Plant ferts and shrimp

[kurly]

I know very little about red cherry shrimp because I am very new to them. I have a lightly planted tank with fish and red cherry shrimp. It is time for me to put a few fertilizer tablets in the substrate for my plants. Will the fertilizer tablets do any harm to my red cherry shrimps?

[msjinkzd]

I would look at their ingredients...alot of the fert tabs have heavy metals which in concentrated dosages (after a duration of use) can negatively effect or kill your shrimp. I know of people who have used "plantzone" line of products and had no ill effects. What is your tank maintenance schedule? I would imagine if you were super diligent with water changes (to dilute the amount leeched into the water column) it may be doable.

[shultz]

What kind of plants? The reason I ask is I have Rotala, Amazon sword, Money wort, wisteria, two other plants that I can't remember what the heck they are called and TON's of java moss in my tank and dose NO fert's. The tank has been up and planted for about 8 months now and all seem to be doing fine and growing well... they may grow BETTER with fert's and CO2 BUT they are growing none the less. Everything I've read about dosing ferts and keeping shrimp has been a mix of OK and BAD(mostly BAD)... even though I picked some plants that most say NEED ferts I figured before I dosed fert's I just buy different plants that were better suited to the water conditions... so far I've not had to do that. In short, I'd say DO NOT dose fert's in you're shrimp tank.

John

[kurly]

I only have wisteria in my tank but am currently having a problem with brown algae (diatoms?). I hadn't planned on using any more of my fert tabs since I have shrimp now but someone told me to increase my lighting, water changes and dose plants with fertilizer to help get rid of the brown algae. I then thought about the shrimp and decided to hold off on the ferts until I asked this question.

[squirt_12]

you could add CO2 to the tank...and that will help the plants grow alot....since i added CO2 to my tank (the DYI one) my plants have been doing very well...

[Crusty]

Any of the potasium based ferts will do the job if you really feel the need to add ferts. Avoid any containing copper in any form as it will adversly effect your shrimp. Something to watch when spending money on ferts is your calcium harness. I assume with your tank it will be quite high if you have shrimp. Calcium will bind up potasium in the water and basically sit it in your substrate, locked out from the plants use.... Go the co2 for a starter as others have suggested and see how your plants respond. This will remove any risk of adding some bi-product from the ferts.

[CAF]

I know this going to sound odd....

Brown algae = you need MORE light....

[kurly]

Meaning that I need to leave my lights on longer or I need a stronger light? I have a 15 watt flourescent light in my 10 gallon tank that I leave on for about 10 hours a day. My tank doesn't sit under a window but it is a few feet away from it so I don't know how much natural light it can get. I am going to the store today so if I need to buy another light I can do that when I am out but am hoping that I can do something else to correct this if it all possible.

[shultz]

How mature is the tank? the brown algae is most likely diatom's if the tank is less than say 2 months old...just NTS... nothing to worry about. Diatom's can also occure if your nutriant levels are outa wack... any idea what your Nitrate levels are? You're a bit low on lighting for that tank... are you using a plant blub? most "stock blubs" are not the right spectrum. I think wisteria will do poorly at 1.5 watt's per gallon... duration is fine at 10 hour's... you need more intensity though if you want anything but LOW light plant's.

John

[kurly]

My tank is about 2 months old and my nitrates are 5. I am using the 15 watt flourescent bulb that came with the hood. I have no clue about what type of bulb I can get for a 10 gallon tank that is good for wisteria. It is a fast growing plant and so far it has remained healthy. I keep getting different advice about my lighting. Many have told me that my lighting is fine for the plant I have. I am so confused. I want enough light so that it doesn't die but I don't want so much that it grows out of control.

[shultz]

Kurly, if what you have is working ...and it sounds like it is... then stick with it! Honestly I've never tried wisteria in a tank with less than 3 watt's per gallon of 6700K lighting... its SUPPOSED to be a moderate light plant and you're tank at 1.5 watt's per gallon would be considered LOW light by most. When you need to replace you're blub try a 15 watt blub at 6700K color temp( AKA daylight blub). I would not worry to much about the diatom bloom... it will go away as the tank matures... if ya want toss in 2 or 3 Otto's... mine LOVED the diatom bloom I had in my 100 gallon early on. I never had a diatom bloom in my shrimp tank... the 2 otto's in it did like the thick algae I let grow before I introduced them into the thank though... it was like otto heaven!! of course the shrimp also liked all the algae:ezpi_wink1:

It sounds to me like everything is going well for you're tank... keep up the good work!!!

[kurly]

Thank you for the encouragement schultz. I am trying to do my best to have a nice tank for both me and my fishies :1luvu: I am allowing some of the light from my window into the tank and scraped off alot of the brown algae from the glass, rocks and filter sponge. Too bad my tank is too small for the ottos or I would have tried that instead of having to do all the work - lol. It does look better for now so I hope I am moving in the right direction. I know not to allow too much light from the window in the tank or I can end up with other kind of algae so I am keeping an eye on it. Some of the plant leaves are still covered with the brown algae so I think I am going to go ahead and get the bulb you mentioned tomorrow just to see how it will affect my plants. I guess I didn't do the correct research on selecting my plants like I thought I did.

Again, thanks for the bulb information and the nice words! I really appreciate it.