New tank and wondering about Osmocote

[cheekycharly]

Hi guys I'm downsizing from my Juwel Vision 260 to a Rio 180 and have purchased a 30kg sack of molar clay and I've just read a lot of people are using Osmocote in their aquariums especially under the substrate when setting up. Can anyone confirm this and send me a link to the stuff.

Another question is do the balls break down as I had some root fertiliser tabs years ago full out bright yellow and blue balls and they never really dissolved they just mixed into the substrate and looked unsightly if you unearthed one when doing maintenance.

Any advice on this new setup would be great.

 

[cheekycharly]

Damn typo in the header. Could an Admin please change that word to "Osmocote". Thanks

 

[ceg4048]

Osmocote is ONLY to be used under the substrate as it is extremely high in ammonia. See http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/help-with-osmocote-please.13353/

Cheers,

 

[Martin in Holland]

I only use osmocote in my emerse plant nursery (rockwool with osmocote works perfect)

 

[cheekycharly]

Would you guys recommend anything under my molar clay? Or is ok as a substrate alone.

 

[ceg4048]

Any recommendation must be based on your goals and objectives. Adding nutrients to the sediment has the benefit of allowing you to miss a dose here and there. So for example if you leave town for a few days or forget to dose the water column, or use massive lighting, then sediment enrichment will minimize deficiency issues. If you dose the water column regularly then it's really not that important. The fact that it's clay means that the CEC will allow nutrients from the water to be passed on to the roots.

If you are constantly uprooting plants and relocating, or re-scaping then you have to be careful to only do that prior to a large water change as you will tend to pull ammonia into the water column as you disturb the sediment.

Generally, it's always better to have nutrients in both locations as plants will feed from either location when necessary. So you can add the Osmocoat or any other slow release fertilizer, if it's convenient without dong any harm. If it's not convenient then avoid it and ensure regular water column dosing.

Cheers,