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I finally took the plunge and have begun experimenting with aquatic plants. So far I have a huge Amazon Sword and a few Jungle Vals. I have read that iron and/or copper based plant food is good for my new inhabitants, however, would not my water conditioner counteract the metals in the plant food? Also, wouldn't carbon and/or polyfilter remove the plant food as soon as it is added?

Input please

rasboramary,

As usual, it all depends, at least in my humble opinion.

About the conditioner: I think that there are conditioners out there that go beyond simply removing chlorine and chloramines, they also remove (bind) nitrates and what not (I think phosphates as well). These conditioners would not be good for a planted tank as they would remove two of the 3 macros that plants need (the other one would be potassium). I use Prime, an excellent conditioner with no other funtionalities attached to it.

About the Carbon: Various people swear that at least during the initial setup phase of a planted tank carbon in the filter is a good idea, supposedly even Amano does that (I heard it from tetratech). I, on the other hand, have no experience with carbon in my high tech or 20G QT planted tanks, I had it for a while in my first tank, a 29G planted, but I did know little about a possible relationship between carbon and nitrate (and/or micros) removal at that time so I can't tell. Certain filter materials seem to remove goodies for the plants though, albeit carbon or even Purigen are not supposed to be on that list (but don't ask me what is).

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thank you - especially the part about Prime. I have never heard of it but will certainly look for it. I appreciate your input.

You are welcome rasboramary

When looking into Prime and its price tag you may be thinking that it is rather expensive when compared to other dechlorinators, but don't be fooled by this initial observation.

Prime is highly intensive stuff and a very small amount is needed to treat your tank. For example, I use 10ml (which is already a little more than required) to treat 60G of new water for my 125G tank.

In short, the same sized bottle of Prime will last much longer than any other conditioner and as such be effectively cheaper per treatment than the others.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club