Water testing for Planted Tanks

[Evad]

Hello friends.

I poked around the forum backlog but couldn't find what I was looking for, so forgive me if this is a repetitive question :shock:

I need some advice on what to test for in a planted tank. I already have all the basics, including PH. But now I am wondering if I need to start testing for a few other things to make sure I get the dosing of ferts correct. What things should I be testing for?

Also is there a recommended brand of kit to stick with? Or maybe more importantly a brand to avoid?

Thanks!

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Hopefully fishNAbowl can step in or PokeSephiroth. Both of them have great planted tanks.

 

[jrygel]

I've been testing for nitrate and phosphate to keep my dosing from getting out of hand, and make sure I have enough N and P for my plants. I've been thinking about testing for iron because that can also have some negative side effects if you does too much of it. I've read that there's not much negative that can happen with too much potassium, so I don't worry as much about that - can't seem to find a test kit for it anyway . . .

I've used API so far, and Seachem makes the iron kit I was looking at, but I'm interested to hear if anyone with more experience has thoughts on different test kit brands - I see that there are kits available that are MUCH more expensive (like the ones at GLA), and I wonder what you get for your money . . .

 

[tazeat]

I like to stick to API for the reason that I've used them quite a bit. About the only thing you can test for that doesn't come in their master freshwater kits is phosphorous. But even with the separate phosphorous kits it's really hard to get accurate readings without being able to calibrate the test solution, phosphorous is quite finicky. imho the best method is more to watch the plants, the symptoms, and regular water changes following the idea behind EI to prevent build up of any particular fertilizer added to the water.

ETA: and water hardness, that one doesnt come in the master kit either (GH/KH kit), it's an OK one to have as with the KH and pH you can determine CO2 levels and such. It's also just helpful to see how hard your tap water is especially since it can vary based on time of year.

In all honesty, I have all of them and once everything was set up the amount of times I've used them I can count on one hand. Others take a different approach however.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hello friends.

I poked around the forum backlog but couldn't find what I was looking for, so forgive me if this is a repetitive question :shock:

I need some advice on what to test for in a planted tank. I already have all the basics, including PH. But now I am wondering if I need to start testing for a few other things to make sure I get the dosing of ferts correct. What things should I be testing for?

Also is there a recommended brand of kit to stick with? Or maybe more importantly a brand to avoid?

Thanks!

Hi Evad,

I keep a few planted tanks and used to do a lot of testing for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, iron, etc. Now I only run three tests once a month on my tanks, dKH, dGH, and PH. The only time I run ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are after I have set up a new tank (or broken down and cleaned an established tank). I like API for PH and dKH (carbonates) but with my very soft water I found it difficult to get an accurate reading (I couldn't easily differentiate the change in color) with the API dGH (General Hardness) so I now use the Sera Total Hardness / GH Test Kit which is much easier for me to read.

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Hopefully fishNAbowl can step in or PokeSephiroth. Both of them have great planted tanks.

You make me blush. (Why is there NEVER a blushing smiley face? We need one of those. Seriously. Ahem. Anyway...)

Welcome to the planted realm, Evad! I think starting out slow is the best way to go, I just recently started dipping my toes into the whole dry ferts portion of keeping aquatic plants, and I seem to have had great luck with the EI Method. As for keeping track of nutrients...well, I haven't done anything to keep track of them, since the EI Method doesn't really require it since you're "restarting" the tank every week with a huge water change.

That being said, if EI isn't the thing for you, I think the main thing you would want to keep an eye on are Nitrate levels and Phosphates. Both of which can be measured with API's liquid testing kits. I hope this helps!

fishNAbowl knows more about ferts and what not because he has been in that part of the hobby much longer than I have. Roy (Seattle_Aquarist) is also a great library of knowledge when it comes to planted tanks, and fish in general, as you can already see from his reply to your post

Also, watching plant videos on youtube and the like will definitely inspire and motivate you even more!
(shameless plug. Ohhhhhh...!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AuaJKgSV-k

 

[hose91]

Some pretty good answers here already. FWIW on test kits, I like the API master kit plus a GH/KH set (I had to order that one from amazon). Having said that, I'd add two things. First, similar to what Tazeat and Roy said, I tested like a madman for the first 6 months that I kept tanks, but after a while, I could predict the test results based on what I was seeing in the tank from the fish/plants. So, you may end up not testing so much. That leads to my 2nd point, in that there was a post a few months ago from Cory (Aquarium Co-Op) about how the test strips are the equal of the API kit, because neither is REALLY accurate, and you can complete the test strips in about 30 seconds and do all the tests on the strip at once. Despite all the pro-API Master Kit opinions, I found some sense in that argument, and eventually, I'll own both kinds. YMMV.

Honestly, now that I think about it, in reality, the best test for water parameters in a planted tank might actually be the plants themselves. I would google "aquatic plant deficiency chart" and look at some of the images you get. The hardest part for me is that change in plants comes about relatively sloooooowly, and so it's hard to make a change to your routine, then give it enough time to actually be manifested in the tank (1-2 months or more, I'd say) without panicking or getting impatient and making a bunch MORE changes in that initial timeframe. I've also added weekly photos on my phone of my 4 planted tanks, because I think subtle changes happen that i don't see because I'm staring at them all the time.

Lastly, you may already know, but there is a really good planted tank forum resource at http://www.plantedtank.net. If you've already been, then disregard, but it has a fantastic user base that is pretty knowledgeable and mostly experienced (and includes several users from here, some in this very thread, even!), and although the amount of info was overwhelming at times, I found the level of patience and knowledge in the forums made it a useful site and I go there often. It also has some good plant profiles that I find myself using (often after buying a plant at a GSAS auction without knowing enough about it, :shock:. Another one that comes up a lot for me on google is Aquatic Plant Central.

I started with a rock only Mbuna cichlid tank, and I fell into my smaller planted tanks sort of by accident, and they've been fun. I'm low tech so far, only dosing excel for CO2 needs with low/med light, and am thinking seriously about investing in a CO2 system in the near to mid term future. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Anonymous]

Although I have the capabilities to test I never test for anything when it comes to my plants. Guess it all comes down to what you want to do. All my indicators are the plants and general health of the aquarium (Algaes). Using a deficiency chart and with consultation of others I usually can nip deficiencies pretty quick. I spend a bit of time looking closely at my plants (and fish) at lest once a day.


For beginners a balance between light and 2 basic fertilizers. Flourish Comprehensive and Excel is what I would recommend. If you wish to take it up a notch add CO2 injection. Once you've gotten into CO2 I would recommend a drop checker. Perhaps check PH levels for a while until you know everything is stabilized and consistent.

Please note when I state I do not test for anything I am just stating for plant growing. This is the way I run my systems. Everyone is different. My systems are well established and buffered. All paramiters are stabilized.

 

[Evad]

All of this is super helpful so thank you. Right now I am struggling with a long-stringy green algae and thought perhaps I had an abundance of some mineral or not enough - which means plants will may not grow but the algae will use it happily.

I currently only dose excel and only use flourish tabs because I was concerned the water column had something that the algae was feeding off of. I can try and dose Flourish comprehensive again but was concerned about it making the algae take off. One thing I am doing is reducing the photo period since I recently increased lighting and I believe there is a connection.

Ok - so back to the topic at hand. Sounds like I don't need to worry about my calcium, copper, iron, etc. and just focus on regular dosing of Excel and Flourish. What calculator do you recommend I use to determine how much flourish comprehensive to dose daily on a 180gal tank?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi Evad,

Usually the only time I will have issues with green stringy (hair) algae is during the nitrogen cycle of a recently set up tank. I manually remove ss much as I can, I dose Excel, do 2X a week 50% water changes, and add Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus oblongus) usually clears it up in a week or two.

 

[jrygel]

All of this is super helpful so thank you. Right now I am struggling with a long-stringy green algae and thought perhaps I had an abundance of some mineral or not enough - which means plants will may not grow but the algae will use it happily.

I battled with GHA (green hair algae) for a few months and seem to have it mostly taken care of. As far as I could tell from online reading (and my own experience) it is a tough one to get rid of. The main reason that it is tough is because it is one of the algae types, that, once it is established (long and stringy), it likes pretty much the same nutrients that the plants like, so you can really 'starve it out' without starving out your plants as well. I finally got rid of it by physically removing as much as I could, then dosing about 0.7 ml of 3% H2O2 solution (this is the type you can buy at the drug store) per gallon each day for seven days in a row, then doing a 50% water change and cleaning out whatever algae was left. I've still got a little bit of GHA, but it isn't growing into long strings across my tank like it was before. You do need to be careful with H2O2 and keep an eye on your fauna while doing this, because too much can be bad for fish. I didn't notice any problems with my otos, rams, or rummy noses (all my more sensitive, indicator fish) while dosing 20ml per day into my 30 gal tank, but YMMV. I've seen recommendations to dose MUCH more H2O2 than this online so felt safe with it. Cory at the Co-op recommended taking the water level down and spritzing the H2O2 directly onto the GHA affected surfaces while they were exposed, which was going to be my next step, but I never got a chance to try it.

 

[Evad]

Hi Evad,

Usually the only time I will have issues with green stringy (hair) algae is during the nitrogen cycle of a recently set up tank. I manually remove ss much as I can, I dose Excel, do 2X a week 50% water changes, and add Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus oblongus) usually clears it up in a week or two.

Cory and I discussed SAEs but for a 180gal I would need a school of them and long-term I don't want them in my tank. I did have to replace one of my two canister filters recently and so I essentially lost half of my ability to process bioload. Its been three weeks with the new canister so I am hoping it will be cycled in the next week or so.

All the water parameters are good and I am changing 70% of the water each week. I have been spraying Hydrogen Peroxide on the plants, logs, glass, etc. when the water level is down and that is not a miracle cure but it does help.