Remineralised Ro Water And Plants

Hello all,

At the moment to keep the water soft in my tank I am using a mix of RO/dechlorinated tap water about in a roughly 60/40 balance; however, I am slowly over the next few weeks changing this over so it will all be remineralised RO water.

Will I need to buy a separate food source for the plants? Or will they do okay by themselves?

Not quite sure what to do.

Cheers,
Andy

 

What kind of plants?

 

Hello all,

At the moment to keep the water soft in my tank I am using a mix of RO/dechlorinated tap water about in a roughly 60/40 balance; however, I am slowly over the next few weeks changing this over so it will all be remineralised RO water.

Will I need to buy a separate food source for the plants? Or will they do okay by themselves?

Not quite sure what to do.

Cheers,
Andy

Seachem equilibrium is a really good mineral for plants if you are using RO water or have really soft water. You can also use their fertilizers as well, flourish comprehensive and trace are good ones to start with. Maybe also some excel as well

 

For a long time I was a no fert person. Then I was a micro fert person. Then I switched to a complete fert. I'm a believer. Plants need food even in an overstocked tank.They grow faster and stronger, even anubias. I also use liquid carbon. You do have to keep up with the water changes as plants are always shedding organics.

 

Also depending on what kind of plants you have, you might need root tabs if they are root feeders.

 

For a long time I was a no fert person. Then I was a micro fert person. Then I switched to a complete fert. I'm a believer. Plants need food even in an overstocked tank.They grow faster and stronger, even anubias. I also use liquid carbon. You do have to keep up with the water changes as plants are always shedding organics.

Same, I use a huge amount of fertilizers. My shelf almost looks like a store for seachem. Since all my tanks are low tech excel helps a lot.

 

What kind of plants?

Various different kinds. Moss, java fern, broadleaf etc.

 

For a long time I was a no fert person. Then I was a micro fert person. Then I switched to a complete fert. I'm a believer. Plants need food even in an overstocked tank.They grow faster and stronger, even anubias. I also use liquid carbon. You do have to keep up with the water changes as plants are always shedding organics.

It's a 130L and they get a 25 - 50L change every week depending on the test results.

 

Also depending on what kind of plants you have, you might need root tabs if they are root feeders.

Thanks. I'll check that one out. My main apprehension about fertilisers is that they introduce a bunch of unneeded junk and cause loads of algae.

 

Thanks. I'll check that one out. My main apprehension about fertilisers is that they introduce a bunch of unneeded junk and cause loads of algae.

It's light that causes algae.
Strong plants will outcompete algae. Well, that's the theory ...
It's a horrible settling in period while you figure out how much light, what ferts, whether to dose liquid carbon (I do), but it's worth it in the end. Fish are more comfortable and the tanks look like mini-gardens instead of a LFS stocking room.
Every tank is different - the stocking levels, what you feed the fish, what you feed the plants, the light, the ambient light, any direct sunlight so it can take a while to find the balance and what works for one person may not work for you. But as a general principle if you bombard an aquarium with light everything else has to be perfect or it's an algae farm.

 

It's light that causes algae.
Strong plants will outcompete algae. Well, that's the theory ...
It's a horrible settling in period while you figure out how much light, what ferts, whether to dose liquid carbon (I do), but it's worth it in the end. Fish are more comfortable and the tanks look like mini-gardens instead of a LFS stocking room.
Every tank is different - the stocking levels, what you feed the fish, what you feed the plants, the light, the ambient light, any direct sunlight so it can take a while to find the balance and what works for one person may not work for you. But as a general principle if you bombard an aquarium with light everything else has to be perfect or it's an algae farm.

This particular tank is in my hallway, so it gets plenty of light (full sun) at the moment - although once I have put blinds up, it'll get a significantly reduced amount. I've already reduced the operational hours of the tank lights to compensate.

 

Thanks. I'll check that one out. My main apprehension about fertilisers is that they introduce a bunch of unneeded junk and cause loads of algae.

Well they are needed, for the plants
Light and decomposing material is the cause of algae, not ferts.
For RO water you'll need a GH booster like seachem equilibrium to add back calcium, magnesium, and potassium, which are all essential macronutrients. For the other 10 or so nutrients, a complete fertilizer will help. You're in the UK so you have access to the Aquascaper liquid plant food, look into Aquarium Gardens who sell it, and George Farmer who has a youtube channel and lots of informative videos on planted tanks.