Die Off - Caused by fertilizer???

[astronatus]

I recently lost both my dwarf gourami and all three of my rainbows in a well-established planted tank (I know, they arent monsters, but you guys know more about fish than anyone on the cutesie fish forums).

The only change of routine was having added liquid plant fertilizer a couple days before. All five fish just slowly languished and died over the course of about three days. No external signs of illness. My three cories, three cherry barbs, rubber-lipped plecostomus, and five flame von rio tetras suffered no apparent ill effects.

Could fertilizer have been the culprit? Ph = 7.2, Ni = 0, Am = 0, Na = 40.

 

[WyldFya]

What were your nitrate readings before and after dosing the ferts. How big is the aquarium, and how much did you put in? What type of liquid fert did you use? There are two things that might have happened, that could have been caused by the ferts... 1) overdosed the ferts 2)bad bottle of ferts.

 

[Tongue33]

Adding Chemicals is not a good idea in my personal opinion Plants grow or not if not get different ones The best ones for less experienced people like myself I have found are the little packages of 4-6 bulbs They grow in the light of any of my tanks and they require no fert or anything else that might kill off any of my fish

 

[WyldFya]

I would say that is a very absured statement. Fertilizers are not the same as meds, they are very necessary for the proper growth of ALL plants. Do you use a dechlor? Ferts are almost as important for proper growth as a good dechlorinator. There are only a hand full of plants that will survive in an aquarium for a long period of time with out ferts. They will never flourish, and they will probably never even reproduce. I'd say that 5% of all aquatic plants seen in the hobby can live for more than a year without the use of ferts. Fertilizers are the food for plants. Just like buying a fish, you need to know what requirements the animal needs to survive, such as food. For plants they need the ferts for nutrition to grow, they need co2 like fish need o2, and they need light. Being a responsible fishkeeper, is one thing, but it is also important to be a responsible aquarist in general should you chose to bring plants into your home.

 

[Tongue33]

Yes i use a declorinater... And some ferts have harmful chems... I am not discounting your experience i am learning as well.. Like Co'2 also needed by plants true? Yet is harmful to Fish in quantity.. is even a form of euthinization

Maybe reading the bottle would have been a better suggestion.. But the fact is my plants are doing fine without store bought ferts and being new as our friend here asking the question to plants i have found it easier to just keep the easier plants for now that require from my experience no outside help other than what is already establishing itself in the tank.


Thanks for the info though..

 

[astronatus]

Well, no consensus so far. It is a 37 gal, heavily planted. I have fertilizer in the substrate, one of those iron supplement things. I used the recommended dose of a liquid fertilizer. Have used it before but no problems, though this is a different bottle. I dont know what the Na was prior to putting in the fertilizer.

I would say that is a very absured statement. Fertilizers are not the same as meds, they are very necessary for the proper growth of ALL plants. Do you use a dechlor? Ferts are almost as important for proper growth as a good dechlorinator. There are only a hand full of plants that will survive in an aquarium for a long period of time with out ferts. They will never flourish, and they will probably never even reproduce. I'd say that 5% of all aquatic plants seen in the hobby can live for more than a year without the use of ferts. Fertilizers are the food for plants. Just like buying a fish, you need to know what requirements the animal needs to survive, such as food. For plants they need the ferts for nutrition to grow, they need co2 like fish need o2, and they need light. Being a responsible fishkeeper, is one thing, but it is also important to be a responsible aquarist in general should you chose to bring plants into your home.

 

[ewurm]

Plant fertilizer can definitely upset your tank. If it contains a lot of nitrogenous material, it can send your nitrates soaring.

 

[Potts050]

Sounds like nitrates are the culprit here. What are your ppms?

 

[WyldFya]

Always test your parameters to dictate dosages of ferts before you add.

 

[astronatus]

That is a good point. Na usually seems to run around 20/40, but I have recently started changing 25 % weekly rather than 40% biweekly, and I hope that will bring them down some.

Always test your parameters to dictate dosages of ferts before you add.