Fertilizers for aquarium plants. Aquarium plants for beginners. Hardy aquarium plants. Homemade fertilizer for aquarium plants

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-01 17:06

Today it has become fashionable to have an aquarium at home. Buying it is not difficult, but care can puzzle anyone. Beginners have hundreds of questions about the fish themselves, water, soil and plants. Having spent a lot of time choosing beautiful fish, we often forget about plants. But they are extremely important for creating a favorable environment in the aquarium.

Aquarium plants for beginners

Don't chase the exotic. Start with something simple. Choosing the right plants is not as easy as it might seem. However, by doing it right, you will make your life much easier. What plants are for:

• serve as food for fish;
• provide shelter and resting place for fish;
• saturate the water with oxygen;
• suppress the development of lower algae;
• reduce the concentration of ammonia;
• serve as a decoration for the aquarium.

Root views

Such aquarium plants for beginners are planted directly in the ground. Outwardly, they can be completely different, but often look like ordinary plants. They are planted in soil with a thickness of 4 to 6 centimeters. They have an extensive root system, which must be considered when planting. Some plants are able to bloom underwater. This is an incredibly beautiful sight. Examples of root plants are Cryptocoryne, Vallisneria, Arrowhead styloid.

Floating aquarium plants

It's easy to recognize them. These plants float on the surface of the water. The root system goes deep, but does not touch the bottom. They take all the necessary nutrients from the water. These are hardy aquarium plants. Outwardly, they look very beautiful and unusual. Often produce flowers on the surface. The most common representatives: duckweed, Riccia floating and frog.

Unrooted species

They grow on stones, snags and any items that decorate the aquarium. If you plant them in the ground, they will soon die due to insufficient contact of the rhizome with water. Among their representatives, ferns can be distinguished,mosses, hornwort.

Caring for aquarium plants

In order to enjoy the beauty of your aquarium and have he althy plants, you need to provide them with proper care. Do not be afraid of this and expect a long list of some rules. Aquarium plants for beginners can grow well both in low light conditions and in the open sun. For them, the level of oxygen saturation does not matter much. However, no one bothers you to help your wards. To do this, use special fertilizers for aquarium plants.

Feeding

For good growth, all living things require a certain set of nutrients. All of them must be kept in water. However, this usually does not happen. Fertilizers for aquarium plants are selected in such a way that they contain all the substances that are absent in the water. You can identify the presence of certain substances using tests that are sold in specialized stores. Top dressings can be liquid or in tablets. Their composition is indicated on the packaging. In addition, dosages and methods of application are signed there.

Which plants need feeding

This question often worries young aquarium lovers. The answer is very simple. All plants need to be fed from time to time. The only exception is artificial plantations. Determining which fertilizer you need is very simple. This is written in the instructions for use. Be careful. Some fertilizers are suitablesome plants, but contraindicated in others. Consider this when choosing.

Feeding with liquid fertilizers

This type of chemical is used to nourish floating and rootless plants that feed only through the leaves. Liquid fertilizers for aquarium plants are available in stores in a large assortment. It's easy to use them. This will not cause any difficulties even for beginners.

Feed plants with them often enough. This is due to the fact that useful substances are partially removed through filters. Dosage must be taken with extreme caution. By pouring more fertilizer than necessary, you will not harm the inhabitants of the aquarium, but the algae will begin to grow at a tremendous rate, and soon fill the entire tank. There is no difficulty in making aquarium fertilizers with your own hands. To do this, you need to find out which macro- and microelements are needed and calculate the dose. By making them yourself, you can regulate the content of certain substances in the water, thereby controlling the growth of plants.

Feeding through substrate

Such fertilizers for aquarium plants are laid in the ground or directly under the roots of plants. This method has its advantages. Nutrients gradually dissolve, enter the soil and are absorbed by the roots of plants in small doses. The algae do not have access to these fertilizers, therefore, the latter do not affect their growth. The substrate itself can be enriched with any set of elements. Often in aquariums, lateritic clay, rich in iron, is used. It is perfect for most plants.

DIY fertilizers

Beginner aquarium lovers prefer to purchase ready-made fertilizers. This is justified by the lack of knowledge and skills. However, over time, you will learn how to use homemade aquarium fertilizers. They have many benefits. You choose the composition and number of elements. In addition, they are much cheaper than ready-made mixtures. One of the most important elements is magnesium. If the water is hard, then it may be enough. But in most cases, magnesium is not enough. It is used in the form of sulfate and is sold in pharmacies and flower shops.

Another necessary element is potassium. It is added as potassium carbonate, chloride or sulfate. This element can be used together with potassium nitrates as a source of nitrogen. Such a mixture will look like this: 0.5 liters of water (from the tap or distilled), a tablespoon of trace elements (6% iron), two tablespoons of potassium, a tablespoon of magnesium. Hydrochloric acid is added to prevent bacterial growth.

The mixture is stored in a dark place. This is due to the fact that some elements decompose in the light. Do not make a large supply of the mixture dissolved in water. Keep it dry. Homemade fertilizers for aquarium plants are added gradually. The concentration is increased every day. The first two weeks it should be 1 milliliter per 100 liters of water. The dose is then reduced by a factor of three.

Fertilizers from improvised materials

Homemade fertilizer for aquarium plants is easy to make. All components are bought in the nearest stores. You will need boric acid (pharmacy), MgSO₄7H_{20 (garden store), potash (photo store), potassium nitrate (garden store), calcium (garden shop). It is very important to find the right hardware. It should be bivalent, any other will not work. You can also use iron sulphate. This substance is added at the rate of one gram per liter. The concentration of other components is calculated similarly. The shelf life of this mixture is unknown. Aquarium fertilizers should be made at one time. Thus, you will always be sure of their effectiveness.}

Lack of micro and macro elements

Cultivation of aquarium plants requires some knowledge. In order to help in time and produce the desired mixture of elements, it is necessary to be able to recognize their shortcomings. Even the best aquarium plant fertilizers won't help if you get the ingredients wrong. One of the main symptoms is growth retardation. This is usually the easiest to spot. There are two more groups of symptoms:

1. Appearing on old leaves. They indicate a lack of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and nitrogen. Elements move from old parts of the plant to new parts that show no signs of starvation. Symptoms can affect the entire leaf (phosphorus and nitrogen deficiency) or be localized (potassium and magnesium deficiency).

2. Appearing on young leaves and growing points. This is evidence of a lack of boron, calcium, sulfur,copper, iron and manganese. These elements are not able to move from one part of the plant to another. If there are not enough of them in the soil or water, then the young parts get sick and may die. These symptoms, in turn, are divided into three groups:

• wilting of leaves is observed with a lack of copper;
• lack of boron and calcium leads to the death of the upper bud, loss of leaves and color;
• As a result of a lack of sulfur, iron or manganese, young leaves become discolored without death of the upper bud.

Before you start looking for the cause of malnutrition of plants, you need to pay attention to where the problems appeared. In this way, you can easily identify a group of symptoms.

Excess micro and macro elements

- Nitrogen. Exceeding the required amount of this element entails a delay in ripening and flowering. The tops become dark green, and the stems become thick. The growing season is significantly lengthened. The accumulation of organic forms of nitrogen compounds leads to the fact that tissues become soft and juicy. Fertilizers for aquarium plants containing too much ammonium nitrate can cause poisoning. Having received such top dressing, the plants stop growing, the stem rots. In a few days, the disease spreads to all veins. The leaves look he althy. If treatment is not started in time, the leaves will die and the plant will die.

- Potassium. An excess of this element prevents the entry of nitrogen into the plant. A large amount of potassium significantly inhibits growth, the leaves begin to lighten, the internodes lengthen. After a while, spots appear on the leaves. Plants wither and die.

- Phosphorus. The high content of phosphorus in the plant leads to the fact that it turns yellow, spots appear, leaves fall off. Plants develop very quickly and age. S alts of phosphoric acid are poorly soluble. Because of this, many trace elements (manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, cob alt, zinc) can precipitate and become inaccessible to plants. As a result, there may be a shortage of them.

- Calcium. When making homemade fertilizers for aquarium plants, you should carefully calculate the dosage of calcium. Its excess causes tissue chlorosis. Necrotic spots appear. In some cases, concentric circles form in them. Leaves may begin to grow rapidly. However, the shoots die off. Sometimes it is difficult to draw the line between toxicity and deficiency.

- Iron. With an excess of this element, chlorosis appears between the veins, the leaves turn pale and turn yellow.

- Magnesium. In this case, the leaves become noticeably darker and curl. In some cases, they are reduced in size.

- Manganese. An overdose of manganese manifests itself as interveinal chlorosis of young leaves. They turn yellow and fade. Necrotic white or dark brown spots appear. Affected leaves are covered with small red-brown dots. They wrinkle and twist.

- Copper. This element in large quantities causes the development of chlorosis of the lower leaves. They appear brownspots. As a result, the leaves fall off. The disease also affects young leaves, which also show chlorosis.

- Zinc. An excess of zinc contributes to the appearance of transparent areas at the base of the main veins. Leaves remain green. Subsequently, chlorosis occurs between the veins. Old leaves fall off, upper buds die off, veins turn black or red.

- Chlorine. In this case, the leaves become stiff, coarsen and smaller. The stem hardens. Old leaves become covered with purple-brown spots and fall off. The harmful effects of chlorine are neutralized by adding magnesium.

- Bor. Under the influence of boron, the leaves are deformed and turn yellow. They curl up and become domed in shape. Studies have shown that boron accumulates the most in old tissues. In this regard, old leaves are primarily affected. The top curls along with the leaves. In advanced cases, an overdose of boron can be mistaken for a lack of this element. In this case, you should be careful not to completely destroy the plants.

- Sodium. In natural fresh water bodies, toxic concentrations of sodium do not occur. Most aquatic plants can feel great in a fairly wide range of concentrations of this substance. You can get its excess in the aquarium using ion exchange resins. They are used to reduce water hardness, as well as in the case of preparations containing sodium (used to treat fish and regulatechemical composition in the aquarium). Sodium is involved in maintaining the osmotic state of cells and sodium-potassium metabolism, successfully replacing potassium in some reactions. Often, most of the potassium needed by plants can be replaced by sodium. In this case, the plant will not suffer at all. A strong concentration of sodium in water has a detrimental effect on metabolism and disrupts the structure of chloroplasts. Sodium has a positive effect on plants in case of potassium deficiency. If there is enough of the latter in water, sodium can have a toxic effect. It is very difficult to recognize this phenomenon, since its signs are not currently described.