# Safe Fert for planted cherry shrimp breeding tanks.



## NoG0ingBack

I need help choosing a safe fert for my 10 gallon and 55 gallon cherry shrimp breeding tanks. in the 10 gallon i have baby dwarf tears hc it is spreading as a floor but its slow and i want it to be more green. Every other plant is doing really great in this tank.. 

Some please show me a good fret please make sure it is safe. Please leave links or anything so i can read about the fret and see it. 

Thank You.


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## Mikaila31

I would get a iron or nitrogen fert. Flourish brand is good. I just use ferts, I've never worried about my shrimp. I've used both the flourish and Kent line without problems. Now I'm using cheap dry ferts. Shrimp never seem bothered.


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## NoG0ingBack

Mikaila31 said:


> I would get a iron or nitrogen fert. Flourish brand is good. I just use ferts, I've never worried about my shrimp. I've used both the flourish and Kent line without problems. Now I'm using cheap dry ferts. Shrimp never seem bothered.


What in the kent line did you use? Can you send me a link to what i should use. 

thank you.


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## Mikaila31

For sure kent potassium and Phosphorus... then regular Flourish, flourish excel, and Flourish Iron. Now I use the dry ferts... like K2SO4, KH2PO4, MgSO4, and CSM+B. I've never had any additive kill shrimp. I did overdose a tank with pressurized CO2 once, and killed ALOT ALOT of cherry shrimp. That was my own fault though...


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## NoG0ingBack

Mikaila31 said:


> For sure kent potassium and Phosphorus... then regular Flourish, flourish excel, and Flourish Iron. Now I use the dry ferts... like K2SO4, KH2PO4, MgSO4, and CSM+B. I've never had any additive kill shrimp. I did overdose a tank with pressurized CO2 once, and killed ALOT ALOT of cherry shrimp. That was my own fault though...


Well just got back from local pet stores i only saw 3 kinds of ferts

Kent Pro Plants 
Kent Iron and Manganese

and then API leaf zone. 

Should i go and get the 2 kent ones? Or would i only need one? Is this even the ones i am looking for safe for my shrimp?


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## Mikaila31

Well first off, why would fertilizers harm your shrimp? I've yet to find any fertilizer with significant amounts of copper. 

Second, do you need ferts? What kinda tank are you running? Size, WPG, and nitrate levels are needed. Fertilizers can be helpful and needed if conditions call for it. However nutrients must also be balanced, imbalanced nutrients leads to algae. Fertilizers can cause imbalances if used for the wrong reason and there is no comprehensive fertilizer.


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## NoG0ingBack

Mikaila31 said:


> Well first off, why would fertilizers harm your shrimp? I've yet to find any fertilizer with significant amounts of copper.
> 
> Second, do you need ferts? What kinda tank are you running? Size, WPG, and nitrate levels are needed. Fertilizers can be helpful and needed if conditions call for it. However nutrients must also be balanced, imbalanced nutrients leads to algae. Fertilizers can cause imbalances if used for the wrong reason and there is no comprehensive fertilizer.


Idk i just read online that some people shrimps did get affected by it.

I have a 10 gallon tank heavily planted. WPG is 4.5 W. 48 watts of lighting. NO3 level is 10-20. I wanna use ferts to help my dwarf baby tears (HC) working on a carpet and i have noticed it been sending runners and covering up but there r brown spots here and it looks like it need something to get the GREEN back. 

SO please let me know what you think.


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## Mikaila31

even though that is a nano tank, almost 5 wpg puts you in medium-high range. Combined with the fact you have a fairly demanding plant you should be looking into DIY CO2 before you bother with ferts. Carbon will be your main limiting nutrient in that tank. I would not add any other fertilizers without adding carbon otherwise you will throw the tank off. 

There is no need to add any nitrogen unless nitrate drops below 10 ppm. Run CO2 for a while which should help a lot. Then maybe some potassium down the road if need be.


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## NoG0ingBack

Mikaila31 said:


> even though that is a nano tank, almost 5 wpg puts you in medium-high range. Combined with the fact you have a fairly demanding plant you should be looking into DIY CO2 before you bother with ferts. Carbon will be your main limiting nutrient in that tank. I would not add any other fertilizers without adding carbon otherwise you will throw the tank off.
> 
> There is no need to add any nitrogen unless nitrate drops below 10 ppm. Run CO2 for a while which should help a lot. Then maybe some potassium down the road if need be.


I should of said this but i have been running CO2 since i got the tank up. So i shouldn't worry about the ferts?


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## Mikaila31

If you already have CO2 going then I would find a potassium fertilizer and one for trace elements.


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## NoG0ingBack

Mikaila31 said:


> If you already have CO2 going then I would find a potassium fertilizer and one for trace elements.


Would any of the 3 i said early work? If not can you send me a link what i am looking for i really have no clue about ferts.


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## Mikaila31

The API leaf zone provides potassium and Iron, so it will work. None of those 3 are good trace fertilizers. I would suggest looking around at some other stores. Read the bottle it should say what it adds. One I can recommend is Flourish, petsmart might have it.


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## jclee

NoG0ingBack said:


> Idk i just read online that some people shrimps did get affected by it.


This is because shrimp are very sensitive to copper, and some ferts may contain copper. _Some_ of what I have read suggests that shrimp are only sensitive to elemental copper, and not copper compounds. I would need to look over the backs of some bottles, but I can't imagine why elemental copper would be in fertilizers. I suspect that people have heard that shrimps are sensitive to copper, and somewhere along the line, that turned into "sensitive to additives in the tank," which created the "shrimp can't live with ferts."

Just make sure to avoid copper, and I'm sure you'll be fine.


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