to 7000K range; once you go above 7000K you are getting too little red for photosynthesis, but the high blue will allow algae to grow. I assume much the same can occur the opposite way, but there are very few lights with a K below 4000-5000K, it is the high blue (cooler white) that is usually the problem. Most "basic" aquarium lighting in LED is in the higher K range, which is excellent for marine tanks with corals but not advisable with freshwater especially with plants.

Your 6500K light is absolutely bang on; this light is high in the red, blue and green colours, which has been shown to aid plants; not surprising since it is closest to mid-day sun. Don't use the 9000K, use the 6500K.

Cheers @Byron.

Would it be worth buying another “nature” 6500k led tube to replace the 9000k “day” one? Or better off just sticking with the one?

 

[Byron]

Cheers @Byron.

Would it be worth buying another “nature” 6500k led tube to replace the 9000k “day” one? Or better off just sticking with the one?

I've no idea of the intensity so wouldn't want to say. Are these "tubes" as in fluorescent T8 or T5, or LED diodes? I could help with the T8 or T5, but won't get into LED as I've not much practical experience, still using T8 (but not sure for how much longer!). You definitely in my view do not want the 9000K on as this really is going to be more likely to cause issues. I have experimented with many of these tubes when I had my 4 and 5-foot double T8 tube tanks running.