Having a hard time keeping plants healthy

[tike]

On 1/12/2024 at 6:50 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Absolutely not true.

 

You have almost no GH and have salt in the water which damages plants.

For reference, GH 5.2 KH near 0, in pool filter sand and no root tabs. Get the water right with excellent husbandry and you will be in a much better spot.

Explain your position......

[Mmiller2001]

On 1/13/2024 at 11:24 AM, tike said:

Explain your position......

Non of those plants are heavy root feeders. 

[tike]

On 1/13/2024 at 10:26 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Non of those plants are heavy root feeders. 

If you look at my post I said root feeders not heavy root feeders...........Those plants have thicker leaves which makes transfer of nutrients through them a bit harder. I have tried zero nutrient in substrate with them many times and had poor results  verses supplementing substrate. I am not stating I am a plant guru but I have been growing aquatic plants for 40 years, just so it is understood that I am not just shooting from the hip. You have given valuable knowledge to the post starter! Let's all wish them great success!!

[Mmiller2001]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:02 PM, tike said:

Crypt, Sword Val are root feeders and need some sort of substrate additive like plant tabs

I’m sorry, but this is completely not true. In fact, the vast majority of plants available (to the hobby) do not need anything but plain old water column dosing regardless of substrate type.

[Pepere]

On 1/13/2024 at 3:18 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

In fact, the vast majority of plants available (to the hobby) do not need anything but plain old water column dosing regardless of substrate type.

I can accept that they don’t “need” root tabs….   But do root tabs or soils provide them with any benefit?    Or even another question,  are there ever any benefits to using root tabs?   Or just an unnecessary expense?

[Mmiller2001]

On 1/13/2024 at 2:09 PM, Pepere said:

I can accept that they don’t “need” root tabs….   But do root tabs or soils provide them with any benefit?    Or even another question,  are there ever any benefits to using root tabs?   Or just an unnecessary expense?

There are some plants that absolutely do better with low pH at the root zone. So having an aqua soil works really well for them. But it isn’t necessary. Some Erio species need an aqua soil and do even better with an added root tab. But the vast majority of plants in this hobby do just fine in inert substrates without root tabs. 

I will venture grain size is more important when it comes to substrates and plants doing well when given what they need. So much so, I swapped my substrate to BDBS last Monday!

 

[Pepere]

Is BDBS larger grain size than the pool sand you were using before?

[Mmiller2001]

On 1/13/2024 at 2:27 PM, Pepere said:

Is BDBS larger grain size than the pool sand you were using before?

Yes, BDBS is 1 to 3mm.

[Xr4tiCrew]

Did my 50/50 bypass water & distilled water change Saturday and it looks like the parameters are already changing. 
 

Edited January 15 by Xr4tiCrew

[Xr4tiCrew]

After some additional testing it looks like I am still getting some soft (salt) water in my tank by using the faucet in the kitchen. The cold water bypasses the soft water but the hot does not. In order to get the water to 77 I obviously am using some of the soft water but less then I was by using the bathroom faucet where both the cold and hot are all soft water. Ugh. I am showing higher GH though. 

[Pepere]

On 1/21/2024 at 3:23 PM, Xr4tiCrew said:

After some additional testing it looks like I am still getting some soft (salt) water in my tank by using the faucet in the kitchen. The cold water bypasses the soft water but the hot does not. In order to get the water to 77 I obviously am using some of the soft water

You could use only cold water and then heat it.   Big plastic tub with an aquarium heater in it to raise the temps….

[Xr4tiCrew]

On 1/21/2024 at 3:31 PM, Pepere said:

You could use only cold water and then heat it.   Big plastic tub with an aquarium heater in it to raise the temps….

Bought a coop heater today from my LFS and will be using it for my 100% bypass cold water. Get an aquarium they said, it will be fun they said. 😂😂💰💰

[Xr4tiCrew]

So I am on week 3 of using bypass water and distilled and notice my rummy nose tetras have Ich. So I dosed with Ich-x and will be doing 1/3 water changes along with dosing Ich-x every day for the next 3-4 days. My question is should I be adding fertilizer (EG) with every water change? 

[Mmiller2001]

On 1/27/2024 at 4:50 PM, Xr4tiCrew said:

So I am on week 3 of using bypass water and distilled and notice my rummy nose tetras have Ich. So I dosed with Ich-x and will be doing 1/3 water changes along with dosing Ich-x every day for the next 3-4 days. My question is should I be adding fertilizer (EG) with every water change? 

Yes, return the tank to your target totals each water change.

[Xr4tiCrew]

After doing water changes for 5 days in a row due to ich, hoping most of the water softener water is gone. I have noticed some improvement with some of the plants and hoping to see more of that in the coming weeks. Definitely a bit of a pain and $$ making water weekly and getting it heated to 76 but am willing to keep that up due to the amount of money I’ve spent on plants. Wondering if easy green fertilizer is the best solution or if you all recommend something else?