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I still havent put together my first official planted tank, I do have a 50g with tons of plants, but I dont really look at it that way as the substrate has no nutrients mixed in there and I only use Tetra Flora Pride, thus my plants (some of them) struggle, and I struggle along with it. I thus would like to set one up with 'the whole nine yards'

Ive so far struggled with tests using fresh clay, the water just wont clear completely, so Im beginning to consider purchasing some substrate and other fertilizers.

This is a simple task if you live in a country that has this readily available, but I live in Costa Rica. Its not readily available. Thus, I have to purchase it online and ship it here. That is where the catch lies as I pay per weight. Im not exactly rich so Id like to not run up a big bill in a hurry.

I figured it couldnt hurt if I came here and asked you guys for references as to what products I could use, both substrate as well as fertilizers. I appreciate if you can mention the product by name and feel free to give any pro's or con's youve encountered while using the product.

Thank you very much.

flourish and tetra products are great... also look into aquariumpharmesuticals (or API) they hav some great products... for a cheaper alternative try using regular gravel and root tabs... or you could look at your local home-improvement store and try to find a mineral enriched pond substrate for cheaper... clays tend to be messy unless you have a diatom filter to help you clear up the water... (root tabs can be made by many copanies and you can find them online nearly anywhere!)

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Cool, I see you can get the Root Tabs from API on ebay. Any opinions regarding this product are more than welcome, as well as with any other product. Thank you

Hi,
Earlier, when you said you were going to use clay as
a layer in your substrate, I suggested you to get a hold
of Diana Walstads' book THE ECOLOGY OF THE PLANTED
AQUARIUM and read it BEFORE doing that. At the same time
I said that the only way to eliminate the cloudy water
(clay particles floating free) was to use a Diatom filter
and gave you a link to one to show you what one looked
like. http://www.diatomfilters.com/

Taking a layer of clay from your backyard, immersing it, and
then burying it under a layer of gravel will cause all
sorts of problems in the tank. The clay layer contains
bacteria and critters that need oxygen which you have
deprived them of by drownding them. It can easily pollute
your tank.

Because of your location and having to pay not only the
cost of the product, but also the weight of the product,
the "easy" way of using 100% Sachem Flourite, or 100%
Eco Complete as your substrate is probably going to be
too expensive.

That, leaves you with about only two choices, you purchase
Laterite, a tropical clay that has been treated, and use
it as a bottom layer and cap it with a layer of aquarium
gravel, or you just just aquarium gravel as the substrate
by itself. If you can find Laterite >in your LFS<
NOT your back yard, then by all means use it.
If you do use a clay, then buy a diatom filter and be
prepared to use it every time you up root plants
rearranging the tank.

The aquarium gravel should be a #2 or #3 grain size.

As was mentioned, the Flourish products are excellent and
will work just fine. However, you will also have to
import them and over time it can become expensive when
treating large tanks. They do come in larger size
containers than is usually found in pet stores. I'd buy
the larger sizes. Another choice is to purchase your
fertilizers, dry, from one of the many suppliers here in
the states. Such as: http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/62-estimative-index-dosing-no-need-test-kits.html

You can purchase the dry products through Tom, or check
into the Aquatic Gardeners Association.


As far as the plant tablets or plant sticks are concerned,
you don't purchase these and stuff them indiscriminately
around the tank trying to use them to fertilize the entire
tank. That is a recipe for a disaster. You can take the
tablets and use them to fertilize "A" specific plant, such
as a large Sword for instance. Take one tablet and
submerge it about 2 inches out from the plant at the four
compass points around that plant. Same with with plant
sticks. However in the case of the plant sticks it is
best to cut them in half and put one 1/2 stick, each, at
the four compass points around the plant (2 sticks does
one plant).

Currently, I'm using AP PLANTABBS aquarium plant food in
my tank and they seem to be working just fine. Not as good
as when I was injecting CO2, but still more than adequate
for the plants. With these, you add one tablet for every
5 gallons of water. They do tend to drive the water acidic
so I buffer the tank with some baking soda to maintain the
tank at about 7.0 pH.

Frank




-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hey Frank, appreciate the response. I was out for about a week, kinda was forced to take vacations so I tried to make the most of em, went to a beach here in CR called Playa Grande, beach is famous as it is the #1 beach on the pacific side where leatherback turtles (on endangered lists) come to lay eggs.... Interesting trip.

Anywho...

Regarding the clay, it would be clay bought from a place where they make potteries, no clue if it is laterite and they dont know either (i asked once) One of the clays is 'more red' than the other in terms of color. Nonetheless, I tried setting up a small tank to see if it would leak thru gravel and sand and it did, thus I havent even began setting it up. *I dont want to mess up a 50g tank, it would be a lot of work to re do so Id like to do it right the first time.

Ive even considered these substrates but it would be expensive to get them down here.

In terms of the diatom filter, I dont think that would be an option as I dont have that much money to play with right now and Ive seen they can be expensive (at least for our salaries).

This whole plant thing seems so complicated Im not even sure if Im going to use or not, a UGF........

Not as good as when I was injecting CO2,

Frank, have you stopped injecting C02? If so, why? Just curious.

Cheers
TW