Should I Fertilize New Plants?

[OfficialThomas]

Should I add root tabs and easy green right when I put the new plants into my aquarium? Should I make the dose smaller? By how much?

Thanks! 

[nabokovfan87]

I forget where, but the reference guide I saw for plant acclimation said that if you add EG right away it could potentially just feed algae issues.  If you have plants that are severely starved and look beat up from shipping, they might not be able to fight that off, also feeding algae issues.  Root tabs I do on the first 1-2 days, but I have been trying to force myself to have a bit of patience with the liquid fertilizers, typically one week.

Hopefully that's helpful 🙂

Welcome to the forums!

[OfficialThomas]

On 8/21/2022 at 2:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I forget where, but the reference guide I saw for plant acclimation said that if you add EG right away it could potentially just feed algae issues.  If you have plants that are severely starved and look beat up from shipping, they might not be able to fight that off, also feeding algae issues.  Root tabs I do on the first 1-2 days, but I have been trying to force myself to have a bit of patience with the liquid fertilizers, typically one week.

Hopefully that's helpful 🙂

Welcome to the forums!

Got it! That is very helpful!!

Thank you!

[AnimalNerd98]

I second @nabokovfan87’s suggestions. I would stay away from EG for at least two weeks before dosing it. You should also probably lower the light cycle to 6 hours (if they are the only plants in the tank). Root tabs can’t really hurt, but I remember Cory talking about how he actually buries the plants in their pots in the substrate (not for things like Anubias or Java fern). He lets them kind of acclimate and send out runners, adding root tabs and taking the plant out of the pot when it has a more robust root system. 

[OfficialThomas]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:41 AM, AnimalNerd98 said:

I second @nabokovfan87’s suggestions. I would stay away from EG for at least two weeks before dosing it. You should also probably lower the light cycle to 6 hours (if they are the only plants in the tank). Root tabs can’t really hurt, but I remember Cory talking about how he actually buries the plants in their pots in the substrate (not for things like Anubias or Java fern). He lets them kind of acclimate and send out runners, adding root tabs and taking the plant out of the pot when it has a more robust root system. 

Thank you!

[Shadow_Arbor]

What substrate do you have? If it's a planted tank substrate then you shouldn't really fertilize at all for the first few weeks. In any case, I wouldn't fertilize until plant growth is noticed. Root tabs, if put deep enough in the substrate, shouldn't cause issues as the fertilizer shouldn't leech into the water column.

Good luck!

[_Eric_]

I put in root tabs when adding new plants and don’t change my easy green dosing.  Seems to work fine.  If you have stratum or similar soil you wouldn’t need tabs.  If these are the first plants you have in the tank, you could probably wait for a while on the easy green.  I’d still test nitrates and dose if they were really low.  

[Patrick_G]

On 8/25/2022 at 2:26 AM, _Eric_ said:

I put in root tabs when adding new plants and don’t change my easy green dosing.  Seems to work fine.

 

I agree, they'll be able to use the nutrients as soon as they hit the water. A few days won't matter one way or the other but I'm personally impatient. I want those plants growing right now! 😆

[OfficialThomas]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:44 AM, Shadow_Arbor said:

What substrate do you have? If it's a planted tank substrate then you shouldn't really fertilize at all for the first few weeks. In any case, I wouldn't fertilize until plant growth is noticed. Root tabs, if put deep enough in the substrate, shouldn't cause issues as the fertilizer shouldn't leech into the water column.

Good luck!

Just normal aquarium gravel with no added nutrients.

[Mmiller2001]

Fertilize right away. If the tank is new, go lean on dosing.

[IanB]

 

On 8/27/2022 at 10:38 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Fertilize right away. If the tank is new, go lean on dosing.

I generally agree with this. In particular, if you have the luxury of having discrete ferts available to you in addition to an all-in-one, I would start with just Potassium and micros. Then as it gets established, depending on your tap water, you can either switch to an all-in-one like easy green or just start adding N/P as well. 

To me, the most important thing you can do when starting a planted aquarium, though, is get a copy of your local water report, or get your LFS to test the water for N/P/K. Some places have lots of phosphorus, in particular, in the water. If that is the case, you really want to be careful with an all-in-one because you can easily develop algae issues due to excessive phosphorus (the entire ADA Fert system is built around avoiding excessive phosphates because of how they contribute  to algae). If you are experienced and running advanced high energy tanks with difficult plants there are times you will want lots of phosphorus, but that is a relatively uncommon situation. If you have soft water, Easy Green is your best friend. If you have hard water with relatively balanced P/K it is still wonderful. If you have really high P and low K, though you may be better off dosing potassium, nitrates, and micros separately, annoying as that can be, if an algae free tank is your goal.

I hope that isn't an incomprehensible mess-- short version, make sure your water doesn't have high phosphates (or some other outlier like pH, K, or N) before you commit to a fertilizer regime. If you have "weird" water (high in one area but not others) you may need to avoid all-in-ones and use more specialized ferts if you want to avoid algae. You can get your water parameters from your LFS or water company report without having to spend lots of time and money on test kits.

[Shadow_Arbor]

On 8/27/2022 at 5:52 PM, Thomas H said:

Just normal aquarium gravel with no added nutrients.

If that's the case I'd add root tabs for sure. About dosing the water column, I tend to agree with earlier comments. If you do dose, make sure it's lean at the beginning. That way you'll give the plants a chance to start growing without algae blooms.

[OfficialThomas]

On 8/29/2022 at 2:56 AM, Shadow_Arbor said:

If that's the case I'd add root tabs for sure. About dosing the water column, I tend to agree with earlier comments. If you do dose, make sure it's lean at the beginning. That way you'll give the plants a chance to start growing without algae blooms.

So like half strength dose of easy green?

Edited August 29, 2022 by Thomas H