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L# Freshwater Aquaria
 L# Planted Aquaria
  L# More Plant Questions
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SubscribeMore Plant Questions
Garofoli
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Big Fish
Posts: 337
Kudos: 143
Votes: 27
Registered: 12-Apr-2006
male usa
Hello,
I have more plant questions. First Do you need fertilzer for growind plants, and are Anubias and Cabomba illegal in Connecticut? Thanks.

Chris
Post InfoPosted 31-May-2006 00:21Profile AIM PM Edit Report 
Theresa_M
 
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Moderator
Queen of Zoom
Posts: 3649
Kudos: 4280
Votes: 790
Registered: 04-Jan-2004
female usa us-maryland
I think most people use ferts...it depends on what type of plants, substrate, lighting, etc.

It might be a good idea to Google for your state laws regarding illegal plants.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Post InfoPosted 31-May-2006 02:14Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
illustrae
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Fish Addict
Posts: 820
Kudos: 876
Registered: 04-May-2005
female usa
Cabomba might be restricted in Connecticut, as I'm fairly certain it is in NY. Anubias is unlikely since it grows too slowly to become a nuisance.

I only use ferts in one of my 3 planted tanks, and I have great plant growth in all of them. It all depends on what your lighting is and how many plants you have, if you're adding CO2, fish load, etc. My ten gallon is medium light, low stock, and I use it mostly to grow out cuttings, and don't use ferts at all. I think I'm more lucky with that tank than skilled, though, so your milage may vary. My 65 gallon is low light, high fish load, and planted just with anubias, so I don't use ferts in there either. It could probably stand a bit of ferts because I do get a little bit of algae due to the higher nitrates because of the fish load, but I'm too lazy to try to figure out the dosing.
My 30 gal. high light, heavily planted, heavy fish load tank is the one that gets ferts. I've been using the Seachem Flourish line of plant supplements and I've been absolutely thrilled with the results. However, I use 6 bottles of stuff two to three times every week, and an additional powder when I do water changes. I do not use CO2, either DIY or pressurized, so I've been using Flourish Excel. I dosed every day for a while, but now I'm down to thee times a week when I add my other ferts. Every other day (except the day before water changes, so sometimes I skip two days) I add a cocktail of regular FLourish, Flourish Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Iron, and when I do water changes I add Seachem Equilibrium for calcium and magnesium. I know it sounds like a lot and that it would be a real pain, but it really isn't. I suggest getting a bunch of 3ml droppers and a small cup (I use a shot glass) and just pour into the filter outlet current. It also might seem expensive to need all those bottles, but for a relatively small tank like a 30, those six 8.5 oz. bottles last a whole year, so if once a year you drop about $50 on plant ferts, that really not a whole lot. You can also go the route of buying bulk dry ferts and mixing up your own (again, I'm a little too lazy to try that with my small tank, but if I started a bigger one, it would be the way to go).

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...
Post InfoPosted 31-May-2006 16:03Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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