Is there a supplement i can use

[Nilsafeller]

As the title states.. is there some kind of supplement i can use for this tank.. let me explain
I've had a monstera growing out of my 240 for 4 years now and it's done extremely well as you can see in the picture of it.. so well I've actually cut some off and established in other tank like my 75 gallon also in pic.
My problem is I do not do water changes on the 75... there is 1 convict a bristlenose pleco and several plates in that tank with a grow light and although the tank does well without the water changes and the monstera and pothos are growing ,they are not growing aswell as I would like... probably due to not doing water changes... I only top the tank off every week about 1 gallon... is there a supplement I can add to the tank to help out with growth... not sure myself what kind of nutrients the plants are missing from weekly water changes. Thanks

 

[skjl47]

Hello; first the plant supplements. I have tried supplements for Amazon sword plants as they are root feeders. A type I no longer find was called ROOT TABS which worked well. Not sure what happened to the product.
I have used a few packets of API brand ROOT TABS with limited success. The Amazon stayed alive but growth was slow. Formula 3-1-1

I tried a liquid fert made for aquarium plants called KENT MARINE pro-Plant with limited results. I did not expect much help as it goes in the water rather than the gravel at the roots. formula 1-0-0

The most recent is API POND AQUATIC PLANT FOOD TABETS. The amazon is growing well and putting out new leaves. A secondary effect is all th other plants are growing really well. I will soon have to remove some plants which are shading the Amazon. The formula is 10-12-8. 10% total nitrogen -12% total phosphate-8% soluble potash.

Second about lack of water changes (WC). My thoughts are unproven on this. If you never do a WC but only top off a tank to make up for evaporation such ought to lead to a problem. That being a buildup of salts and minerals. tap water or any water other than distilled water will have things dissolved it it. The non-volatile stuff will stay behind when the water molecules evaporate. Over time the minerals and salts will become more and more concentrated in the water left behind.
Here is where my thinking becomes less certain. I imagine the plants do make use of some minerals. Some of the fish excretions also will be taken up by the plants. My guess is some things such as salts have limited use by the plants. Same for some excretions from the living fish.

If the idea is to have the emergent plants take up the nitrates and that way you can avoid WC I get it. Likely works well for the minerals & other things the plants actually use. i suspect a buildup of whatever chemicals the plants do not use. Many years ago (1987) I drove my father to Deming NM because he had a fantasy about moving there from Indianapolis IN. Along the way I saw bare fields with a white layer on them in a circle. On the way back to Indiana we stopped in Amarildo TX to see a friend. He explained the white circles were mineral salts left behind after years of center pivot irrigation. The ground salts stayed after the ground water evaporated. Soil became too salty for many crops.

Lots of speculation on my part. I think a decent WC from time to time might help. When say two inches evaporates from one of my tanks I try to do a WC which is at least twice as much, say four inches of water in order to stay ahead of mineral/salt concentration from evaporation. I do a much bigger WC that that often as well.
An unsupported thought from me. If your goal is to avoid WC try topping off with distilled water for a time. Keep an eye on the plants as they may be dependent on minerals in the topping off water.

I mostly grow in water plants the last few decades. I have tried some DIY ways to use common potting soils. I tried freezing such and putting the frozen lump into the gravel near my amazon but it made a mess. I tried to buy empty medicine capsules, but the pharmacist said I cannot have them. I guess because i am too good looking.

good luck

 

[Nilsafeller]

Hello; first the plant supplements. I have tried supplements for Amazon sword plants as they are root feeders. A type I no longer find was called ROOT TABS which worked well. Not sure what happened to the product.
I have used a few packets of API brand ROOT TABS with limited success. The Amazon stayed alive but growth was slow. Formula 3-1-1

I tried a liquid fert made for aquarium plants called KENT MARINE pro-Plant with limited results. I did not expect much help as it goes in the water rather than the gravel at the roots. formula 1-0-0

The most recent is API POND AQUATIC PLANT FOOD TABETS. The amazon is growing well and putting out new leaves. A secondary effect is all th other plants are growing really well. I will soon have to remove some plants which are shading the Amazon. The formula is 10-12-8. 10% total nitrogen -12% total phosphate-8% soluble potash.

Second about lack of water changes (WC). My thoughts are unproven on this. If you never do a WC but only top off a tank to make up for evaporation such ought to lead to a problem. That being a buildup of salts and minerals. tap water or any water other than distilled water will have things dissolved it it. The non-volatile stuff will stay behind when the water molecules evaporate. Over time the minerals and salts will become more and more concentrated in the water left behind.
Here is where my thinking becomes less certain. I imagine the plants do make use of some minerals. Some of the fish excretions also will be taken up by the plants. My guess is some things such as salts have limited use by the plants. Same for some excretions from the living fish.

If the idea is to have the emergent plants take up the nitrates and that way you can avoid WC I get it. Likely works well for the minerals & other things the plants actually use. i suspect a buildup of whatever chemicals the plants do not use. Many years ago (1987) I drove my father to Deming NM because he had a fantasy about moving there from Indianapolis IN. Along the way I saw bare fields with a white layer on them in a circle. On the way back to Indiana we stopped in Amarildo TX to see a friend. He explained the white circles were mineral salts left behind after years of center pivot irrigation. The ground salts stayed after the ground water evaporated. Soil became too salty for many crops.

Lots of speculation on my part. I think a decent WC from time to time might help. When say two inches evaporates from one of my tanks I try to do a WC which is at least twice as much, say four inches of water in order to stay ahead of mineral/salt concentration from evaporation. I do a much bigger WC that that often as well.
An unsupported thought from me. If your goal is to avoid WC try topping off with distilled water for a time. Keep an eye on the plants as they may be dependent on minerals in the topping off water.

I mostly grow in water plants the last few decades. I have tried some DIY ways to use common potting soils. I tried freezing such and putting the frozen lump into the gravel near my amazon but it made a mess. I tried to buy empty medicine capsules, but the pharmacist said I cannot have them. I guess because i am too good looking.

good luck

That's a nice wrightup man... the reason I dont do waterchanges in the tank is because the tank is in my office.. not close to any tap to make water changes very easy.. not the tanks fault or the plants.. just me being lazy I guess... but doing a water change on it from time to time shouldn't be a real problem and you're probably right, it should Def help out alot getting rid of the unused stuff and replenishing what the plants actually want or need. Thanks

 

[duanes]

I agree about, tha there are non-usable salts in tap water that can build up and hinder plant growth, and more frequent water changes are needed to get rid of those nonessential salts, as opposed to allowing them to just build up from evaporation.

But Water changes don´t need to be large , to be effective (just frequent),
It can be just as effective, to remove a gallon of old water, per day, and replacing it with 2 fresh.
In a 75 gal tank, thats almost a 100% water change per 7 day week, and is essentially effortless.
Thru experimentation, I have found that a 30% to 40% water change every other day on my 350 gal system, allows plants to grow ilke crazy, but also eliminates errant nitrate that can harm fish.

Above dieffenbachia and monstera growing bare root in the main tank.
Below the sump.

Vals, lilies and mangrove in the sump (all fairly heavy feeders.
Below a more recent mangove root pic.

I don´t use any supplements, but do allow leaf litter and flowers debris to fall into the sump from surrounding foliage to litter the substrate (I almost never vac) using shrimp, young plecos and mollusks to break them down, to be more useable for the plants in the sump

 

[jjohnwm]

...But Water changes don´t need to be large , to be effective (just frequent),
It can be just as effective, to remove a gallon of old water, per day, and replacing it with 2 fresh.
In a 75 gal tank, thats almost a 100% water change per 7 day week, and is essentially effortless....

While I absolutely agree with the general idea presented here...I really think you need to re-read this ^ part and perhaps consider re-doing the math. If you change 1 gallon per day for a week, you've achieved even less than if you did a 7-gallon change once a week...and that would be far less than even 10%, let alone 100%.

You'd need to change a gallon every 2 hours for a week to approximate a 100% change on a 75-gallon tank.

 

[duanes]

Your right, I should have wrote 10 gallons per day.

 

[jjohnwm]

That's more like it. Sadly, there's a significant percentage of aquarists who would consider even a 10-gallon water change as onerous as one of the labours of Hercules.