![]() ![]() It's worth noting that it takes a while for them to rupture once wet. I mean a really fair amount and they had been in the substrate for a good 2 years. They worked great but what really shocked me was when I recently did a major clean out on the tank, I found LOTS of those little osmocote balls unruptured in the substrate. Made them up myself from exactly what you have in your hand. I bought the 8lb bag because it was only a few bucks more but had I known how big the bag actually was, I would've just gotten the 2lb jar. There was noticeably slow growth if I didn't add a Flourish tab every 3-4 weeks. ![]() Overall, I'm very happy with the DIY tabs over Flourish tabs. repens clippings in a Fluval Spec III with dirt capped sand (PFS) and it seems to be about equal in growth. The roots are very short so it's been slow going but there seems to be some progress. The substrate (BDBS) is about 1.5" deep and I pushed them all the way to the bottom. repens carpet in my shrimp tank and I put one tab every 1-2". I haven't put more in about 3 months and the swords and vals are still growing nicely. It took about a week to be noticeable but it does work fairly well with my amazon swords and vals (italian and corkscrew) after adding a few more tabs during the first couple of weeks. Osmocote Plus is time released so it lasts longer than Flourish Tabs (what I was using prior) but the nutrients are different so that's another reason I use a bit more. I had some #0 caps instead of the bigger #00 caps so I use a few more tabs per plant. It is important that the substrate can “breath” in order to let aerobic bacteria thrive hence why fine silica is not the best choice although that does not mean you cannot use it of course.I switched a few months ago. Substrates such as silica sand do not have the ability to store nutrients, therefore we don’t recommend silica as a substrate unless it is coarse grade silica, like a river sand for example, which is not very fine, but more like a small rounded pebble. Daltons aquatic mix can also “store” nutrients as it is a clay based substrate and clay along with many other volcanic substrates has a relatively high CEC rating. We also recommend using root balls or tabs when using substrates like Seachem Flourite or Eco-Complete, as even though these substrates are designed for use with plants, they do not come rich in nutrients from the shop, therefore, need to be “charged up”, as the reason they are made for plants is due to their ability to store nutrients for the plants to absorb slowly. But even that will need “recharging” after about a year as it does get exhausted of nutrients as the plants feed off the substrate. It is recommended that you give your swords, crypts, lotus, and any other plant that produces large root systems a root tab about once a year unless your substrate is nutrient rich like daltons aquatic mix for example. If sufficient nutrients is not provided for these types of plants they will often stay small unless sufficient nutrients is provided from other sources. They are for the roots only so it’s a good idea if your substrate is between 5-10cm deep.īenefits: Your crypts, swords, lotus and all other heavy root feeding plants will grow much faster, bigger and become healthier. Will not harm any fish or aquatic life but will create a little unwanted algae if the root ball substance clouds up the water column with excess nutrients. Be sure to place them deep into the substrate so they don’t leach into the water column. A cheaper alternative to Seachem or API root tabs.ĭirections: Place one under directly under or next to every root feeding plant. ![]() It is different to the osmocote you will find in Bunnings, Mitre 10 or any garden shop in New Zealand due to fact it contains the aqueous soluble version of iron known as Iron chelate, as opposed to the insoluble form of iron present in normal terrestrial garden osmocote. This particular type is used on international plant forums by top aquascapers and hobbyists overseas. Made from an imported osmocote not found in New Zealand.
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