you can find FeEDTA being sold in some LFS (under dr malick's hydroponics brand lushgro something or other), however, in most cases, dwarf sag grows like a weed, you do not need to supplement additional beyond the basic fert regiment.
hi friends,
i'm a newbie in planted stuffs. i will have some sagittaria subulata (courtesy of juggler) which i'm planning to plant in my 2x2x2ft tank. i did a search n it mentioned this plant requires very low maintenance except that it needs sufficient iron fertilizer in the substrate. now i'll be placing tiny to medium sized gravels in this tank.
questions:
1) where can i get this so-called iron fertilizer in the substrate.
2) wil it comes in tablet form?
if yes can i just push the iron tablets under/in the gravels?
3) and do i really need fine sand substrates as in a really planted tank set-up?
4) or just the tiny to medium sized gravels will be sufficient without fine sand/substrates...
5) i really do not want to choose liquid iron as worry it might harm my fishes
another thing to note:
this tank will consists plecos, loaches and small catfishes. wil the iron tablet or substrate can cause harm to these livestocks?
i need advises rather urgent as tank will come dis wednesday's nite....really appreciate n tks in advance.
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
you can find FeEDTA being sold in some LFS (under dr malick's hydroponics brand lushgro something or other), however, in most cases, dwarf sag grows like a weed, you do not need to supplement additional beyond the basic fert regiment.
after sometime, like maybe a month you can put sera florennette A fertilization tablet (contain iron and other minerals) and break them into smaller pieces and insert near the roots of the plants...but initially the nutrients from subtrate fertilizer is sufficient...
2-3mm gravel (lapis) is good for most plants...
liquid fertilizer like JBL ferropol, tetra florapride, and sera florena not only contain iron but other trace elements that are beneficial to plants. and plants can also absorb nutrients from their leaves, therefore liquid fertilizer are considered quite important but remember not to overdose as it may cause algae break or worse intoxicate your fishes
tks all, my pebbles never have any base fert cos i never into live plants. i tink i'll just try to buy the iron tablets n push them near the roots of the sag....under the pebbles without any substrates at all.
this will also works rite?
anyhow tks all for the advises
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
like that should be ok...but your pebbles should not be too big, not good for the plants' roots......
ok johannes, i'll get really tiny pebbles
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
really tiny also not good...
very difficult for the plant roots to grow and also bad for water circulation through the gravel. As a result, you might suffer from anerobic substrate...
The Saggitaria is really very low-maintenance. Given more care, it will grow like a weed.
My substrate is potting soil + JBL base fert. Using liquid fertilisers.
Don't need to wory too much.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
hi juggler and others, i've actuali already did a search bout sagg already and all different sites says the same thing that it is really a very low-maintenance plant, BUT it needs iron more to prevent glassy, yellowish leaves.
in fact i bought just now JBL Ferrotabs (30 tablets, sufficient for 750 litres of water. dosage: 1 tablet for approximately 25 litres aquarium water every 14 days)
MY WORRIES: will the iron tablets contain any chemicals and can do harm to my precious plecos, loaches and catfishes? anyone can give me assurance that iron tablet is non-toxic to bottom feeding fishes?? please...
OR is it just a wrong combination which i stubbornly want to give a try still? where loaches tend to dig gravels searching for foods and plecos will graze on plants??
btw, my tank will be wif lotsa driftwoods, hiding caves and other hideouts, plus this future saggitaria subulata which is coming.
wil this work? AGAIN, sorry to repeat, plecos, loaches n cats wif plants?
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
I don't know, but plecos catfish and loaches seem like a crew that will keep your saggs uprooted instead of planted.
The tabs should be pretty safe imho, but I'm abit unsure on the need for iron emphasis.
Its not an iron issue....40% of a plant is carbon, 1.5% N...and the rest even lesser. Look at this 2 big players before even thinking about others. Most plants becomes low maintenance if you lower the amount of light since the need for carbon and nutrients are lowered as well. (Slower growth..less trimming needed.)
Regards
Peter Gwee
dont worry too much abouty the fertilizer tablet...anyway there is a dosing instruction enclosed in the package...Originally Posted by aquatic777
tks again all, already set-up tank wif all the above inside; it's a 2x2x2ft tank. i just pushed 3 iron tabs all the way under gravel. uses couple of pl lites.... so far does not show much improvements in plants. maybe shall put more iron tablets.
i'm just waiting for the sagg to be greener n den trim it away nicely for them to be shorter.
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
ALAMAK!
Those tabs are not miracle pills siah...
They normally are released when the plants tries to absorb the iron and other micros from the tab...
Slowly... Dun whack too many tabs... Too much will cause you to suffer from imbalance in nutrients in the water, and your water's condition will suffer in the procecss...
Slowly... slowly...
oops, lucky u tell me else i'll push more tabs ... it was just last wednesday's nite btw...or was it 4am in the morning i did the job? so only 4 days gone......
Lophiosilurus alexandri (pacman catfish)
It's only been four days. At least a week is needed for most plants to show new growth if conditions are good.
Do take note of PeterGwee's post earlier on this page. Do not believe anything you see/read on the Net until you've tried it out for yourself.
Iron again.....
Regards
Peter Gwee
dwarf sag is a simple undemanding plant, stop putting iron fert until 4-12 weekds later and then you should only add in the iron fert if you can see the results of iron deficiency.
Last edited by loupgarou; 23rd Jan 2006 at 22:33.
- iron tablets are safe
- however they are not necessary
- dwarf sag ... are ... WEEEEEEEEEDDDDSSS
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