Poochs Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 When purchasing plants how do you know whether to use root tabs or liquid for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemBob Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Usually the plants description on the site will say. The article below gives a general overview of how some plants take up fertilizer. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-plant?_pos=8&_sid=dce2af202&_ss=r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) If they are stem plants they need root tabs examples are: -Swords -Water Wisteria -Cryps -Java Fern -Valisenaria Water colum plants need fertilizer examples are: -Floating Plants -Anubius nana All though regardless all plants should be fertilzed. stem plants in my experiance dont need root tabs but will help the growth of root tabs. Edited January 16, 2021 by James Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Hi All, After 10+ years of doing planted tanks I believe most plant species will absorb nutrients either through the water column, substrate, or both.....wherever the nutrients are available. Yes, there are some species that only absorb through the water column like floating species (frogbit, water lettuce, red root floater, ceratophyllum, etc.) but most species seem to grab nutrients wherever they are found. Some may have a preference for substrate feeding but if the water has nutrients , then the nutrients are in the substrate as well. That said, I have used many different fertilizing methods from Seachem, to PPS-Pro, to EI, both with and without root tabs. My two most recent tanks I use root tabs (Osmocote Plus) for my macro-nutrients and Seachem Flourish Comprehensive for additional micro-nutrients. I find that I have substantially less algae on the glass and on the plants dosing with root tabs. Here are my two most recent tanks; 45 gallon high top picture and 30 gallon long bottom picture. -Roy 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 I'm cautiously experimenting with the API Pond Aquatic Plant Food Tablets in my 30 high. They're cheaper (under $7 for 25). They're bigger, so you need fewer. They say one for every gallon of soil. The ratio is a bit higher in phosphorous than I'd like being a 10-12-8, but that's because they're made for pond plants like water lilies and lotus that flower, and flowering plants need more phosphorous. In a fish tank more phosphorous can mean more algae, but so far (ten days in) so good. For those who don't know the three numbers you see on fertilizer labels stand for Nitrogen (good for green growth) Phosphorous (good for flower production) and Potassium (good for root development.) Many people call them NPK. They're always in that order, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. My 30 high has a two to three inch bed of Flourite and I placed one tablet in the left front corner as far down as I could get it under the gravel. I just went with one initially to see what happens. So far, there's been no change in the water parameters, the fish are fine, the plants are fine and I'm planning to add a second tablet to the right rear of the tank later today to see what happens. Have I seen a drastic change in plant growth? No. There's a jungle val that just started to grow before I placed the tablet near it. (It's about three inches from the tablet.) I got some pogostemmon stellatus octopus that had multiple stems so I planted one of the stems directly above the tablet. It's behaving just like the stems in the other tanks so no apparent harm and no apparent gain as of yet. I'm taking a cautious approach as I don't want to create a major headache, but so far, so good. My 30 high is 12"X24" and the gravel bed is on average about 2.5" so that's about 720 cubic inches. One gallon of soil is 0.13 cubic feet which is about 225 cubic inches. In theory, my tank should be able to handle three (and a tick more) of the pond plant tabs per dosing. I'm taking the slow but steady approach of adding one every ten days and seeing what happens. The first tablet went in on the sixth. Today's the 16th so tablet two will go in later today in the back right corner. If nothing bad happens, around the 26th tablet three will go in in the dead center of the tank. Assuming nothing bad happens (which may be assuming a lot) in ten more days I'll add a new tablet to the left front corner again. (Maybe the back left corner instead?) API makes both the aquarium and pond plant tablets. The aquarium ones are around $9 for ten tablets or $0.90 each. The pond ones are around 25 for $7 or about $0.28 each. They say to use 6 aquarium plant tablets in a ten gallon tank or one for every 30 square inches of gravel surface. The 30 high is 12"X24" or 288" square, so one tab for every 30" square would require 9.6 tablets at $0.90 each for a monthly cost of $8.64 as opposed to a monthly cost of $0.84 for the pond variety using three at $0.28 each. The $8.64 a month is $103.68 a year as opposed to $10.08 a year. If the pond tablets work, I'd save $93.60 year that I can use on fish, plants, and other fun stuff. It's a big enough potential savings to make the experiment worthwhile. If things go horribly wrong, I can still use the pond tabs in my pond for the plants out there. I'm pretty confident right now, based on what I've seen, that things won't go horribly wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephk Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 15 hours ago, Seattle_Aquarist said: Hi All, After 10+ years of doing planted tanks I believe most plant species will absorb nutrients either through the water column, substrate, or both.....wherever the nutrients are available. Yes, there are some species that only absorb through the water column like floating species (frogbit, water lettuce, red root floater, ceratophyllum, etc.) but most species seem to grab nutrients wherever they are found. Some may have a preference for substrate feeding but if the water has nutrients , then the nutrients are in the substrate as well. That said, I have used many different fertilizing methods from Seachem, to PPS-Pro, to EI, both with and without root tabs. My two most recent tanks I use root tabs (Osmocote Plus) for my macro-nutrients and Seachem Flourish Comprehensive for additional micro-nutrients. I find that I have substantially less algae on the glass and on the plants dosing with root tabs. Here are my two most recent tanks; 45 gallon high top picture and 30 gallon long bottom picture. -Roy Hello, I love your gravel in the top photo! May I ask what it is? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamTill Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 This is an interesting experiment to follow https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/33-plants/876457-so-called-heavy-root-feeders-fact-fiction.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDukeAnumber1 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 @Seattle_Aquarist I have been using PPS-pro for a while with some success and I am fond of it but I don't really have a broad experience with ferts. Any tips from your experience using PPS-pro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, stephk said: Hello, I love your gravel in the top photo! May I ask what it is? Thanks! Hi @stephk Actually that is a calcined clay material (aka heat fired clay). It contains a huge amount of micro-nutrients along with having a high cation exchange capacity (CEC) which allows it to absorb nutrients from the water column and make to available to plants in the root zone. Calcined clay is the top row in the table. Because it has a high CEC it does lower the pH and the water hardness in the tank. I have been using this material for over 7 years with good results. The last tank I set up with it was two years ago and that tank is still going strong. Instead of doing my typical water column dosing I went with DIY Osmocote Plus root tabs and Seachem Flourish Comprehensive. As a result very little algae has formed in the tank. Here is a thread on another forum about that set-up:https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1301089-45-gallon-high-saxa-tilly-inspired-tank.html The calcined clay material is Safe-t-sorb (STS). A 40# bag costs $6.49 at Tractor Supply Company; about 15 cents per pound. I find it lasts about 3 years in my tank then I replace it. The old Safe-t-sorb goes into the garden as a good soil additive. Hope this helps! -Roy Edited January 17, 2021 by Seattle_Aquarist .. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 3 hours ago, TheDukeAnumber1 said: @Seattle_Aquarist I have been using PPS-pro for a while with some success and I am fond of it but I don't really have a broad experience with ferts. Any tips from your experience using PPS-pro? Hi @TheDukeAnumber1 I did PPS-Pro for about a year. It did OK but with my very soft, nutrient poor water here in Seattle I was constantly having issues with various nutrient deficiencies - especially calcium and magnesium. -Roy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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