DaveyC
New Member
I'm getting good results from using these together within inert gravel. This is 6 weeks after setting the tank up.
First, using a hammer, smash up the 30 Power Tabs in a plastic bag.
Then take out the existing gravel leaving about an inch. Important to drain as much water out of the gravel as you can at this stage. Here's a pic of the gravel I'm using.
This is what you get in the box.
Chuck in the laterite and smashed up power tabs.
Mix into the gravel and use cocktail sticks with marks on to check it's level. Then add an inch of clean gravel on top, again using the cocktail sticks to check it's level.
Plant your plants. I had too much water in my gravel so when I pushed the roots in, laterite shot out. You can limit the damage by planting very slowly so the gravel creates a seal when it moves around your finger. This is why I think using coarser gravel would make life difficult.
The plants were in a pretty poor state when they went in. I'd tried to grow them in clean gravel using standard EI dosing even adding extra iron and getting nowhere.
The dosing regime is potassium sulphate and magnesium sulphate on one day and "Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement - Micro Elements etc" 4 ml on the next. The tank is 100 litres. Fire extinguisher CO2 at 1 bubble per second. A diffuser works better than a reactor. 20% water change a week using remineralised RO at 100 TDS but I will be trying 20% a fortnight now it's settled down.
This is after 6 weeks.
My tips would be:
- if you need to remove a plant, cut it off at the bottom of the stem rather than yank it up, roots and all.
- plant slowly so the gravel can form a seal around your finger and thereby limit the contamination of the water.
- keep some gravel in reserve so you can cover any areas where laterite is close to the surface of the gravel.
- use a syphon to gently clean around the plants or suck out any gravel with algae on. You can then clean it and return it to the tank.
- sand would probably work better than gravel, you might get away with a cap of 3/4 inch instead.
Hope this helps.
First, using a hammer, smash up the 30 Power Tabs in a plastic bag.
Then take out the existing gravel leaving about an inch. Important to drain as much water out of the gravel as you can at this stage. Here's a pic of the gravel I'm using.
This is what you get in the box.
Chuck in the laterite and smashed up power tabs.
Mix into the gravel and use cocktail sticks with marks on to check it's level. Then add an inch of clean gravel on top, again using the cocktail sticks to check it's level.
Plant your plants. I had too much water in my gravel so when I pushed the roots in, laterite shot out. You can limit the damage by planting very slowly so the gravel creates a seal when it moves around your finger. This is why I think using coarser gravel would make life difficult.
The plants were in a pretty poor state when they went in. I'd tried to grow them in clean gravel using standard EI dosing even adding extra iron and getting nowhere.
The dosing regime is potassium sulphate and magnesium sulphate on one day and "Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement - Micro Elements etc" 4 ml on the next. The tank is 100 litres. Fire extinguisher CO2 at 1 bubble per second. A diffuser works better than a reactor. 20% water change a week using remineralised RO at 100 TDS but I will be trying 20% a fortnight now it's settled down.
This is after 6 weeks.
My tips would be:
- if you need to remove a plant, cut it off at the bottom of the stem rather than yank it up, roots and all.
- plant slowly so the gravel can form a seal around your finger and thereby limit the contamination of the water.
- keep some gravel in reserve so you can cover any areas where laterite is close to the surface of the gravel.
- use a syphon to gently clean around the plants or suck out any gravel with algae on. You can then clean it and return it to the tank.
- sand would probably work better than gravel, you might get away with a cap of 3/4 inch instead.
Hope this helps.
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