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Thread: Base Fertilizer - A Necessity?

  1. #1
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    Base Fertilizer - A Necessity?

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    Hi ,
    planning to set up a simple 1.5ft planted tank. Was wondering if its essential to add base fert. or can i just use gravel and carry on with my planting? If i dun use base fert, will i need to add any other sort of liquid/stick fertilizer in the long run? Or i can just choose some easy and hardy plants and do away with all those? How much do base fert cost?

    Newbie to planted...any advice will b appreciated.
    Thanks n cheers!!

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    It really depends on the kind of plants you are planting...some plants get their nutrients mostly from the roots, so base fertilizer are needed whereas some can get it through the leaves. Anyway, if you go for the hardy type of plants like Java fern, you do not need base fertilizer nor strong lights as they thrive in low light conditions. Happy planting
    Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger

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    Some sort of base fertiliser is necessary to provide nutrients for plant growth, especially those with roots growing into the substrate. If not, you would have to supplement by adding fertiliser sticks.

    If you think base fertilisers are costly, you can also try potting soil topped up with normal gravel. I did that for one of my tanks. Some of my friends also did the same and found no bad side effects. I even had a friend who used soil he dug up.

    Some info on using soil can be found at http://home.infinet.net/teban/index.html
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    Thanks guys for advice..

    Juggler, thats a super cheem site u gave me[:0]
    hehe so can anyone give me a rough estimate of how the base substrates cost? like those JBL etc..?

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    JBL fertiliser costs like $16 for the big pack (10kg or 5 litre? sorry can't remember) and enough for 2ft tank.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    Base fert is not 'die die must have" for a planted tank. But like Juggler said, you'll need to supplement with substrate fert. Most ppl who have base fert still use substrate fert. Anyway, for 1.5 feet tank, base fert won't set you back too much.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
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    ok guys tanks alot for ur help...tink is beter to get some base fert in this case...so that can widen the variety of plants to grow..any gd brands to recomend that are not too ex?

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    JBL, cheap and good... made in Germany.. or u can try aquatic composite from far east florist

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    I think not all use base fertiliser, I am one of them. I use those root booster initially though.

    I think those that started out long time ago dun use it as well.

    Last time I think dun have such thing as base fertiliser. Some mentioned on the net, that they use kitten litter, which is "pure" dirt.

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    Thnks Simon.

    Binbeto,
    so ur plants doing well w/o the base fert? Cos i just aiming to have a small 1.5ft low tech, low maintenace tank with some hardy plants and lights,thats all. Super tight budget. Jus put those booster like erm TMG or root monster (or are these boosters?) also does the job ?

    And thanks guys for all help rendered. Sori, know nx to nothing abt planted tank..that y got so many stupid qns.

    Cheers



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    You're most welcomed. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. And your questions are not stupid. [] We all started knowing next to nothing about planted tanks.

    Have fun and welcome to the wonderful world of planted aquaria.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
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  12. #12
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    Low tech? Low maintenance?
    You should read this book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad available at our local libraries.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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