Alright, so there you are sitting by your 40 gallon tank with
tears in your eyes watching your adorable pet fish floating belly up and
observing the quick demise of your expensive plants the local pet store sold
you at a 300% mark-up price. You are not sure which has you more upset but you
are angry, the kids are crying and the wife is pulling up a do it yourself
divorce instruction kit online.
And all of this because you wanted to
fertilize your plants quickly and efficiently; sadly no one told you that the Turbocharge Plant Grow 5000 you bought at the Fern shop was not
suitable for aquatic plants. You are now on the verge of disaster and as your
lovely wife and kids are making arrangements to stay at Grandma’s you finally
ask; how do I provide nutrients to my plants!?
Uhhh…well there is an answer…well
several:
1) Tapwater: Good old fashion
“hard” tapwater will help provide nutrients to your plants. My plants namely
the moss did “drop dead” impressions when I placed them in treated water that
removed the metals, nutrients and softened it up. My lovely “Java Moss” turned into a
burnt Java coffee stain in mush form
2) Fish Food: Yep! Not only does this stuff
nourish your fish but it nourishes your plants and it does so cheaply! It is
much cheaper than the Monsterweed
Growth Serum 7000C provided
by the local pet store for $250.00 per baggie! Fish Food will provide the
nutrients for your plants.
3) Soil Substrate: That cheap
manufactured gravel you purchased is pretty well junk stones. Oh yes, they
advertise how beneficial they are to your tank but the reality is they are
trying to convince you that snake-oil is worth the price. If you like the cheap
gravel because it is “pretty” for the kids, so be it my friends but use an
organic or fluorite soil layer substrate underneath.
4) Do not overclean your tank:
Removing CO2 (Carbon)
through frequent water changes will only remove what the plants require for
nourishment. Only change
your water when it is necessary.
Of course, I will leave it up to you to
research which foods, waters and soils are acceptable for your particular
situations. My advice is to read Diane Walstad’s amazing book: “The Ecology of
the Planted Aquarium.”
However, every piece of advice you just
received is better that poisoning your tanks with harsh fertilizers and gimmick
plant quick-grow foods that will likely create imbalance and possibly outright
destruction.
