[re_hashed]

Firstly, I'm not sure if this should go in this section of the forum, or the DIY. Mods, obviously feel free to move if required.

A bottle of Osmocote plus, and some size 00 gelatine capsules makes me a very happy man 

So for the next hour I’ll sit down and make a load of DIY root tabs. My Amazon sword has started to yellow, and the root-tabs that you can buy in the shop seem really expensive.

I’m planning on doing a water change tonight and quick general tidy up so this will be an ideal time to get these bad boys down. I’ll post a picture before, and if I remember, I’ll try and keep some updates going.

I’ve never used root-tabs before, but after some reading I know that I’ve got to ‘plant’ them pretty deep to avoid ammonia spikes.

I’m a little unsure of how many to use, or if just to push a couple in around the heavy root feeders. Maybe a silly question, but I’m assuming the Crypts and Val etc will benefit from these, which in that case I’m guessing that an even spread over the whole footprint would be a good idea? What’s the ‘range’ of these, 3inches?

My footprint of my tank is 42cms x 80cms *(height of 64cm but that’s not important in this, is it?), and the substrate is JBL Manado Natural Substrate

Any feedback would be great guys/gals as I’ve got a niggling feeling that this is going against what I perceive to be ok, putting plant ferts etc into a fish tank, when all my fishkeeping time I’ve been trying to keep this as pure as possible – apart from the usual fish waste etc. I don’t even dose Excell or anything.

Thanks

 

[Chunky]

I use the exact same thing...I just push them down as deep as I can. It also helps to use a needle to put little pin holes in the capsule so it will sink/stay down a little easier. I usually put one or two right next to or right underneath a plant and then put one or two a couple inches away. It depends on how planted your tank is but one every couple inches or so is plenty. You can always add more so don't overdo it.

 

[re_hashed]

Well, lets see how this goes then. I made a load of DIY tabs up yesterday, and put 5 in last night.

Here are the pics from last night – sorry about the quality, phone camera. Also the water is cloudy as I’d been rooting around pushing in my tabs, and also stirred things up with a water-change.

Full Tank Shot: 1 tab in the front’ish left, 1 x front’ish middle, 1 x right next to central amazon sword, 1 x middle of the brown (crypts?), 1 x rear right near the jungle valls.

Left Hand Side where I put the tab:

Central where I put two tabs:

Right Hand Side where I put a tab:

I’ll try and update a week from now, from roughly the same position and we’ll see what happens.

 

[TekWarren]

I used the Omocote flower and vegetable something or other...I put them in a 40b and just kinda laid them out so that they where in the substrate 3"-4" apart.