Talked to a plant guy at the LFS today....

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I just don't know who to trust anymore... Not only do they have the bigger bottles of Seachem iron, potassium, and excel but only a tiny bottle of regular flourish, no trace or nitrate... I asked how do i test to potassium and he didn't have an answer but why have huge bottles of the fertilizer then?

I also asked him how i'm doing with my tank. He said i probably don't even need to be using Seachem Flourish as i'm only fertilizing the algae...

He said 1bubble per second is way too much for my 110gal from my CO2...

Did i do everything wrong or what? I did get some more lighting from work today so we'll see if the added light helps growth. They are just two little grow lights..i don't even know how much wattage or type of light they're putting out...

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Wow, that guy really doesn't know his stuff. Potassium is one of the most important nutrients to give plants. You don't need to test for it but you still need it in large amounts. In a 110gal 1 bubble per second is probably not enough, until you increase the CO2 you probably are just feeding the algae. Algae doesn't need CO2 to photosynthesize, plants do, if they don't have the necessary tools to photochythesize then the algae will get all the nutrients.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I think he said i shouldn't be using water based fertilizers like Seachem products and instead use tabs to put in the soil. This is because most of my plants except for my hydro are root feeders. But i thought thats what my substrate heater was for...to allow water to slowly pass by the roots so nutrients can be absorbed.

So if nutrients are in the water then they should be getting absorbed right?.....

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

And here we have yet another misconception in the hobby. :) Plants are not either/or when it comes to root versus leaf absorption of nutrients, they are both. All aquatic plants are capable of taking in nutrients through their roots and through their leaves. Plants will take the nutrients from where they are available. While there are plants that do take in the nutrients easier through their roots than throught their leaves, they are still capable of taking the nutrients through their leaves.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Well i just looked at the grow lights i got from work. It looks like they are 26w each of T5 so thats 52watts i just added today. They are super bright little things so this will bring my total wpg up to about 3.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

T5's don't follow the normal WPG scale. The standard WPG scale is designed for standard T12 linear fluorescent bulbs. As you increase in bulb intensity the WPG scale changes. Just for example, a pair of 70w Metal Halids on a 75 gal tank is under 2 wpg but is considered high light.

[doug z]

T5's don't follow the normal WPG scale

Really?

So i went and added TOO much light for my 75? :(

I wanted at least 3wpg (moderate to bright), so I went and bought 2 Current USA 48" 2x54W T-5 strips, for 220W, or 2.9 wpg)...

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

2.9wpg with T5 lights puts you in the high light range. You are going to be going through the CO2 and ferts faster. You have what would be roughly equivelant to 4wpg of normal output fluorescents.

[doug z]

Dang!!!

Well that 2nd one was a waste of money.. :(

AND I'll have to worry about algae..

AND my fish will hate the brightness!!

Will have to add a bunch of Frogbit to give them plenty of respite..

Thanks for the head's up, Brad!!

Wonder if I SHOULD get that UV unit?

Should I cut my losses and sell off this 2nd unit?

[Augus]

ILuvMyGoldBarb,
I will have 28watt of T5 light for my 20 gal tank, what will that equivalent to normal wpg rating?
Tank will have low light plants in there, I will use Flourite and Flourite Excel and may be Iron, so hope it not too much light, as I will not have CO2.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Not sure exactly the equivelant but you have more light then you need for low light plants. You could grow medium light stuff in there.

[smaug]

I just don't know who to trust anymore... Not only do they have the bigger bottles of Seachem iron, potassium, and excel but only a tiny bottle of regular flourish, no trace or nitrate... I asked how do i test to potassium and he didn't have an answer but why have huge bottles of the fertilizer then?

I also asked him how i'm doing with my tank. He said i probably don't even need to be using Seachem Flourish as i'm only fertilizing the algae...

He said 1bubble per second is way too much for my 110gal from my CO2...

Did i do everything wrong or what? I did get some more lighting from work today so we'll see if the added light helps growth. They are just two little grow lights..i don't even know how much wattage or type of light they're putting out...
we have a term for guys like him here in pa,
YAAHOO!
the best advise you will ever get about your plants and tank will be right here on this site.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

yeah i'm just still confused as to why they sell huge bottles of potassium(3 bottles) and yet only carry the tiny 500ml bottles of regular Flourish.....

And yet he advised against me ever needing any potassium unless i saw signs of it on the leaves......

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Doesn't make much sense if that's the way he's advising, but if you look at the recommended doses on those bottles, the amount of potassium is twice what the flourish is. You will go through the Flourish K twice as fast as the regular flourish.

[smaug]

I use there whole line of ferts,pottasium is a big need for plants and is most always deficient.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Exactly. The reason it gets overlooked so much is that the symptoms for Iron deficency and Potassium deficency are very similar. The difference is the presence of pinholes that look burned with potassium deficency

[Augus]

Not sure exactly the equivelant but you have more light then you need for low light plants. You could grow medium light stuff in there.

Thanks, I can try to get more plants in medium range. Turn out to be great light set I purchase for $35.

Base on the Seachem MS Excel file I have, these are total ml recommended dosing the week for my 20 gal:
Excel 20
Iron 12
Flourish 3.4
Phosphorus 2.6
Nitrogen 2.6
Potassium 6.6
Trace 10.0

But I will be using only flourish, excel, iron.

[xoolooxunny]

Ask for them to order the bottles in that you need, otherwise, buy in bulk from drs foster&smith, or bigals. NONE of my lfs's (5 total) carry flourish nitrogen anymore, so i had one order it in for me, and they had it the next week.

As far as your co2 goes, go for the ph test. with your lighting, try and shoot for 30-40ppm. you can test your water ph in the tank, and take some out and test it 24hrs later. a rise of .5 means 15ppm, 1.0 is 30ppm, and so on.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

But I will be using only flourish, excel, iron.

See above. You need more potassium. Iron is a trace element, potassium is not.

[smaug]

Exactly. The reason it gets overlooked so much is that the symptoms for Iron deficency and Potassium deficency are very similar. The difference is the presence of pinholes that look burned with potassium deficency
congrats on making,the big 1000!

[Augus]

See above. You need more potassium. Iron is a trace element, potassium is not.

thanks, will get them.

Question, I am not sure or say confuse about carbon in my filter, will it effect my plants?

[xoolooxunny]

oh the great carbon debate. love this one. some use it, some dont. some say it gives them odor free, crystal clear water, others say it robs nutrients from the plants.

My personal experience: I got better plant growth when I stopped using it, and my water smells fine, and it is crystal clear (for the most part). That's not to say I was more experienced in planting when I stopped using it either, let's not forget that. Truth be told, I didnt want to replace it anymore and didnt want to spend the money on it (I figured "why be concerned with toxins when i change half the water every week, and i am way understocked?")

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I don't run carbon on my planted tanks either. I generally remove it.

[Algenco]

As ILMGB stated, T5's are much more efficient than T12's
A T5 with good reflectors produces 1.5 the effective output of a T12, 40w of T5= 60w T12

Liquid versus root tab Tom Barr aka Plantbrain conducted an experiment with a Sword which are known as heavy root feeders.
Tom cut off all the roots and floated the Sword in a tank and fed liquid fertz, the Sword flourished

[xoolooxunny]

Liquid versus root tab Tom Barr aka Plantbrain conducted an experiment with a Sword which are known as heavy root feeders.
Tom cut off all the roots and floated the Sword in a tank and fed liquid fertz, the Sword flourished

Now that you mention it, this is how i root all my plants! If they dont have roots, i float them for a week (maybe less) and then go from there. Those roots and leaves are then taking all nutrients out of the water column, no substrate.