# Does a mature tank need root tabs?



## Easternlethal (10 Apr 2016)

I have a high tech mature tank I'm still playing with which is 1.5 years old. It has ada and mineralized topsoil and I dry dose EI. 

Question is, will there come a time when I'll need to use root tabs? I've read that fertilising just the water column is fine but I do know Tom Barr and some pros do use root tabs but I've never quite been able to finger out why. 

If root tabs are needed can i just freeze an ei solution into ice cubes?


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## Dr Mike Oxgreen (10 Apr 2016)

Freezing an EI dose isn't going to work. Tablets are much less soluble so that they release their nutrients slowly over the course of weeks or months. An ice-cube of liquid fertiliser will disappear in minutes and disperse into the water column very quickly.


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## zozo (10 Apr 2016)

Most roottabs are clay based, some poeple use those gell capsules and diy put in all kinds of ferts, from Rose fert granules to what ever contains ferts. Personaly i keep it with the clay based tabs from the LFS, at the time i'm very satisfied with the TerraCaps from HSaqaua and my crypts, lily and echinodorus also it seems..

I guess the question is put a bit wrong, a mature tank has nothing to do with, if a plant will benefit from rootfeeding or not. My high tech tank is a year old now, might say it's quite matured by now.. But i still see my Echinodorus realy benefit from some extra roottabs and theLily and some others as well, both are known to be heavy root feeders. They might also do from water collum only and maybe also from whats in the mature substrate by nature regarding poop and such. But still react positive to root feeding. Tank might be mature but it doesn't say anything about the substrate and whats realy in there in what amount.. 

The benefit from clay tabs is it's not realy leaching heavy amounts of ferts to the water collum if disturbed, it's leaching clay dust wich settles down again on the substrate. Thta's why they are relatively long term clay has a high CEC and keeps it in if not accesed by a plant rooting near it. Clay just stays clay... Artificial fertilizer granules in desolving capsules probably will totaly disolve and leach massive amounts of ferts readily into the water collum is disturbed. Never tried it in the tank.. Never would. Just a guess when i look how those artifical stuff disolves in wet soils it would disolve the same in tank substrate and even more.


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## EdwinK (10 Apr 2016)

zozo said:


> Artificial fertilizer granules in desolving capsules probably will totaly disolve and leach massive amounts of ferts readily into the water collum is disturbed. Never tried it in the tank.. Never would. Just a guess when i look how those artifical stuff disolves in wet soils it would disolve the same in tank substrate and even more



No, that's not true. Artificial root fertilizing tabs are dissolving much more slower. You cold try that in a glass full or water and check how fast they dissolve.


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## zozo (10 Apr 2016)

EdwinK said:


> No, that's not true. Artificial root fertilizing tabs are dissolving much more slower.


In general or a specific brand??


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## rebel (10 Apr 2016)

osmocote makes a slow release aquatic tab. Not sure how slow though.


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## Easternlethal (10 Apr 2016)

zozo said:


> I guess the question is put a bit wrong, a mature tank has nothing to do with, if a plant will benefit from rootfeeding or not.


Thanks for the answer but actually I believe question is put right because I am not asking whether root tabs benefit plants  because.. well of course they do. I was more interested in knowing whether it will become necessary as the substrate becomes inert over time and reliance would otherwise be more orless entirely on the water column.


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## zozo (10 Apr 2016)

Easternlethal said:


> Thanks for the answer but actually I believe question is put right because I am not asking whether root tabs benefit plants  because.. well of course they do. I was more interested in knowing whether it will become necessary as the substrate becomes inert over time and reliance would otherwise be more orless entirely on the water column.



You're plants will tell you in the end if it is necesarry, depending on which plants you are growing.. Some plants do realy well with only water collum fertilization, other can use extra via root feeding or well fertilized soil.. If you see plants suffer while you believe to suffiently fertilize the water collum the answer to your question in probably and obviously yes. Poeple with a higher bioload in their tanks might need less, because this bioload will already provide a great deal of natural fertilization.. So it all kinda depands and is it difficult to give a straight answer in yes and no. That's what i meant to say that maturity of soil is rather a bit vague word to use if you put it in the context of beeing exhausted.

Sorry i misunderstood your question..


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## Tim Harrison (10 Apr 2016)

Check out this discussion hopefully it'll answer your question http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/...-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/page-2#post-196215


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## Easternlethal (10 Apr 2016)

Thanks - I guess the consensus is that it is not limiting..


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## Chris Jackson (10 Apr 2016)

This crypt tank's substrate is well over 10 years old, lightly fertilised and never had a root tab....but I have changed planting from time to time leaving many old roots to decompose into the substrate and so providing organic fertiliser. I'd say that really there is no definitive answer, you'd just have to experiment as time passes but certainly slow release roots tabs are unlikely to cause any problems.


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## zozo (10 Apr 2016)

I'm a Lily fan and like to grow them in the garden and since i'm into aquariums again also trying some in my tanks, more or less with succes.. I noticed that lily's realy like root feeding and needs loads of nitrogen.. For example i did put them against all odds into inert pumice substrate with only water colum fertilization and lily went into dwarf growth, very few and week floaters and refused to flower. Till the point where i started to root feed and it went into explosive growth with flowers. I didn't try but most likely if i had put more into the water colum it probably could have the same effect on the lily. I didn't do it because i wasn't so sure what would happen with dumping so much ferts into the water collum since it was a low tech experiment. It probably would have become a dark green peasoup with a nice waterlily. 

As Chris says experiment, it's fun.. And some times with miraculous results.. Like i'm growing an Echinodorus Kleiner Bär discribed as growing only around 30 cm in height. Since i'm feeding it root tabs it jumped out of the tank towards 60 cm. I do not know if this could be done with only water colum ferts. It didn't for 9 months it stayed under the surface till the first extra root tabs where added. 

Maybe if you look at it from that perspective, if you want to achieve that, yes it could be necessary..


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## EdwinK (10 Apr 2016)

zozo said:


> In general or a specific brand??


In general


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## zozo (10 Apr 2016)

EdwinK said:


> In general


Ah, now i think i know what you mean, after reading back your first reply..  You say artificial Root Tabs?? I wasn't refering to those, fert sticks you put in the soil.. Also didn't point anywhere towards them in this topic.  But pointing at home made root tab ferts in capsules or ice cubes what ever with soluble artifical fertilization, powder or granule what ever. And if you put something like that is the tanks substrate, it will leach out and even more massively when disturbed. Most artificial fertilization you by in pots or bags is very soluble and fast working short term, that's why we often encounter the problems with eutrophication in open waters near farmlands etc.

Clay root tabs do not do that so intensly and are long term solutions. If i put clay in my pond i find clay back when i clean it out a year later.. That's what i was refering to..


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