Fertilizers for aquarium plants. Aquarium plants for beginners. Unpretentious aquarium plants. Homemade fertilizers for aquarium plants

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

Aquarium plants for beginners

Do not chase after the exotic. Start with something simple. Selecting suitable plants is not as easy as it may seem. However, having done everything right, you will greatly facilitate your own life. For what plants are needed:

• Serve as food for fish;
• Provide shelter and a place for rest to fish;
• Saturate the water with oxygen;
• Suppress the development of lower algae;
• Reduce the concentration of ammonia;
• Serve as an ornament of the aquarium.

First, pick up unpretentious aquarium plants. They are tough enough, and even if you do something wrong, then still save them. By vitality, they can be compared to weeds. These kinds of plants grow very quickly, live long and look good. In addition, they are worth a penny. And even if you manage to destroy them, you will not feel sorry for material resources. All plants can be divided into three groups: root, floating and unconcerned.

Root species

Such aquarium plants for beginners are planted directly in the ground. Externally, they can be completely different, but often similar to ordinary plants. Plant them in a soil thickness of 4 to 6 centimeters. They have an extensive root system, which must be taken into account when planting. Some plants are able to bloom under water. This is an incredibly beautiful sight. Examples of root plants can serve as cryptocorina, vallisneria, arrow-shaped subulate.

Floating Aquarium Plants

It is easy to learn them. These plants float on the surface of the water. The root system goes deep, but the bottom does not touch. All the necessary nutrients they take from the water. These are unpretentious aquarium plants. Outwardly they look very beautiful and unusual. Often produce flowers on the surface. The most common representatives: duckweed, riccia floating and frog.

Unconcerted species

They grow on stones, driftwood and any objects that adorn the aquarium. If they are planted in the ground, they will soon die because of insufficient contact of the rhizome with water. Among their representatives can be distinguished ferns, mosses, hornwort.

Care for aquarium plants

In order to enjoy the beauty of your aquarium and have healthy plants, you need to provide them with a full-fledged care. Do not be afraid of this and expect a long list of some rules. Aquarium plants for beginners can grow well both in poor light conditions and in the open sun. For them, the level of saturation with oxygen is not very important. However, no one prevents you from helping your charges. To do this, use special fertilizers for aquarium plants.

Feeding

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

What plants need fertilizing

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

Feeding with liquid fertilizers

This kind of chemicals is used to feed plants floating and without roots, feeding only through the leaves. Liquid fertilizers for aquarium plants are presented in stores in a wide range. It's easy to use them. This will not cause any difficulties even for beginners.

Feed the plants with their help quite often. This is due to the fact that the useful substances are partially discharged through the filters. With special care, you must treat the dosage. Pouring more fertilizer than you need, you will not harm the inhabitants of the aquarium, but the algae will begin to grow at a tremendous speed, and soon they will fill all the capacity. There is no difficulty in making aquarium fertilizers with your own hands. To do this, you need to find out what macro and micronutrients are needed, and calculate the dose. Producing them independently, you can regulate the content of certain substances in the water, thereby controlling the growth of plants.

Feeding through the substrate

Such fertilizers for aquarium plants are laid in the soil 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. Algae do not have access to these fertilizers, therefore, the latter do not affect their growth. The substrate itself can be enriched by some set of elements. Often in aquariums lateritic clay, rich in iron, is used. It perfectly fits most plants.

Fertilizers with own hands

Beginners love aquariums prefer to buy 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 advantages. You choose the composition and number of elements. In addition, they are much cheaper than ready mixes. One of the most important elements is magnesium. If the water is hard, then it can be enough. But in most cases, magnesium is not enough. It is used as a sulphate and is sold in pharmacies and flower shops.

Another necessary element is potassium. It is added as a carbonate, chloride or potassium sulphate. This element can be used together with potassium nitrates serving as a source of nitrogen. This mixture will look like this: 0.5 liters of water (from a tap or distilled), a tablespoon of trace elements (6% of iron), two tablespoons of potassium, a tablespoon of magnesium. To prevent the growth of bacteria, hydrochloric acid is added. The mixture is stored in a dark place. This is due to the fact that some elements decompose into the light. Do not make a large reserve of dissolved in water mixture. Keep it dry. Homemade fertilizers for aquarium plants are added gradually. Concentration is increased every day. The first two weeks it should be 1 milliliter per 100 liters of water. Then the dose decreases three times.

Fertilizers from improvised materials

Homemade fertilizers for aquarium plants are easy to make. All components are bought in the nearest shops. You will need boric acid (in the pharmacy), MgSO ₄ * 7H ₂ 0 (garden store), potash (photo shop), potassium nitrate (garden store), calcium (garden store). It is very important to find the right iron. It must be bivalent, any other will not do. Iron sulphate can also be used . This substance is added at the rate of one gram per liter. The concentration of the remaining components is calculated similarly. Shelf life of this mixture is unknown. Aquarium fertilizers should be manufactured at a time. Thus, you will always be assured of their effectiveness.

Lack of micro- and macro elements

Breeding aquarium plants requires some knowledge. In order to help and make the right mix of elements in time, it is necessary to be able to recognize their lack. Even the best fertilizers for aquarium plants will not help, if you misconstrue the composition. One of the main symptoms is stunted growth. As a rule, this is the easiest to notice. There are two more groups of symptoms:

1. Emerging on old leaves. They indicate a shortage of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and nitrogen. Elements move from old parts of the plant to new ones that do not show signs of starvation. Symptoms can affect the entire leaf (lack of phosphorus and nitrogen) or be local (lack of potassium and magnesium).

2. Emerging on young leaves and growth 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 ground or water, the young parts become ill and may die. These symptoms, in turn, are divided into three groups:

• With a lack of copper, wilting leaves is observed;
• Lack of boron and calcium entails the death of the upper kidney, loss of leaves and color;
• As a result of a lack of sulfur, iron or manganese, discoloration of young leaves occurs without killing the upper kidney.

Before you start looking for a cause in the disturbance of plant nutrition, you need to pay attention to the part in which problems have appeared. Thus, you can easily identify a group of symptoms.

Excess of micro- and macroelements

- Nitrogen. Exceeding the required amount of this element entails a delay in ripening and flowering. The plant grows dark green, and the stems are thick. The vegetative period is considerably longer. Accumulation of organic forms of nitrogen compound leads to the fact that the 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 rot. Within a few days the disease spreads to all veins. The leaves look healthy. If you do not start treatment in time, the leaves will die and the plant will die.

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

- Phosphorus. A large amount of phosphorus in the plant leads to the fact that it turns yellow, spots appear, leaves fall off. Plants develop very quickly and grow old. Phosphoric acid salts are poorly soluble. Because of this, many trace elements (manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, cobalt, zinc) can precipitate and become inaccessible to plants. As a result, there may be a deficit.

- Calcium. Making self-made fertilizers for aquarium plants, you should carefully calculate the dosage of calcium. Its excess causes chlorosis of tissues. There are necrotic spots. In some cases, they form concentric circles. Rapid growth of leaves can begin. However, shoots die. Sometimes it is difficult to determine the boundary between toxicity and deficiency.

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

- Magnesium. In this case, the leaves become noticeably darker and twist. In some cases, they decrease in size.

- Manganese. Overdose of manganese is manifested as interstitial chlorosis of young leaves. They turn yellow and turn pale. Necrotic white or dark brown spots appear. The affected leaves are covered with small red-brown dots. They wrinkle and curl.

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

- Zinc. An excess of zinc promotes the appearance of transparent areas in the base of the main veins. The leaves remain green. Subsequently, chlorosis occurs between the veins. Old leaves fall off, the upper buds die, veins are painted black or red.

- Chlorine. In this case, the leaves become stiff, coarse and shallow. The stem is hardening. Old leaves are covered with purple-brown spots and disappear. The harmful effect of chlorine is neutralized when magnesium is added.

- Bor. Under the influence of boron leaves deform and turn yellow. They wrap around and become dome-shaped. Studies have shown that boron accumulates most in old tissues. In this regard, the old leaves are primarily affected. The top together with leaves is twisted. In advanced cases, a boron overdose may be mistaken for a deficiency of this element. In this case, you must be careful not to destroy the plants.

- Sodium. In natural fresh water bodies, the toxic concentration of sodium does 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 by using ion-exchange resins. They are used to reduce water hardness, as well as for the use of preparations containing sodium (used to treat fish and regulate the chemical composition of the aquarium). Sodium is involved in supporting 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. The strong concentration of sodium in water has a detrimental effect on the metabolism and breaks the structure of chloroplasts. Sodium affects positively on plants in case of potassium deficiency. If the latter is enough in water, sodium can have a toxic effect. Recognize this phenomenon is very difficult, since its signs are not currently described.