03 What do you absolutely need to grow plants?
Description
This article is from the Aquaria: Plants FAQ, by multiple authors.
03 What do you absolutely need to grow plants?
Successful plant growth requires a balance of light, nutrients, trace
elements, and carbon dioxide (CO2). The light should be provided in a
spectrum the plants can absorb, must be of great enough intensity to
keep the plant alive, and should be consistently on 10-14 hours a day.
Most nutrients are supplied by fish waste. Some trace elements might
be supplied by your tap water, but are more consistently obtained
using commercial trace element mixtures. CO2 is supplied partly from
the air and partly by your fish, but can be enhanced by injecting it
from an external source (for example, a compressed bottle). If your
plants have a deficiency of even one of these factors, their growth
will be limited. (Don't panic about this; most of us don't need
optimal plant growth.) Overabundance of one factor over another may
cause problems, such as plant malnourishment, undue algae growth or
toxic buildup. Each ingredient will be discussed in detail in the
following sections.
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