Root fertilizing

Greetings.

I want to steer away from Seachem tabs (no problems with them). They are a little pricey.

What ways are there to make DIY tabs specifically for Swords and Crypts. I know about the Osmocote plus ones but apparently its expensive and hard to find.
I've seen root sticks at Checkers, will they work for a planted tank?

My sisters tank is going to be redid as a planted tank too, I was wondering if it would do any good if I put a very thin layer of potting soil in the spot where the Swords will go? The substrate will be Play sand.

 

was interested in roots sticks, not sure how strong they are though, more worried they too strong and release too much into the water. Only found ones that have copper in and that concerned me with shrimps.

 

Depends what their made of I guess. As far as I know Seachem tabs are made of clay which makes for slow nutrient release.

 

Hi there ...
I have been using the blue green fert stix intended for pot plants;in my tank for more than 2years now and have experienced good results. Mostly use the ones that the NPK ratio adds up to 20.

Please note that I have not tested the water for any toxins or other possible nasties.
So if you chose to try them please do so moderately and at your own risk.

 

The lower the P the better ...

"With fertilizers that contain macro elements (NPK) is also given the ratio between these elements. For practical reasons, however, the ratio of molar mass (N:K) is converted on the mass ratio of NO3O4:K. Ideal molar ratio of N:K = 7:1:8 is therefore the same as the mass ratio of NO3O4:K = 10:1:3 (or 20:2:5 or 30:3:8). This means that plants absorb marcoelements [ideally] in the ratio of 10 ppm NO3 : 1 ppm PO4 : 3 ppm K*. In other words, if we add more of one macroelement to plants, but do not raise the supply of remaining macroelements, plants won't be able to use it. The uptake of macroelements is to some extent bound to their mutual ratio (the uptake of one element is related to the amount/availability of remaining elements). It should be noted that in different stages of growth/development of plants, they are to some extent also changing demands on the uptake of individual elements. These proportions should thus be treated with caution."

From http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/en/index.php?id=en_whyFertilize

Now if you can find something that has something with some micro in to also that would help.

One thing you can do is get some potting clay (the real thing not the synthetic stuff) - make a small tablet around a peace of the firt stick - let it dry for a few days and then insert that. The idea is two fold, 1) you add some Fe in the form of clay 2) you increase the de-solve time into the water column.

Experiment - take pics and let us know how it goes.

Side note - root tabs are great to replenish substrate that has a high CEC ... " Cation Exchange Capacity[SUP][8][/SUP] (CEC) is also an important thing to consider when choosing a substrate. CEC is the ability to absorb positively charged nutrient ions (so high CEC is good). This means the substrate will hold nutrients and make them available for the plant roots. It doesn’t indicate the amount of nutrients the substrate contains." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substrate_(aquarium)


When you do not have a high CEC such as in a a silica / pebble substrate - take care - it may flush out very fast and so you run the risk of over fertilization (yes this is possible) have a look at mulder chart http://soilanalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/APAL-PLANT-NUTRIENT-INTERACTIONS-July-08.pdf

Later Ferdie

 

Thanks Ferdie.

I'll see if I can find some clay and try that idea out.
Am I right in saying even if you dose the right amount of "x" nutrient, and not enough of "h" and "f", the plant won't be able to use the "x" nutrient as much as it can be, and the rest will go to waste effectively. So the uptake happends in those ratio's you mentioned, obviously depending on plants and the usual other variables like light, Co2, water hardness, PH etc.

 

100% correct, hence the EI oversupply everything and flush it once a week.