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    Thread: Aquatic Plant Fertilizer Micro Pond newbee

    1. #1
      tthedorff is offline Junior Member
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      Aquatic Plant Fertilizer Micro Pond newbee

      Dear Group,

      My micro indoor pond is not doing great. I thought the plants (dwarf purple root hyacinth ((8 pods)) and dwarf lotus in cloth pot ((1g pot folded in half )) in API pond media) would do all the filtering along with my sponge filters. The water test great (api liquid test kit) each week and I was doing 30/50% changes daily. So I have stopped daily now weekly water changes and turned off sponges. I should mention 18g tub with 1000w led grow light on six hours as i thoughht i was burning them. One large butterfky Goldfish is all the load plus a few loose snails the fish hasn't found yet. What should I do next? Thanks Todd

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    2. #2
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      Is the pond 18 gallons, with one goldfish in it? If so, it seems that your plants are malnourished. The daily water changes would take out the nutrients that might come from the water, but the sponge filters are also taking out the nutrients. 8 hyacinth and a lotus need more fertilizer.
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    3. #3
      CraigP's Avatar
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      Hello!

      Your question is, unfortunately, not easily answered. For one thing rooted, floating plants need a different fertilizing regimen than potted plants. The Eichhornia ( water hyacinth ) might benefit from an application of a soluble fertilizer, like Miracle-Gro 20-20-20, cut to half strength. For potted plants, I now suggest a time released product made by Florikan and widely sold in stores as Dynamite time release. It was developed for aquatic applications and while not as easily applied as say a tablet, the effort required is minimal compared to the expected benefits.

      The problem with a specific answer is you do not mention water temps....hyacinth are tropical and evolved to survive in warm water and twelve hours of strong sunlight. You do not mention water temp, but six hours seems insufficient light and even given sufficient light, they will struggle at water temps much below 70. . As for the dwarf lotus, if it is a Nelumbo and not the waterlily (Nymphaea ) sometimes sold as 'tiger lotus'....and it has a tuber, it is evolved to go dormant when day lengths shorten, and six hours is short. If it has a tuber, I suggest you do not worry about fertilizing and move it to a location that will be cool ( 40 degrees or so ) but not subjected to freezing temperatures....a basement or attached garage for example....so it can enter the natural period of dormancy.
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      tthedorff is offline Junior Member
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      Group Thanks

      I have listened and started to change some things. Starters I will leave the lights on for 13/14 hours a day until I find my timers (hydro box in storage). I have not used the sponge filter for two weeks and no water changes, added just air stone . Water temp is 68 with probe thermometer. The API test results today ph 8.2 ammonia .25 nitrite .25 nitrate 80ppm or more still not good with this color chart. I will do a water change tonight as I think the nitrates are two high. The plants I have I grew from seeds the ebay pkg just says "15 seeds dwarf lotus plant aquatic mixed colors" the pads/leaf is about 2.5" and the other seed was from ebay also "10PCs Black Bowl Lotus Seed Hydroponic Plants Aquatic Flower Water Lily Bonsai" hyacinth are already showing new green growth. I have a thing against Miracle-Gro and try to do everthing mostly organic. I have used this https://www.advancednutrients.com/se...e-organic-oim/ before on my other grow hobbies would that work? As for the potted plant I see Florikan flower and veg 13-13-13 or orchids and bromeliads 10-10-17, is this the stuff? Also how to apply? I see someone selling gelcap looking fertilizer on ebay that looks home made. Thanks again for all the great help I love groups like this

    5. #5
      CraigP's Avatar
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      Sorry to be late in responding, but weekends are my work days. I did search eBay for the listing you had posted and a couple things seem certain. If the seeds were say 'pea-size', they are lotus....the leaves should be circular with the petiole attached in the center and no cleft, they will also bead water. The one blatant error in that thread is while most pictures were lotus, one was of a blue waterlily, which seemed to imply that blue was possible in the "mixed colors". There are no blue lotus; which leads to the next listing...no idea what you got, but there are also definitely no black bowl lotus. Were the hyacinth also from seed....i did not see a description of them on either listing.

      The Florikan I get has a different lower formulation, maybe 6-4-8? I need to look at a bag. But it is not organic. I did read about the stuff on the link you gave and it seemed to be designed for a different crop than what I grow. < g > I do not believe the plants react to ions or cations differently based on the source. So while I prefer ammoniacal sources to urea based nitrogen, the advanced nutrients stuff is krill based. Please understand, I am a firm believer in eating organic, but for me pesticide free is more important than the nitrogen source. I grow in pots and when I use organic fertilizers, I invariable get fire ants in my pots searching for the seafood or chicken parts generally used and fire ants in pots are unacceptable.

      But my answer still is....more than lack of fertilizer is involved in your case. The vast majority ofLotus have an obligate dormancy period. There are a handful of tropical varieties that don't tuber, but to my knowledge the only true tropical on the market comes out of Florida Aquatics and is named N. 'Bali Red'. Water Hyacinth? In my mind they are weeds and when I see them selling for 50 cents or less, I have to think it is going to cost you more to overwinter than to replace them. But I also see the challenge can be fun, but they need light and I have no idea what amount of light is reaching your plants. 1000w is the strength you give....but what is the distance from the plants? Distance is critical as the light dissipates fairly quickly.
      Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.”― Miyamoto Musashi

      "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." ~ Jimi Hendrix

      “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”― Stephen Hawking


      Craig

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