To many tannins?

[StevenF]

You need to know is that most fertilizers on the market don't have all the nutrients plants need. According to Aquarium coop their fertilizer doesn't have Calcium, sulfur, copper, and nickel. Most of the time yap water supplies these nutrients. But if you live in a place with very soft water or use RO water there fertilizer will not work.

Copper and nickel are trace nutrients and you likely have some in your water. calcium magnesium, and sulfur in my opinion are possibly your problem. You might want to try a GH goose such as SeaChem Equilibrium. That will provide calcium, magnesia, and sulfur. You only need to add enough to increase your GH by 1 deegreee. The GH (general harness) test only detects calcium and magneisum. so if the test indicates no GH you need to use a GH booster.

California water can have seasonal GH levels. Right now moct of california is getting a lot of rain and snow. This water has little to no GH. however during years of low precipitation ground water is often mixed with river water. Ground water is rich in GH. Also since your water supplies some of the nutrients plants need. Be sure you do weekly water changes. If you don't do a water change the plants will deplete the few nutrients that are in your water. Water cchanges replenish the water as well as removes fish waist products and unused fertilizer.

CO2 does reduce PH but you need a lot to make any reasonable drop in PH. And that much CO2 can kill your fish. and it gets expensive. Plants and fish need CO2 and oxygen. One easy way to insure you have oxygen and CO2 levels is to use water surface agitation or and air pump. You want to so surface water ripples or movement to insure excess gases in the water get out and if there isn't enough in the water it will pull those out of the air. And air pup that creates bubble in the water also does the same.

 

[10 Tanks]

Good to know. My window is a north facing window, so indirect sunlight. I don't think heat should be an issue. As for oxygen I have bubbles. Do bubbles add oxygen. Also I need a co2 setup for a 75 but have only been able to find setups for 50 gallons at the pet stores. Does anyone know where I can get a co2 system for my 75 gal?

Hello again. Unless you have strong lighting and plan to keep demanding plants, you don't need CO2. It's pricey and tricky to set up and plants that require low to medium light don't need it.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Ingredients in Tropica Premium Nutrition taken from the bottle label:
N = 0.0%
P = 0.0%
K = 0.8%
Mg = 0.4%
S = 0.9%
B = 0.004%
Cu = 0.006%
Fe = 0.07%
Mn = 0.04%
Mo = 0.002%
Zn = 0.002%

The Ingredients for Tropica Specialized Nutrition from the bottle label (only the NPK change from above):
N = 1.3%
P = 0.1%
K = 1.0%
Mg = 0.4%
S = 0.9%
B = 0.004%
Cu = 0.006%
Fe = 0.07%
Mn = 0.04%
Mo = 0.002%
Zn = 0.002%

I use these both and have for used Tropica ferts for over 2 decades. When I could in years past, I would buy the 5 liter size. The first iteration I had was called Mastergrow, if I remember right.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I also use Equilibrium in tanks with a lot of plants plus shrimp and snails. Here are the label ingredients:

Soluble Potash (K2O) 23,0%
Calcium (Ca) 8.06%
Magnesium (Mg) 2.41%
2.41% Water Soluble Magnesium
Iron (Fe) 0.11%
0.11% Water Soluble Iron (Fe)
Manganese (Mn) 0.06%
0.06% Water Soluble Manganese (Mn)

Derived from potassium sulfate, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ferric sulfate, manganese sulfate

 

[sharkweek178]

You need to know is that most fertilizers on the market don't have all the nutrients plants need. According to Aquarium coop their fertilizer doesn't have Calcium, sulfur, copper, and nickel. Most of the time yap water supplies these nutrients. But if you live in a place with very soft water or use RO water there fertilizer will not work.

Copper and nickel are trace nutrients and you likely have some in your water. calcium magnesium, and sulfur in my opinion are possibly your problem. You might want to try a GH goose such as SeaChem Equilibrium. That will provide calcium, magnesia, and sulfur. You only need to add enough to increase your GH by 1 deegreee. The GH (general harness) test only detects calcium and magneisum. so if the test indicates no GH you need to use a GH booster.

California water can have seasonal GH levels. Right now moct of california is getting a lot of rain and snow. This water has little to no GH. however during years of low precipitation ground water is often mixed with river water. Ground water is rich in GH. Also since your water supplies some of the nutrients plants need. Be sure you do weekly water changes. If you don't do a water change the plants will deplete the few nutrients that are in your water. Water cchanges replenish the water as well as removes fish waist products and unused fertilizer.

CO2 does reduce PH but you need a lot to make any reasonable drop in PH. And that much CO2 can kill your fish. and it gets expensive. Plants and fish need CO@ and oxygen. One easy way to insure you have oxygen and CO2 levels is to use water surface agitation or and air pump. You want to so surface water ripples or movement to insure excess gases in the water get out and if there isn't enough in the water it will pull those out of the air. And air pup that creates bubble in the water also does the same.

I saw a video by Aquarium Co-op and they said that they make their fertilizer on the assumption that the fish themselves will be adding some nutrients to the water.

 

[seangee]

@Pictus - while everyone is throwing a lot of chemistry at you don't get hung up on it. You don't have any particularly demanding plants. I have no experience with the co-op fertiliser you are using but since you are seeing an improvement give it time. If you aren't using root tabs try putting one at the base of each rooted plant (or cluster of plants). I happen to use the Seachem ones and they work well. Whatever you do it will take several weeks before you see the impact.
You can also experiment with light intensity and duration, but as with most things change one thing at a time and give it time to assess so you know what made the difference. It takes time to establish the right balance and no two tanks are the same.

 

[Pictus]

You need to know is that most fertilizers on the market don't have all the nutrients plants need. According to Aquarium coop their fertilizer doesn't have Calcium, sulfur, copper, and nickel. Most of the time yap water supplies these nutrients. But if you live in a place with very soft water or use RO water there fertilizer will not work.

Copper and nickel are trace nutrients and you likely have some in your water. calcium magnesium, and sulfur in my opinion are possibly your problem. You might want to try a GH goose such as SeaChem Equilibrium. That will provide calcium, magnesia, and sulfur. You only need to add enough to increase your GH by 1 deegreee. The GH (general harness) test only detects calcium and magneisum. so if the test indicates no GH you need to use a GH booster.

California water can have seasonal GH levels. Right now moct of california is getting a lot of rain and snow. This water has little to no GH. however during years of low precipitation ground water is often mixed with river water. Ground water is rich in GH. Also since your water supplies some of the nutrients plants need. Be sure you do weekly water changes. If you don't do a water change the plants will deplete the few nutrients that are in your water. Water cchanges replenish the water as well as removes fish waist products and unused fertilizer.

CO2 does reduce PH but you need a lot to make any reasonable drop in PH. And that much CO2 can kill your fish. and it gets expensive. Plants and fish need CO@ and oxygen. One easy way to insure you have oxygen and CO2 levels is to use water surface agitation or and air pump. You want to so surface water ripples or movement to insure excess gases in the water get out and if there isn't enough in the water it will pull those out of the air. And air pup that creates bubble in the water also does the same.

Thank you for all the information. I use RO and use seachem equilibrium when I do water changes. I do water changes every other weekend. Does the equilibrium help with my plants? Shiukd I be adding it every weekend when I add my aquarium co-op? I also have seachem flourish plant supplement but haven't tried it yet. I added some iron in liquid form last weekend after my water change. I should also mention that I added 50 pounds of sand to my tank (total substrate depth 4") since starting this thread. Don't worry I put all my fish in a separate tank for a few days until all the sand particles settled.

 

[Pictus]

Ingredients in Tropica Premium Nutrition taken from the bottle label:
N = 0.0%
P = 0.0%
K = 0.8%
Mg = 0.4%
S = 0.9%
B = 0.004%
Cu = 0.006%
Fe = 0.07%
Mn = 0.04%
Mo = 0.002%
Zn = 0.002%

The Ingredients for Tropica Specialized Nutrition from the bottle label (only the NPK change from above):
N = 1.3%
P = 0.1%
K = 1.0%
Mg = 0.4%
S = 0.9%
B = 0.004%
Cu = 0.006%
Fe = 0.07%
Mn = 0.04%
Mo = 0.002%
Zn = 0.002%

I use these both and have for used Tropica ferts for over 2 decades. When I could in years past, I would buy the 5 liter size. The first iteration I had was called Mastergrow, if I remember right.

Oh ok thank you! I will have to give that a try.

 

[Pictus]

@Pictus - while everyone is throwing a lot of chemistry at you don't get hung up on it. You don't have any particularly demanding plants. I have no experience with the co-op fertiliser you are using but since you are seeing an improvement give it time. If you aren't using root tabs try putting one at the base of each rooted plant (or cluster of plants). I happen to use the Seachem ones and they work well. Whatever you do it will take several weeks before you see the impact.
You can also experiment with light intensity and duration, but as with most things change one thing at a time and give it time to assess so you know what made the difference. It takes time to establish the right balance and no two tanks are the same.

Thank you! I actually just added some root tabs at the fish store and got them. The teller was telling me to be careful with them as people have poisoned thier tabk with them. I ended up putting 5 of the little API ones in there. Yes that is the hardest part is waiting for results. I need to stop looking at planted tanks on the internet haha.

 

[Essjay]

API root tabs don't usually do any harm, but other brands have been known to. @AdoraBelle Dearheart had one brand which caused a nitrite spike but I seem to remember those root tabs were cheap unbranded ones.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

API root tabs don't usually do any harm, but other brands have been known to. @AdoraBelle Dearheart had one brand which caused a nitrite spike but I seem to remember those root tabs were cheap unbranded ones.

Yep. Stick with brand name fertiliser tabs. I was feeling poor after buying a load of aquarium plants, so tried to cheap out and buy some random cheap Chinese root tabs from Amazon. Big mistake. I added tabs that looked like these, but the balls inside were a bright yellow, and I was adding them to dark sand, but since I bury them deep in the roots of the plants, I figured it would be fine.

The capsules melted immediately, and sent my nitrites sky high. The outer capsules had melted so I had to do frequent massive water changes, and comb through the sand, removing as many of those tiny yellow balls as possible, and remove almost all of them before the tank started to stabilise.
Stick to a known name brand in fishkeeping, not worth cheaping out on something going into the tank.

 

[Pictus]

Yep. Stick with brand name fertiliser tabs. I was feeling poor after buying a load of aquarium plants, so tried to cheap out and buy some random cheap Chinese root tabs from Amazon. Big mistake. I added tabs that looked like these, but the balls inside were a bright yellow, and I was adding them to dark sand, but since I bury them deep in the roots of the plants, I figured it would be fine.
View attachment 313476


The capsules melted immediately, and sent my nitrites sky high. The outer capsules had melted so I had to do frequent massive water changes, and comb through the sand, removing as many of those tiny yellow balls as possible, and remove almost all of them before the tank started to stabilise.
Stick to a known name brand in fishkeeping, not worth cheaping out on something going into the tank.

OK thanks!

 

[Essjay]

I use Seachem Flourish root tabs and have never had a problem.

 

[Pictus]

I use Seachem Flourish root tabs and have never had a problem.

Good deal thanks

 

[Byron]

I added some iron in liquid form last weekend after my water change.

This I do not recommend. Iron is one micro-nutrient, and plants need 17 nutrients. Your best bet is always a comprehensive supplement. I have twice killed floating plants by using iron in addition to a comprehensive, simply because it resulted in toomuch iron. It is also not good for fish. Back in post #18 the ingredients in the Tropica are listed, and iron is included. This is all you need.

Nutrients must be balanced because an excess of certain ones can cause trouble for plants assimilating certain others. A comprehensive liquid plus a comprehensive substrate tab will provide all you need. These things do affect fish to varying degrees so only what is actually required for the plants is better.