Hey folks,
I have a question as to whether it is necessary to add nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to my planted tank.
I have a relatively new 100L tank set up for a little under a month. I'm running CO2 with digital control (I maintain the pH at 6.7 with a GH of 4-5 and KH of 2) and also dose Duplaplant 24 continuously via a feeding pump to keep an Fe(II) concentration around 0.25ppm and add Duplaplant tablets at weekly water changes. Everything is growing pretty well, but I never observe O2 production on my Riccia---there is plenty of light available (~5W/gallon with 65W compact fluorescents 50/50 6500K/10,000K) So, I gather there is some nutrient deficiency that hinders the rate of photosynthesis. The thallus of the Riccia is also a lighter shade of green than one generally sees (e.g. in Amano's books).
I have never added N, P or K to my tanks in the past since I assumed these nutrients would be available compliments of the fish. However, this is my first setup with really heavy planting and CO2 injection. I prefer not to measure a bunch of different nutrient levels, but to judge things by the health of the plants. I have a slight algae problem already on the slower growing plants along with some annoying hair algae that I am constantly pulling out of the hairgrass in my tank (seems to have arrived with the hairgrass---perhaps I accidentally ordered the "hair assortment"??)
So, I'm a little wary of adding phosphorous for fear of algae explosion.
I'm interested if anyone has recommendations for me (what product to use etc.) Also, I'd like to add whatever fertilizer I do use to the duplaplant 24 dilution so that it is added constantly in small amounts---is there a problem with mixing fertilizers in this way? (I worry about precipitation of the iron or other unwelcome reactions). I bought some Tropica Mastergrow recently, but from reading the label I gather this is a similar product to Duplaplant-24 and not a solution to my particular problem.
Any thoughts would be appreciated,
Regards,
Caywood
I have a question as to whether it is necessary to add nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to my planted tank.
I have a relatively new 100L tank set up for a little under a month. I'm running CO2 with digital control (I maintain the pH at 6.7 with a GH of 4-5 and KH of 2) and also dose Duplaplant 24 continuously via a feeding pump to keep an Fe(II) concentration around 0.25ppm and add Duplaplant tablets at weekly water changes. Everything is growing pretty well, but I never observe O2 production on my Riccia---there is plenty of light available (~5W/gallon with 65W compact fluorescents 50/50 6500K/10,000K) So, I gather there is some nutrient deficiency that hinders the rate of photosynthesis. The thallus of the Riccia is also a lighter shade of green than one generally sees (e.g. in Amano's books).
I have never added N, P or K to my tanks in the past since I assumed these nutrients would be available compliments of the fish. However, this is my first setup with really heavy planting and CO2 injection. I prefer not to measure a bunch of different nutrient levels, but to judge things by the health of the plants. I have a slight algae problem already on the slower growing plants along with some annoying hair algae that I am constantly pulling out of the hairgrass in my tank (seems to have arrived with the hairgrass---perhaps I accidentally ordered the "hair assortment"??)
So, I'm a little wary of adding phosphorous for fear of algae explosion.
I'm interested if anyone has recommendations for me (what product to use etc.) Also, I'd like to add whatever fertilizer I do use to the duplaplant 24 dilution so that it is added constantly in small amounts---is there a problem with mixing fertilizers in this way? (I worry about precipitation of the iron or other unwelcome reactions). I bought some Tropica Mastergrow recently, but from reading the label I gather this is a similar product to Duplaplant-24 and not a solution to my particular problem.
Any thoughts would be appreciated,
Regards,
Caywood
