The Effect of Hydroponic Fertilizers on The Growth of Aquarium Plants, Vallisneria natans

Vallisneria natans is one of the favorite aquarium plants for making aquascape. This study aims to determine the effect of hydroponic fertilizer on the growth of V. natans. The research used a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 6 replications. Treatment A without hydroponic fertilizer with a TDS level of 47 mg.L-1, and treatment using hydroponic fertilizer at a TDS level of 87 mg.L-1 (B), 127 mg.L-1 (C), and 167 mg.L-1 (D). V. natans was grown for 45 days. The parameters measured include the length growth of leaf and water quality conditions including TDS, temperature and pH. The results showed that the pH and water temperature conditions were still within the tolerable range for the growth of V. natans. The water temperature ranged from 26.1 - 29.0 ºC, and the water pH ranged from 5.47 - 7.65. Length growth of leaf in the treatment without fertilizer was 17.67 ± 2.04 cm, while the treatment of hydroponic fertilizer at TDS level of 87 mg.L-1, 127 mg.L-1 and 167 mg.L-1 produced leaves with length of 20.75 ± 1.67 cm, 20.83 ± 3.82 cm, and 22.42 ± 1.11 cm respectively. Increasing the levels of hydroponic fertilizer tended to increase length growth of leaf according to the logarithmic model (y = 3.1926ln (x) + 17.88; R² = 0.9328). Thus, hydroponic fertilizer can be used as liquid fertilizer in V. natans cultivation with TDS levels ranging from 87 - 167 mg.L-1.