40 Plant Survival
Description
This article is from the Aquaria: Plants FAQ, by multiple authors.
40 Plant Survival
contributed by George Booth
Plants need certain things to grow: light, CO2, nutrients and trace
elements. This should be no surprise. What is generally not known is
that plants need these things in fixed proportions (and unfortunately,
the proportions vary with each type of plant). For example, if you
have plenty of light, CO2, nutrients and most trace elements but not
enough of one specific trace element for a plant, the trace element in
short supply will determine how well that plant grows even though
other plants do fine. This explains why some plants are "easier" than
others - their needs are typically supplied by tap water or other
incidental sources. If the plants aren't able to utilize all the
nutrients due to a shortage of one or more specific elements, the
"excess" nutrients and light energy will be wasted or be used by
algae.
In general, there is no information available that says "this plant
needs this much light, CO2, nutrients and trace elements". Aquarists
can only determine "what works for me" by tedious trial and error.
Aquarists who follow the Dupla "Optimum Aquarium" regimen try to
ensure that all the requirements of all the plants are met, but this
leads to expensive and complex systems.
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