Zodiac007

Is it a must to add fertalizers into my 50 Gallon freshwater aquarium to keep them alive?

I was thinking that since I have lots of fishes in my tank, won't the live plants get enough nutrients from the fishes wastes and decomposed fish flakes?

And does the ferlalizer have to be a special tropical water plant ferlilizer or can it be any plant fertalizer?



And also, is it true that bristlenose pleco which is 6 inches, don't to well in planted aquariums? will they really ruin and eat all the plants?
My aquarium is heavily planted with live plants.

URFisher35

my BN pleco doesn't touch my plants at all, he never has. i have heard various people saying that they do eat plants. BN plecos live off of the algae that grows on the surfaces of your tank, thus if there is no algae, then it'll have to go somewhere else for food....ie plants. if you are really worried, try feeding it algae wafers. this is what i do for my BN, and i haven't ever had a problem!

Nick G

I use a product called ferropol which costs $2 a bottle and I add it when I do a water change, just squirt a bit in the tank. And I have a BN Pleco who does feed on the plants a bit but doesn't wreck them.

Mike

I merged your other thread with the same title. Please only create 1 thread for your question.

Shaina

Regarding ferts - it depends what kind of plants/setup you have.

Regarding BNs - like URF I've never had a problem...the BN sticks to algae and leaves that are already dead that I haven't yet removed. Granted, I've never made him hungry enough to need to go beyond that.

CindyJ

I'm still new to plants but I thought that if the plants were the kind that can be tied to things didn't have to use ferts with them. But if their a plant that can only be planted were root feeders and would need fertilizer to really thrive.

Hope someone can tell us if this is true. I have a low light tank with floaters and anubias and javas since sept and haven't used ferts and they've been fine so far.

angelfish220

Ferts are just an additive, some people find that their fish are good enough fertilizers, other like giving there plants special treatment. It just depends on how you plants are growing.

Alasse

I have planted tanks, and have never used ferts in them, i have lush growth and happy plants

I also have multiple BN, and none do plant damage, though i do drop in algae disk every few days.