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I have been having some deaths of a few of my fish in my ten gallon, and it seems like every time I add the plant fertilizer to the tank, I wake up to a dead fish. Could this be possible? Thanks


-topher

[span class="edited"][Edited by topher02 2004-07-16 10:02][/span]

Absolutely.

The plant fertilizer must be labeled fish safe or it can harm them. If it is labeled fish safe I would still find the link too much of a coincidence. The fert could have become contaminated at the factory or changed chemically with age (as some mixes do). I would use that fert for your outdoor plants and buy more for your fish tank plants.

Koi

EDIT: Another thought...you are adding nitrates to a very small tank. The sudden change if you are adding too much could kill them. Make sure you follow the recommended dosages keeping in mind your very small tank volume.

[span class="edited"][Edited by koi keeper 2004-07-16 10:05][/span]

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Iam using Plant gro by nutrafin, have you heard any good/bad things about it? Should I change Fertilizer?

I can't seem to find much info on the ingredients in it, but I have never known properly dosed aquarium fertilizers to cause deaths - algae maybe, but not deaths.

I suggest Tropica Mastergrow instead of that nutrafin stuff. In my opinion, it's better than flourish, and second only to plantex ( plantex is sold as a dry chemical that you mix with distilled water and epsom salt. Best trace fert I've ever seen, and exponentially cheaper than anything else.) http://www.gregwatson.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CSMPlantex1]http://www.gregwatson.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CSMPlantex1[/link] to buy, and [link=http://www.gregwatson.com/HowToDosePlantex.htm on how to dose it. Tropica Mastergrow is a close runner up though, and if a bit of diy is more than you want to do, it's what I would go with.

[span class="edited"][Edited by jake 2004-07-16 19:22][/span]

fertilizer can definatly kill fish. I always let my nitrates naturally rise to about 30-35 ppm if i am trying to grow something and have very hardy fish in the tank. Also consider a good CO2 system.

Most liquid plant fertilizers do not contain nitrates.

I use Plant Gro by Nutrafin, and I have had no bad reactions. It is a good quality product. I wonder perhaps if you are "Overdosing" your tank though. When I fertilize my plants I follow this routing: IF transplanting or adding new plants - Half Dosage. Otherwise, - Dose Full Dose Once a Month unless Plants seem to be withering or browning, if they are withering or browning, try half a dose first and see if that helps. Try dosing half doses several days apart rather than a full dose.
Hope this helps!


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I went to the store and looked at the nutrafin plant-gro.

It's ratio is 0.15 - 0 - 0 . That's 0.15% nitrogen, 0% phosphate , 0% Potash (potassium).

Given the other ingredients and the amount of those other ingredients, I would call it an incomplete trace fertilizer with a dab of nitrogen. I can't fathom how it could hurt any fish even when dosed incorrectly. A half a bottle in a 2.5 gal tank, yeah, but otherwise I don't see it. If it makes you feel any better you could switch to a different fertilizer though, but I seriously doubt it's the cause of any of your fish deaths.

when i talked about the nitrates it was because nitrates are a natural fertilizer for all plant growth including algae.

I wasn't directing any comments to anyone in particular, Daniel.. just sharing what I found out about the fert on my trip to the petstore In trace ferts there are many potentially harmful ingredients, but at such a small level ( 0.00005 % copper and so forth), it would be highly unlikely that it would cause any problems unless grossly over dosed or continually overdosed without water changes to remove it or plants that are uptaking it. At any rate, I doubt it would be the fertilizer's fault.

Also, koi keeper said

The fert could have become contaminated at the factory or changed chemically with age (as some mixes do)

, which I read and it didn't sink in. It's a very true statement - sometimes chealted ingredients become unchealted when exposed to light, etc. Would probably be wise to use a different fert just to make sure.

Sorry if it sounded like I was harping on ya... sorries!


[span class="edited"][Edited by jake 2004-07-18 11:12][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by jake 2004-07-18 11:16][/span]