2-3 inch of base fertiliser vs 1 pack of Dupla rit G

[Nicky]

The posting on the need to have 2-3 inch of substrate fertiliser got me worry.

I only use 1 pack of Dupla rit G as my substrate feriliser when I setup my 4ft tank. The instruction on the pack mentioned such a small pack is sufficient for 200L of water.

But the small pack is hardly conmparable to the 2-3 inch of base fertiliser that some of you mentioned.

Am I heading for a crash or what? Or is the Dupla product so power-packed and only so small an amount will do the job?

Thanks.

[David]

hi nicky

I dont use Dupla's laterite G so I am guessing here alittle....check the leaflet that came with it...did it say it is pure fert or soil or clay based pre-mixed.

If it is pure base fert, it is meant for mixing with gravel to create the base fert layer of the tank while for the soil or clay based pre-mixed is simply just poured in to the tank.

A 4ft tank the water volume is about 400+ liters so it should be 2 tubs instead of one. However in your case I dont think you tank is going to crash even though you did not mixed it with gravel. ...just that your gravel layer should not be too thick that plants find it difficult to reach your fert layer.

[madans]

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On 12/1/2002 8:57:49 AM

The posting on the need to have 2-3 inch of substrate fertiliser got me worry.

I only use 1 pack of Dupla rit G as my substrate feriliser when I setup my 4ft tank. The instruction on the pack mentioned such a small pack is sufficient for 200L of water.

But the small pack is hardly conmparable to the 2-3 inch of base fertiliser that some of you mentioned.

Am I heading for a crash or what? Or is the Dupla product so power-packed and only so small an amount will do the job?

Thanks.
----------------

You are not heading for a crash. I use Dupla rit - G in my tanks. The idea is to mix the Dupla rit - G with sufficient aquarium gravel to give you about 1 - 1.5 inch thickness at the bottom. You should then add 2-3 inches more of aquarium gravel ( lonestar?).

Dupla product must be enriched in some way though they claim it is pure laterite. I have my tank running for 2 years now which only over the past 6 months showed signs of macro deficiency.

Don't worry Duplarit - G will not give you any headaches. This product kind of revolutionised planted tanks along with Duplas other products in the late 1980s and has led to the revolution in the 1990s and onwards.

Madan Subramanian
Bangalore, India.

[David]

hi madans

thanks for confirming that the laterite G is pure based...

[johnny_cold]

Hi David, i understand tat when starting out a planted tank, laying the correct amount of base fert and gravel is the most important steps as if we started it wrongly, then everthing have to redo which means a waste of $$$. Therefore i wana be very careful with tat, and dun mind if i check with u : i attend the workshop on planted tank recently, i saw them adding certain amount of gravel to mixed with the base fert, mainly to prevent decompose of the base fert or something like tat.

1)In the market, is there a ready mixed base fert with gravel, or do i have to purchase it and then mix according to the disireable amount of gravel with base fert?

2) If so the mixing bwt gravel and base fert roughly have to be in wat kind of proportion or ratio?

3) The brand JBL base fert which come in 5L for $16, isit a ready mixed base fert with gravel? any idea?

4) Lastly, when we r doing planting with plants tats have roots, isit that the corect way of planting is to have the roots go all the way beneath the gravel layer and at least come in contact with the base fert to have better growth.

Hmmm, can anyone help to slove my queries. Thanka alot. Sorrie, newbird always of lots of Qs, hope i dun piss u guys off. []

[vinz]

Nicky,

You're not heading for a crash. When the substrate is depleted in the future, just supplement the substrate with root fertilisers (E.g. JBL 7-Balls, Root Monsters, etc).

I'm not sure about Dupla, but I used Dennerle Duponit recently. They also indicate on the package what size tank the contents are meant for. The one I used would probably have amounted to about and inch or less of baser fert. However, the instructions inside indicated using more for plants that require deep and rich substrate.

JBL instructions, if I'm not wrong, indicate 3cm of base fert.

We often advocate deep substrate at the back of big tanks as most times large plants are planted there.

[vinz]

Johnny,

If your tank substrate is complete planted with healthy rooting plants, you should have little worry of substrate decompostion.

1) Most basefert products do not mix in gravel... they leave it to the buyer to decide.

3) JBl AquaBasis does not include gravel.

4) For stem plants, you can plant as deep as you want. If they are planted until the roots are in the base fert, that's good. If not, the roots will find their way as they grow.

For rosette plants, do not allow the crown (the part where the leaves join the base) to be buried. Some plants have tubers and rhizomes. Most of these have to be either unburied or half exposed.

[johnny_cold]

Thanks Vinz, tats very infomative. Realli a big thanks to everyone especially Vinz in making the effort to answer my Questions.

[chia2k]

speaking of base fert i have a qn

i just bought a bio-tec plant food fert and according to the instructions , it says to add 5gms of it to 20 L of water , my tank is 73 litre so thats abt 18gms.

but when i add 18 gms of it , its like sooo little , i mixed the gravel with it but its def not enough to make 3 cm think of base fert . is it a must to make a 3 cm thick base fert in between the gravel ? or just mixing the fert with the gravel is fine ?

[johnny_cold]

chia, will too much fert kill the plant.. hmm i am looking out for that answer as well. Once i know, will try to update u.

[David]

nope ...too much fert will not kill the plants.....basically the purpose of the base fert sets the foundation for long term fertilisation of any planted tank....the thicker the better it will last...and we are perhaps referring to 5 to 8 years.

regarding the bio tec thingy, i am not too familiar with the brand but what i understand is that manufacturer recommendation is always just the minimum amount needed to kick off any planted tank...how much you want to increase over the recommendation depends on 2 issue...budget and type of plants...stemmed plants will need base fert but they have an advantage of absorbing liquid ferts...while rosette plants (heavy rooting plants depend alot on base fert rather than liquid).

for me investment between gravel and base fert, I would go for the latter than the former.