Fertilizing a planted tank over time?

I started with Eco-Complete substrate (that has ferts in it) in my 30G. I have subulata, moneywort, green&red wendtii, a red Indian sword, and another crypt sprout that piggybacked on my moneywort that I stuck in there to see what happens. It all looks like this:



At what point will my planted tank need additional ferts and/or liquid CO2?

 

What is your lighting - T8, T12, T5NO, T5HO, watts per bulb and how many bulbs?

 

Lighting is a big factor, but I would start sooner than later, flourish complete or comprehensive (its the same thing we just call it by different names) would be sufficient for your tank. Dose at the recommended levels and your plants will thank you. Some floating plants if you like will also help to suck up some additional nitrogen quickly and effectively.

 

My lighting is T5HO.

(2 bulbs, sorry!)

 

With that much lighting you will deffinetley need a fertlizer and CO2. The liquid CO2 like Flourish Excel would be an option and as mentioned start with Flourish Comprehensive for the fertlizer for the water column. I'd start sooner then later deffinetley with that much lighting.

 

with some natural algae control you can avoid co2 thou it is a tough challenge, I would begin a regular fert dosing schedule. You will have a jungle before you know it.

 

Do I have too many plants in there?

Is my lighting bad?

I'm sensing that I'm in trouble with this or something!

 

Not at all, much like learning the nitrogen cycle, plants take a bit of getting used to.

Your lighting is GREAT! You made a great choice in a T5HO setup The only reason I say to add fertz is to be able to really kick your plants into high gear. CO2 will also aid in this but I think you can avoid it for now.

 

Can you explain the floating plants thing? Or direct me to a place where I can do some learning?

I remember reading somewhere about "root tabs" or something- I presume some kind of fertilizer thing you stick into the gravel at the root base? What's the difference between that and the Flourish Complete?

Where do I learn about algae control?

I need to read up on this while I'm waiting for that sucker to cycle! Eeek!

 

Some plants obtain nutrients from the water itself, like java fern - these will benefit from fertilizers like Flourish. Others are root feeders, like vals, and they do better with root tabs.

I'm not sure exactly what your question about floating plants is, but they're just that - plants that float, and therefore take nutrients from the water column. Examples of floating plants are hornwort and java moss (though I actually have my hornwort planted in the substrate, just to anchor it).

While some argue that minerals such as phosphates are an integral part of algae growth, many argue that light is the main problem. If you leave the lights on too long, algae will grow; to minimize it, leave the lights on for less time daily. Of course the difficult part is balancing enough light for the plants you want to grow, but not so much that algae takes over.

 

Right now my plan is for two 4-hour periods of light per day. Does this sound problematic? Mostly I want this so that I can enjoy watching my fish in the morning and at night.

 

That sounds ok, thou most of us go after a solid block of light.

Floating plants are just that, they float as stated and suck up a lot of nutrients from the water column.

Root tabs are just that, they are tablets that you put into the substrate to feed over a longer period of time.

 

What is the benefit, exactly, of a floating plant? I'm trying to understand this concept…

 

Floating plants typicaly take up nutrients from the water very quickly. Thus making maintenance a lot easier for the tank.

 

Meaning less algae? I'm sorry- I feel like I'm bugging you guys with my newbie questions! Is there somewhere I can go to read up and learn about plant-keeping?

What types of floating plants would you recommend if I were going to go that route?

 

I've got Water Sprite floating in my tank.

Fast growing stem plants are important like Water Wisteria and Bacopa Australis as they draw nutrients from the water column with roots from their stems.

For algae control in a planted tank its obtaining the balance between light, fertz and CO2. To obtain that balance is changing one at a time. This starts with medium to high light. Like maybe you've Green Spot Algae on the glass and then you see it taking to the plants. Slow growing plants. This could indicate too much light, so you raise the light up some.

You notice this black fuzzy stuff taking to the plants, decor and equipment. This is Black Beard Algae. Cause usually is low CO2. Basically an imbalance.

I've been taught to monitor KH, GH, Iron and Nitrate to notice an imbalance. I actually dose Nitrates and PO4.

Edit: forgot to add that the photo period is important too - lights on 8-10 hours a day.

Don't slack on water changes and have good circulation.