Freshwater Plant Nutrients contain over 23 different chemical elements and organic and non-organic nutrients that all live plants require to do well and grow.Most important, it does not contain nitrates and/or phosphates and is free of silicates as well. All three of these are plentiful in the tank already. In fact, in many cases there are too high levels of one or more of these present in the water, and hobbyists need to lower them to prevent the growth of micro algae and diatoms.
For plants to do well, they require "food" just as fish do. Sure, they derive some of what they need from photosynthesis, but very little if the nutrients are not present. Photosynthesis allows them to uptake what they need. Before they can do so though, those nutrients must be present in the water. If they are not, photosynthesis does not accomplish its goal.
The other benefit from photosynthesis is, of course, that plants oxygenate the water and raise the dissolved oxygen levels. At some point, if your tank is heavily planted, you may need to consider the addition of carbon dioxide. In moderate to medium planted aquariums IME the addition of carbon dioxide is not necessary or can be accomplished by adding mineral (sparkling) water to the tank, a few ounce only, two or three times a week, and lowering the aeration so CO2 is not removed from the water (degassed).
If you decide to use mineral, that is sparkling or carbonated water, it should be free of any additive such as citrus taste etc. (orange, lemon, lime, apple and on on). Plain seltzer water, yet another name for the same type of water is all you need.
Plant Nutrients add all the elements known to be needed. The dosing depends on the load of the tank.
If you have a heavily planted tank you should add 2 drops per gallon every day. In a medium planted tank you should add 2 drops every other day (per gallon of water in the tank), and in low planting conditions adding 2 drops per gallon twice a week is enough.
You can check whether you are adding enough Plant Nutrients by monitoring your iron level: it should be around 0.1 ppm and not lower than 0.06 ppm. It should not be over 0.2 ppm. A heavy load of plants is a tank where you have 4 to 5 plants per gallon of water in the aquarium. A medium load is 2 to 3 plants per gallon, and a low load is anything less than that.
If you have any questions regarding this product, please email me and I will be glad to answer your questions.
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