Adjusting water parameters for my planted tank

My plants have been growing pretty slowly and not looking healthy and the water parameters are not ideal for my stocking so I've decided to spend some time trying to nail down my water parameters. My current parameters with the liquid test kits are GH of 30 ppm, KH 40 ppm, pH 7, and 0 for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate with my tap water being almost identical. I am trying to target a pH of 7-7.4, GH around 150 ppm, and KH around 80 ppm. To try to get a little more insight on the chemistry I ran some ion chromatography on my tap water and tank water and am getting 12 ppm Na, 1.9 ppm K, 1.4 ppm Mg, 18 ppm Ca, 0.6 ppm F, 22.4 ppm Cl, and 17.6 ppm SO4. My tap water is nearly identical plus trace amounts of NO3 and PO4 that I guess my plants are using up. The only thing I am currently adding is Tetra AquaSafe+ with water changes, Flourish Excel daily, and Flourish once a week. Any recommendations for what I should be adding to get the ideal parameters and healthy plants?

 

What light are you using?

 

I use 7 Flourish products throughout the week. Base water is from my 5 stage RO/DI system. 1 PPM TDS or less, pH 7.0. Remineralized with Flourish Equilibrium.

Most of the lights I use are Finnex 24/7 plant.

These aquariums are from 36 to 150 gallons.

 

With nitrates at zero, you may want to try a fertilizer that has nitrate and phosphorous. Flourish is a trace nutrient fertilizer plus potassium. It lacks 2 major nutrients. An all in one fert would be better IMO. You could use all the various Seachem products as Thunder_o_b does (with excellent results), or you could try an all in one product that cantains all the nutrients. There are many on the market.

I wouldn't chase pH. You want 7-7.4 and you have 7. I would leave it. Ph in the tank will probably rise and fall more than that during a day anyway. GH and KH are on the low side, but not a problem unless your fish need something a lot different.

There are three main factors with plants. Light, CO2, nutrients. An imballance of those 3 will cause plant problems. Simple, right?

 

Pictures would help. What types of plants are you growing. Your water is fine for growing plants. Lighting may be your problem. What type of light are you using? Why are you using excel? Thunder should be a plant guru here so he’s the right one to help. His method is the best but takes experience. I had my best plants using seachem ferts. And dosing different things during the week. I’m not as big into plants now and I use an all in one nicol-c. How big is your tank and how deep?

 

What light are you using?

Hygger 48W
My two water is very soft so I was going to try to raise it with equilibrium and the acid and base buffers to get it within the range my fish and shrimp like. Is there a target ppm I should be shooting for for all of the nutrients?

Pictures would help. What types of plants are you growing. Your water is fine for growing plants. Lighting may be your problem. What type of light are you using? Why are you using excel? Thunder should be a plant guru here so he’s the right one to help. His method is the best but takes experience. I had my best plants using seachem ferts. And dosing different things during the week. I’m not as big into plants now and I use an all in one nicol-c. How big is your tank and how deep?

Vals, dwarf sag, and Java fern for now but want to add some more after I figure out how to grow the “easy” stuff

 

7.0 is the perfect ph. It’s neutral. Plants grow great in your ph. Soft water is preferred for plants. Only thing is the dwarf sag. It’s going to require more light than the others.
The hygger is it 24/7 or programable? I’ve got three 957 hyggers and they are great for plant growth.

 

7.0 is the perfect ph. It’s neutral. Plants grow great in your ph. Soft water is preferred for plants. Only thing is the dwarf sag. It’s going to require more light than the others.
The hygger is it 24/7 or programable? I’ve got three 957 hyggers and they are great for plant growth.

It’s the 957. What program do you use for it? I have been able to grow a lot of algae with it but the plants not so much

I use 7 Flourish products throughout the week. Base water is from my 5 stage RO/DI system. 1 PPM TDS or less, pH 7.0. Remineralized with Flourish Equilibrium.

Most of the lights I use are Finnex 24/7 plant.

These aquariums are from 36 to 150 gallons.

What are the target ppms for each nutrient? I’d rather do it like you so I can control each one individually

 

Hygger 48W
My two water is very soft so I was going to try to raise it with equilibrium and the acid and base buffers to get it within the range my fish and shrimp like. Is there a target ppm I should be shooting for for all of the nutrients?

Vals, dwarf sag, and Java fern for now but want to add some more after I figure out how to grow the “easy” stuff

You won't get massive plant growth with what you have. The dwarf sag and java fern are extremely slow growers in low tech. The vals will be the only plant that you'll see reasonable growth, and they prefer moderate to lower lighting in my experience.

 

It’s the 957. What program do you use for it? I have been able to grow a lot of algae with it but the plants not so much

What are the target ppms for each nutrient? I’d rather do it like you so I can control each one individually

I am in over my head with the scientific intricacies so I just follow the directions on the container. I have had good luck so far. My PPM meter is part of the RO/DI system.

 

You won't get massive plant growth with what you have. The dwarf sag and java fern are extremely slow growers in low tech. The vals will be the only plant that you'll see reasonable growth, and they prefer moderate to lower lighting in my experience.

I guess I am trying to transition to a more middle to high tech setup.

I am in over my head with the scientific intricacies so I just follow the directions on the container. I have had good luck so far. My PPM meter is part of the RO/DI system.

I guess I'm the opposite because I have a very good understanding of chemistry but don't really know what I'm shooting for.

 

It’s the 957. What program do you use for it? I have been able to grow a lot of algae with it but the plants not so much

It’s programable. The instructions are hard to follow but you set it the way you want it. Each color can be changed to different intensity put together to make the color tone you want. I went with a base of full intensity as in all colors at their highest. Than I toned it down for different times. My light comes on around 5am and run at 10% and moves up till around 11.30 than goes full bright till around 4.30 than slowly decreases till 10.30 than shuts off for the night. No problems. Yes you always get algae but no major problems.

 

I guess I am trying to transition to a more middle to high tech setup.

I guess I'm the opposite because I have a very good understanding of chemistry but don't really know what I'm shooting for.

It seems that many planted tank enthusiasts shoot for a NO3 level of at least 20ppm though in my experience plants can stay healthy with less nitrate in a low energy tank (no pressurised CO2, low light, low to medium plant mass). They say PO4 should be at a ratio of around 10 to 1 (NO3 to PO4). I don’t know about ideal levels for potassium or micro nutrients. I never test for those except to very occasionally check to ensure that I have some iron present.

 

I guess I am trying to transition to a more middle to high tech setup.

I guess I'm the opposite because I have a very good understanding of chemistry but don't really know what I'm shooting for.

It's not the tech, you just need some fast growing "weed" plants to use up nutrients and outcompete algae.

High tech tanks keep fast growers like rotala rotundifolia trimmed in the back. The java ferns and carpeting plants are just for looks.

 

Good you have some understanding of chemistry. Up next is how this makes a difference between availability of nutrients and accessibility of nutrients to plants.

Luckily, plants are here to help you. Water parameters are adjusted due to different biochemical interactions, which in turn, affect the accessibility.

It is interesting to go more in-depth.....but pretty much only for sake of theory. In practice, it also means your parameters really don't matter. Plants require some gH, some kH perhaps. Regarding pH....don't even get me started. No use controlling this in a planted tank.

Unless perhaps you are interested in optimal growth rates of plants.... but for clear reasons.

"Mid tech" is equivalent to "being stuck in the middle" in case of planted tanks that experience issues.

But what exactly is the issue here?
- algae?
- plant growth rate?
- unhealthy leaves?
(- "Amano expectations?")

Pictures of plants, leaves, tank as a whole, says a lot more than a summary of numbers. The science of biology is a little more complicated than the science in a spreadsheet.

It seems that many planted tank enthusiasts shoot for a NO3 level of at least 20ppm though in my experience plants can stay healthy with less nitrate in a low energy tank (no pressurised CO2, low light, low to medium plant mass). They say PO4 should be at a ratio of around 10 to 1 (NO3 to PO4). I don’t know about ideal levels for potassium or micro nutrients. I never test for those except to very occasionally check to ensure that I have some iron present.

Potassium pretty much the same as nitrogen. 10 (N,K) : 1 (P)

Hence, in low tech with some healthy decay, K can be limiting. In theory, but also in my experience. I have a separate bottle of K for this reason.

P : each meso element = 3 : 1

Micro elements variable, but less.

And agree, iron can be a beast.

 

There are three main factors with plants. Light, CO2, nutrients. An imballance of those 3 will cause plant problems. Simple, right?


Oh yea, piece of cake!