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## Pleccy22 (10 Sep 2008)

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## GreenNeedle (10 Sep 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

yes but treat it the same way as ADA AS as it will contain Urea as an ingredient and lots of ammonia from the Farm Manure content.

3-4 weeks fishless cycle while the ammonia/nitrite readings both reach zero.  Water change heavily every few days for the first 2 weeks, twice weekly for the next 2 and then hopefully (before water change) you should have a zero/zero reading.

Andy


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (10 Sep 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

sorry to contradict, but I would say definitely do not use it.. 1. it will have high amounts of NH4 in it.. 2. it will be FAR too nutrient rich.. aquatic plants need far far less feed than terrestrial ones.


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## JamesC (10 Sep 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

Don't know about No3 but if you want to use a cheap compost from a garden centre then cactus compost works well. I used this some years ago with great success. Cap it with a layer of fine gravel as it tends to float around and make a terrible mess.

James


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## bugs (10 Sep 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=304


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## GreenNeedle (12 Sep 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

Reading the link above I'll clear a couple of things up within it.

It says that several manufacturers use the same recipe when in fact they dont.  There are many John Innes No3 which is a trademark but it applies to the ratios of nutrient within it and not specifically to the type of ingredient that supplies the ingredient.

For example one company may use pure cow manure in a lower ration whereas another may use "mushroom compost with rotted chipboard within it".  They would use it in different ratios to achieve the same result.

Sterilised soil is indeed fed into a hopper and then it is basically burnt to remove the organic content within it.  unsterilised soil will contain glass, metals, litter, weeds, stones.  This is fed into a hopper which then goes into a rolling barrel which removes stones, glass etc.  Then it is heat treated to burn the weeds, roots and all moisture and it comes out as a fine(ish) powder.  Then it is mixed with all the other ingredients.  The JAB one you have there will have gone through this process and any manure content will be the mushroom/urea/chipboard type.

AC


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## andy (19 Oct 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

Just to add to this....we used to make up our own john innes compost when i was a nurseryman.

7 parts sterilized loam
3 parts peat
2 parts grit

Now i can't remember the exact ampints but to the above compost was added JI base (slow release fertiliser) and lime. Ji no 3 has 3 times more base and lime than no 1.

Depending on your aquarium needs, you may be better off using JI no 1 which has far less base and lime in or even JI cuttings compost.

Alternatively, i had good success in the past with ericacious (peat based) potting compost as a 1" layer before the sand or gravel was put on top.  I do believe JI do a loam based ericacious compost too which might be worth trying.

Just my observations

Andy


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## beeky (12 Nov 2008)

*Re: Can I use John Innes no.3 in aquariums?*

You can also get ericaceous John Innes which I assume is much the same as the others but without the lime.


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