Hello:

I am setting up my first planted tank. I have taken in as much as I
can from the archives and various FAQ's, but want some basic advice on
initial nutrient setup. I am following the plants-then-fish method of
setting up the tank and fear that there will not be enough macro
nutrients for the plants when I put then in the fresh tank.

Should I add any fertilizer? I have read that I should not, but I do
not want to waste my money on my plants only to have them die due to
lack of nutrients. (I will be ordering them from aquabatonic ... I
think).

My plan is to run the tank empty for a week (which I am doing right
now), letting the water de-gas and making sure all is setup and
working. Then add plants. Let the plants establish for two weeks
then add algae eating shrimp and fish. Let them exist on algae alone
for two weeks then add the first fish that need to be fed.

I still come back to the question of should I use any fertilizer? I
am think of using some of Kent's "freshwater plant supplement" and
adding some potassium nitrate (KNO3) to the water.

Here is the tank:

55 gallon long
160w of daylight bulbs on for 11 hours a day
4" of flourite
PH based CO2 injection
Large Eheim canister filter (forgot model number)
Cable heater in substrate.

Any ideas on how to manage the macro and micro nutrients of a new
green tank would be appreciated.
James Ervin
Remove SPAM to email me.

2 weeks without fish is nothing...plants should be fine..if they start to
look like theyre having issues....then fertilize..otherwise, just let em
be.

James Ervin wrote:

Hello:

I am setting up my first planted tank. I have taken in as much as I
can from the archives and various FAQ's, but want some basic advice on
initial nutrient setup. I am following the plants-then-fish method of
setting up the tank and fear that there will not be enough macro
nutrients for the plants when I put then in the fresh tank.

Should I add any fertilizer? I have read that I should not, but I do
not want to waste my money on my plants only to have them die due to
lack of nutrients. (I will be ordering them from aquabatonic ... I
think).

My plan is to run the tank empty for a week (which I am doing right
now), letting the water de-gas and making sure all is setup and
working. Then add plants. Let the plants establish for two weeks
then add algae eating shrimp and fish. Let them exist on algae alone
for two weeks then add the first fish that need to be fed.

I still come back to the question of should I use any fertilizer? I
am think of using some of Kent's "freshwater plant supplement" and
adding some potassium nitrate (KNO3) to the water.

Here is the tank:

55 gallon long
160w of daylight bulbs on for 11 hours a day
4" of flourite
PH based CO2 injection
Large Eheim canister filter (forgot model number)
Cable heater in substrate.

Any ideas on how to manage the macro and micro nutrients of a new
green tank would be appreciated.
James Ervin
Remove SPAM to email me.

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 12:18:56 -0400, James Ervin
wrote:

At your light level and with CO2 you are going to have to feed the
plants. I set up a tank based on pretty much the same light and such.
I ended up fertilizing within four days to stop the algae from getting
started. I fertilized with KNO3, K2SO4, PO4, Fe, and traces. Pretty
much the same as I do with the tank established.

How many plants are you starting out with? I put over 20 bundles of
stem plants to get the tank started. I ended up adding Ottos, SAE and
Amano shrimp within a week. A few days after that I added a couple of
Rosy Barbs to eat some thread algae that showed up. I would run the
tank no more than 24 hours for the equipment check then add the
plants. Otherwise you are just sitting yourself up for algae. I
noticed you are planning on ordering from Aqua Botanic. I would
suggest at a minimum of a 20 pack algae buster assortment. Nice thing
is you will be able to take enough trimmings out the tank in a couple
of weeks to start trading them for fish and such. You will more than
likely also have to start feeding the fish much sooner than you think.
If you set the tank up right and feed the plants the algae hardly gets
a chance to get started. The only major outbreak I had was brown
algae at about day 3.

Hello:

I am setting up my first planted tank. I have taken in as much as I
can from the archives and various FAQ's, but want some basic advice on
initial nutrient setup. I am following the plants-then-fish method of
setting up the tank and fear that there will not be enough macro
nutrients for the plants when I put then in the fresh tank.

Should I add any fertilizer? I have read that I should not, but I do
not want to waste my money on my plants only to have them die due to
lack of nutrients. (I will be ordering them from aquabatonic ... I
think).

My plan is to run the tank empty for a week (which I am doing right
now), letting the water de-gas and making sure all is setup and
working. Then add plants. Let the plants establish for two weeks
then add algae eating shrimp and fish. Let them exist on algae alone
for two weeks then add the first fish that need to be fed.

I still come back to the question of should I use any fertilizer? I
am think of using some of Kent's "freshwater plant supplement" and
adding some potassium nitrate (KNO3) to the water.

Here is the tank:

55 gallon long
160w of daylight bulbs on for 11 hours a day
4" of flourite
PH based CO2 injection
Large Eheim canister filter (forgot model number)
Cable heater in substrate.

Any ideas on how to manage the macro and micro nutrients of a new
green tank would be appreciated.
James Ervin
Remove SPAM to email me.


Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

I recommend Chuck's method:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm

It worked beautifully for me. No algae, the plants grew like crazy, and the
fish were happy and completely unstressed. Yes, even though I started with
Amano shrimp. (Shrimp are notoriously sensitive to ammonia and nitrite.)

I did find I had to add fertilizer a little sooner than he recommended. I
didn't have any algae, and the plants didn't die. But they started looking a
bit pale, so I started added adding some Flourish.

I wouldn't worry too much about fertilizer. The plants won't die overnight
without it. If they need it, you'll notice, long before there's any permanent
harm done.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/