Originally Posted by Mikaila31
plants are under rated lol! You just can't match a planted tank with a plastic tank
. Fertilizers are not evil at all, unless you get into the weird liquid carbon ones that I never suggest. I dose dry fertilizers in all my tanks now. Even the ones that use to be low tech before I moved. There was a major change in tap water parameters and that messed up all my tanks. I use 5 different dry fertilizers in total. All are harmless to the fish if used correctly. They are less chemical then dechlor. Most are considered salts. Potassium Nitrate is my nitrogen fertilizer, KNO3. When added to water it dissolves to NO3- and K+, both are macro nutrients for plants. Then I have Phosphate, potassium, Magnesium, and trace fertilizers.
I agree with what Bryon said above. Though I don't feel that plants actively take Nitrite, at least according to Walsteds research if I remember correctly.
Fish don't interact with plastic plants they same way they do with live plants. Live plants are much softer fish actively make body contact with them, swim into dense patches, and move them around.
Live plants grow and the tank changes day by day making things always new to you and the fish. They help control wastes, inhibit algae growth, provide oxygen and extra filtration, make the tank more stable, and they reproduce much easier then most fish lol.
Maybe one day you will try plants AbbeysDad. They don't have to cost more or be more hassle then any non-planted tank. You might have to bend your ways a little though
Ignore a planted tank for awhile it turns into a jungle. Then you can prune it and go trade the plants for stuff at the store lol.
As per Tom Barr's NON CO2 method (can google this), I too use the dry fertilizer salt's in much less amount's than those who run High energy tank's with CO2 enhancement.
Once a week, I add these salt's along with Micronutrient's and plant's respond well and fishes thrive also.
Have noted larger ,broader,faster leaf development, and a bit faster growth than previous effort's with only amount's found in some liquid fertilizer's which are largely water with smaller amount's of Nitrogen,phosphate,pottasium,and heavy on Micronutrient's.
Am still studying the plant's, and listening to what they are saying in low tech moderate light, but find that adding a little more nutrient's each week, is no more difficult than adding food for the fishes, and the dry fertz last much longer than the more expensive liquid fertilizer which as mentioned,is largely water.
Dry trace minerals (CSM+B) are also used in my tanks and they too are much cheaper and last longer than product's such as flourish (gave mine to my sister).
Purchased the fertz I use at( Aquariumfertilizer.com) and for around 20 dollars,I can get around three pounds of the fertilizer which last's around a year or more depending on number of tank's and tank volumes.
Put away my nitrate test when it was suggested by those much more knowledgeable, that without calibration, the result's were suspect at best.
I observe the plant's and fish and they can offer much in the way both perform.
Water changes in three planted tank's vary from once a month, to twice a week depending on species and number's.
Don't necessarily believe that planted tanks offer more stocking capacity for as mentioned in first post in this thread,,many variables to consider.
Plant mass and volume of water would be my starting point when considering stocking levels.
What some folks call planted or heavily planted, is also another variable to consider I think.
Anyhow,, this is my two cent's.