Amazon Sword Plant

[gunnstack]

Two questions:

1)I have two Amazon Sword plants in my tank which appear to be doing quite well but losing the bottom leaves which I belive is quite normal. I was told these plants feed primarily through their roots and require regular feeding. The question is which is the most suitable food? It was suggested to me some time ago that PlantTabbs would be OK on the other hand I was advised not to use them as they can contribute to algae growth so I'm a little confused. I have visited a number of sites but never found one that suggested any type of plant food for these plants.

2)I use Aqua Master plant food which is Phosphate free and the plants seem to thrive quite well on that, the algae level is low and all the plants require regular trimming. Are their better alternatives than Aqua Master or are they all pretty much the same?

Regards Gordon

[livebearer_breeder]

Flourish is good, but if you have fish in the tank they will be providing food for the Amazon sword.

Shae 250

[Lucid]

Forgive me if I have misread the above, but you have stated that your plants are growing fine and that you have to do regular prunings, why change what you are using.

Changing a fert may cause your tank parameters to change aswell, and it may be detrimental in the interim or even long term.

JMO Tho

B

[Plantman]

i agreed with Ballistic, why change when you are doing well. i also assume you have good lighting and are using an approriate fertilizer. all fertilizer can contribute to algae growth if not use according to instruction.

i knew it because i experience green algae water. i have to use UV light to treat it and it now gone.

do you believe it, i try out not using any root fertilizer and CO2 but with good light (36W. PL Tube), my sword plant grow like crazy. maybe is the fish waste or unuse fish food. i am not sure. other plant may not be so hardy. i do not know who you get your advise from, i sometime test the knowledge of the staff in the shops. some time, they are quick disappointing. they cannot even tell the different type of fish let along the plant needs. BUT most has good knowledge.

Flourish fertilizer is good as i had used it before. i once had a lot of ugly hair algae and i double dose with this fertilizer and with good lighting, the algae is gone. another reason for algae is not because of the fertilizer but because the plant is weak and are not strong enough to resist against the parasites (algae). another reason could be that the water is not change regularly (once a week or once a two week).

Florish fertilizer has Organic carbon that simulate CO2. i use a lot of nutrafin DIY CO2 which is very effective. i have bought extra and if you light i can sell it to you for $49. it is brand new and outside retail at $80ish. the one in trademe under Henry is slightly use as i am selling that too.

Cheers

[Rob]

Just a brief comment - please note that Flourish is a general plant fertiliser with the required micro-nutrients/trace elements. Flourish excel is an organic carbon source to simulate CO2 and has the side effect of getting rid of black brush algae.

As far as root feeding is concerned - if the root fert includes nitrogen then there _may_ be possible problems. The hope is that most of the nitrogen will be trapped in the gravel rather than making it into the water column - for many tanks this is reasonable, but if you've got substrate heating or are using a heat pad to heat the tank then there is a greater likelyhood that the extra nitrogen would make it into the water column. Two possible items to provide the macronutrients are the Plant Tabs you mention or sheep pellets (get them from the garden centre). I've also heard mention of people using some sort of fertiliser stick designed for palms and ferns - but I have no experience with this.

If you're wanting to get the micro nutrients/trace elements to the root zone then perhaps have a look at a product from JBL - 7-balls. These are balls about the size of a marble that contain the trace elements, they get pushed into the gravel at the base of the plant needing them.

If your swords are doing fine then I wouldn't worry too much, if their growth appears to be slowing or leaves are starting to yellow then consider root fertilisation.

[gunnstack]

Hi again. Just to clarify a couple of points in my last post, the Sword plants seem healthy enough but I haven't seen much in the way of growth and they are supposed to be quite fast growing plants. One point I looked at is that the Ph drops to below 6.4 even though the water I use for changes is Ph neutral. I tested both the Flourish Excel and the Aqua Master and they are also Ph neutral. I then had a look at what plants I had in the tank and searched for info on them. One of the plants I have is the Japanese Rush and it says that this plant can "destabilise the water chemistry putting the inhabitants at risk" (and presumably the other plants as well?). Does anyone have this plant in their tank or know of problems associated with it? I will take these plants out anyway, bring the Ph up slowly and monitor for any downward movement and see what the result is.

Regards Gordon.

[Warren]

Some plants use up the calcium and the carbonates in the water. All plants use up most of the buffering salts as well. Your fertiliser will need to replace these or your pH will change. It will depend how often you do water changes and how fast your plants grow as to how much of the macro nutrients you need to add. If you need to raise your pH a little, it can be done using sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) disolved in water. Add a little at a time into the filter flow over about a 30 minute time-span.

It sounds a little like you have fairly soft water with not much pH buffering capacity. This is certainly the best type of water for planted tanks but you also have to keep an eye on it regularly. I know if I add x amount of macro nutrients to my tank it will keep th pH stable. I used to test every week and adjust accordingly. After 8+ years I know what I can get away with now and only test every month or two just to be sure.

Most sword plants are fairly fast growing. Not as quick as stem plants but you should see 1 fully grown new leaf every 2-3 days under good conditions...

[gunnstack]

Hi Warren-thanks for the info. You are correct about the soft water, we are on tank water. I do a 25% water change mostly every week and yes I do use Bicarb to raise the Ph in the way you describe. As regards macro nutrients what are we talking about here-the normal small weekly doses of plant fertiser such as Aqua Master plant food and Flourish Excel-or something else? Since removing a plant which I thought might be causing the problem, adjusting the Ph to neutral it's slowly creeping down again-so that eliminates the plant I think and back in it goes. When living in Lower Hutt I never had a problem growing plants and had no need to add fertilisers but since moving to a rural area and using soft water it's been an uphill battle trying to get the balance right and plants to grow. I would appreciate if you could enlighten me further as it appears you may also be using tank water.

Regards Gordon

[Pegasus]

Bicarb is the quick "bump" solution to raising your pH.. and does exactly that.. it raises it quickly, but has little long term effect.

Oyster grit in a cheap box filter will raise the pH gradually and stabilize it for longer periods, although this too will need changing every few weeks or so.

It can be bought in bags (1kg) from most super markets under the Chicken feed supplies area.

Bill.

[gunnstack]

Thanks Warren for your prompt reply. Now if ivé got the gist of this correct what you are saying is that I need to have some form of water "hardener" in the tank to keep the Ph stable such as limestone in some form or another? It's odd that you should say that as the gravel in the tank was originally "nicked" from Eastbourne beach (quite a few years ago- and I can't reveal where cos there's still plenty there for the picking) and had quite a bit of shell in it and I suppose by now the vast majority has dissolved. Presumably some small amount of any beach shell would do- or does Oyster shell have some particular significance-slow release eg,? Or is fertilising/Ph adjustment/hardness via whatever means a science or an art?

Regards Gordon

[Warren]

Main macro nutrients are Magnesium and Potassium. I use RO water and have to buffer it to get and hardness at all and to get pH stability.

I use 500L on a waterchange and put 6 Tablespoons of Magnesium sulphate and 4 tablespoon of Potassium sulphate into the waterchange water. I also add 3 tablespoons of Sodium bicarbonate, 3 tablespoons of Calcium chloride and 1/8 teaspoon of iron chelates. This is enough to buffer my heavily planted 8' 1200L tank for 1 week and keep the iron level normal.

The fertiliser also has these same macro nutrients in it in about the same proportions (but no Sodium bicarbonate). It's about 1000x more concentrated though. When the lights and CO² are on, I add about 30mls of concentrate a day using a dosing pump to keep pH and nutrient levels constant. The fertiliser also has iron and other micro nutrients too.

I have 6 x 58W 6500K lamps and 6 x 18W 6500K lamps on 14 hours a day. Most stem plants grow between 25 and 100mm a day. Most sword plants grow a complete new leaf every two days. All the new growth is bright red. Every week I get a 20L bucket of prunings to take to the LFS. It initially cost $400 to setup the tank with all the plants but I've made that back and some with selling off the excess...