b_rice

I'm confused on the subject of fertilization. I started my 20 gal. low-tech planted tank jan 4, '09. It originally started with 5 t. barbs, 3 z. danios, 2 snails for fauna load and 3 swords, 2 banana plants, 1 anubias and 1 java fern for the flora. I did alot of water changes for awhile because of ammonia. In any case I was getting phenomenal growth with 2.5 watts/gal., but decided to add the recommended dose of fertilizer tabs (10). A week or so later the water was a little cloudy. Three weeks later, despite my weekly 25% water changes, the water was full blown green. I figured my only course of action to correct the problem was to remove every living thing and flush the substrate, save the bacteria in the filter. I did this 2 weeks ago and my plants started putting out new growth after 4 or 5 days. I've reduced my bio load by removing the barbs which were huge, I gave them to my local fish lady. I now have 2 otos, 3 danios, 2 snails. I guess my question is do I need to supplement with ferts or will the fish waste do the job. Any one who reads this and responds thanks alot.

catfishtabbi

What kind of substrate are you using ? I see your using a pH stableizer, does it contain phosphorus ? What is the ph of your tap water? Root tabs are good for amazons, which feed from the roots. I would say a liquid fert would suit your plants and that you should use it. Alot of people say that when they use root tabs they experience an algea outbrake. I found that by using seachems neutral 7.0 powder that the phosphates caused a perpetual algea problem that i could.nt repair. The rest is a long story, i'll look back at this post later.