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Thread: Fertilizers, C02, and stem plants?

  1. #1
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    Fertilizers, C02, and stem plants?

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    I'm using a couple of fertilizers right now, all are from flourish. This list includes excel, nitrogen, and potasium. I dont have any red plants right now so I didn't want to get the iron flourish. Can anyone tell me what the potasium ones does? Should I dose iron even though I don't have red plants?


    I've tried many times in keeping my stem plants like green cabombas but they also seem to die on me. Right now I'm trying different types of Rotala but they are dying on me the same why the cabomba die. The bottom leaves start to die but the top leaves are ok. it's very unpleasant to have only half of a plant in the tank.


    Right now I'm running a DIY CO2 from a 2 coke bottle, 2 cups of sugar, and 1/4 of yeast. I hook it up so that it goes into my powerhead. I don't know why but all I get is 7ppm of c02. Any suggestions?




    tank: 10 g
    Fish: 4 cardinal, 3 neon, 1 dwarf goumie, and 1 guppy
    Maintaince: 50% water change, dose of all flourish fertilizer. Every 2 weeks renew sugar and yeast in C02.

  2. #2
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    You are missing Phosphate and trace elements. Try getting those since you already have the rest of the product's range. Dose accordingly.

    Also, since you already have DIY C02, the Flourish Excel is extra ( The carbon source is already provided for by your DIY C02. Either use that or this ).

    And yes, you should dose iron ( It's more of a trace element BTW, so Seachem Trace should provide it. ) because green plants need iron too.

    I suggest you use DIY C02 only. ( Ditch the Excel that is ) The reason why you are getting only 7ppm is because you aren't dissolving the C02 efficiently into the tank. Get a atomiser ( Sometimes called a diffusor ) or a reactor to mash the bubbles up so that the C02 gets into your water till it reaches 20-30ppm.

    Your maintainance regime is alright All you need to solve now is your ferts and C02. The other gurus here will provide different views and solutions too.

    Good luck

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    Well I made a reactor out of a gravel vacum before but it only gave me 3 ppm, I think it's called a bell reactor. The bubbles just massed and produce a huge one at the end of the vacum...

    Then I connected my C02 output under a powerhead. When the bubles come up they get tropped up by the powerhead but the tiny bubles just rise up and pop into the air. Resulting in a mere 7ppm, any other suggestion. I might just buy the hagen ladder diffuser....

    potasium? Do you know what it does?

    -Peter

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    Quote Originally Posted by groovay
    potasium? Do you know what it does?

    -Peter
    Potassium is one of the four big "essential" electrolytes that all living things seem to need for proper cell metabolism. Without one or more of the four (Potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium), the others can become quite toxic.

    In my own situation, too much sodium (all that popcorn during the football playoffs?) can cause me to suffer severe muscle cramps. I can relieve them with drinking lots of water (that much beer and I'd probably miss the games) or I can cure them with a potassium gluconate tablet.

    Salt is often toxic to both plants and fish if the other electrolytes are not available in adequate quantity. This is a common problem for folks with too-soft tap water, or those who misuse RO or DI water.

    When I lived in Modesto, where the water had zero hardness, I had to add some Seachem "Equilibrium" or the tiniest amount of salt killed plants and fish.

    Bottom line: you need all of the essential electrolytes and trace elements for healthy plants and fish. Neglect any of those and the plants and critters will suffer.

    Wright
    01 760 872-3995
    805 Valley West Circle
    Bishop, CA 93514 USA

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    That reactor won't do... it relies on passive diffusion and dissolves C02 too slowly. You could get a commercial made reactor from stores, or you could make one yourself. There are also lots of links available online for other DIY reactors too

    I've no idea what potassium does, but I know that plants need potassium along with nitrogen, phosphate, carbon and trace elements to grow. Any element that's missing will result in slow/deformed growth. ( which means the nutrients are left in the water, and algae gets the chance to use them )

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    check for buffers

    have you checked the materials used in the filters or gravel, such as coral sands, anything that could disrupt your measurment of KH and PH.;even the use of PH buffers or peat could lead to inaccurate readings.
    cheers!
    Nelson

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    If I played around with my ph and kh will that really make my c02 lvl higher? would lowering my ph helpout? I alwas thought it was the amount of c02 you put into the tank not how you play with the stats of your tank...

    -Peter

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    That's true. That's why you need to ensure that your pH and kH values are not affected by any material in your tank, like Nelson said.

    pH will thus be affected only by the amount of C02 in your tank. kH will be affected by the amount of bi-carbonates in the water. For example, your kH is a stable 4 degrees. To get 30ppm of C02 in the water, you have to add C02 at a rate such that the pH of the water is 6.6 ( plus minus some room for error ).

    Start with measuring your kH first, then make sure that's stable, before increasing the input of C02 slowly day by day, and monitoring your pH till you get your desired level of C02 concentration.

    Cheers

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