# Terrestrial plant fertiliser



## fabihanski (8 Feb 2021)

At risk of sounding like a noob, other than being toxic for fish, why do we not use terrestrial fertiliser - on aquarium plants?

*I completely appreciate that if a fertiliser isn't designed with aqua fauna in mind, it will kill them.* I have been out of the hobby for 8 odd years now and just coming back, I'm quite enjoying just growing aquatic and semi aquatic plants in various ways, My Fluval fluorescent lights burst and killed everything, which is why I'm hesitant on live stock for the time being. I can't seem to see anything bad in my go to fertiliser for house plants and outdoor plants.

Would it really be bad to use something like this extremely watered down with no livestock in a spray bottle twice weekly? As and when I choose to have fish and shrimp, I would plant to wean the plants to something like tropica over the course of a few months

(very sorry if this upsets some people, not my intention!)

For reference, the fertiliser is Miracle Grow for ericaceous plants (Plants that dislike hard water and alkaline water)


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## rebel (8 Feb 2021)

fabihanski said:


> why do we not use terrestrial fertiliser - on aquarium plants?


Only reason is that urea/ammonia can cause massive algal blooms. It depends on the stability of the system and some aquarists do get away with it.

Try it and see. (Without fish of course)


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## dw1305 (8 Feb 2021)

Hi all, 


fabihanski said:


> For reference, the fertiliser is Miracle Grow for ericaceous plants


We have a couple of <"Miracle Gro threads">, but this one formulation has more ammonia, possibly because ammonium sulphate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) will reduce pH.

cheers Darrel


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## ceg4048 (9 Feb 2021)

fabihanski said:


> Would it really be bad to use something like this extremely watered down with no livestock in a spray bottle twice weekly? As and when I choose to have fish and shrimp, I would plant to wean the plants to something like tropica over the course of a few months


There are in fact some commercial aquarium fertilizers that do exactly this. Of course they are watered down significantly to the point of which they sometimes are not economical.

On the other hand, the home grown mixes popular with the EI dosing scheme, work well, are non-toxic and are cheaper even than miracle grow, without the risk of ammonia poisoning.

Cheers,


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## Simon Cole (9 Feb 2021)

Agree: 


ceg4048 said:


> the home grown mixes popular with the EI dosing scheme, work well, are non-toxic and are cheaper even than miracle grow, without the risk of ammonia poisoning.


I use food grade salts, for instance.


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## DeepMetropolis (9 Feb 2021)

Simon Cole said:


> Agree:
> 
> I use food grade salts, for instance.


Yes I do this also you can get it in 2kg buckets for cheap and it will last you a really long time.. Only thing I did not found is a good micromix in the NL. I use tenso mix I buy in 35g bags, now.


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## dw1305 (9 Feb 2021)

Hi all, 


ceg4048 said:


> On the other hand, the home grown mixes popular with the EI dosing scheme, work well, are non-toxic and are cheaper even than miracle grow, without the risk of ammonia poisoning.


I'd agree about dangers of using <"mixes with ammonia in them">, but "Miracle Gro" is incredibly cheap.

If any-one is interested in the ingredients they are:


> Ingredients: Total Nitrogen (N) (24%) (Ammoniacal Nitrogen (3.5%), Urea Nitrogen (20.5%), Available Phosphate (P2O5) (8%), Soluble Potash (K2O) (16%), Boron (B) (0.02%), Copper (Cu) (0.07%), Water Soluble Copper (Cu) (0.07%), Iron (Fe) (0.15%), Chelated Iron (Fe) (0.15%), Magnesium (Mn) (0.05%), Chelated Manganese (Mn) (0.05%), Molybdenum (Mo) (0.0005%), Zinc (Zn) (0.06%), Water Soluble Zinc (Zn) (0.06%).
> 
> Derived from Ammonium Sulfate, Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Urea, Urea Phosphate, Boric Acid, Copper Sulfate, Iron EDTA, Manganese EDTA, Sodium Molybdate, and Zinc Sulfate



I actually bought 1200g  <"for £4 last time>, because it was a "_larger pack, same price_" promotion (still available at that price). 

@Zeus. and @jaypeecee have been experimenting with using <"urea ((CO(NH2)2)) as their nitrogen source">.

cheers Darrel


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## Zeus. (9 Feb 2021)

dw1305 said:


> If any-one is interested in the ingredients they are:
> 
> I actually bought 1200g <"for £4 last time>, because it was a "_larger pack, same price_" promotion (still available at that price).



Inputted the figures into the IFC Calculator (figures need to be triple checked yet) however




For a 1g/100l which cost £0.003


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## Oldguy (9 Feb 2021)

I used to use Phostrogen about 25 years ago. Then researched hydroponics but difficult to fault EI with dry salts. eBay has changed a lot of things and chemicals are much easier to buy than they were even 15 years ago.

If you want to dose ammonia, increase your fish stock, they come with built in dose meters and are nice to look at.


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## jaypeecee (9 Feb 2021)

dw1305 said:


> @Zeus. and @jaypeecee have been experimenting with using <"urea ((CO(NH2)2)) as their nitrogen source">.


Hi Folks,

Yes, and I hope to report back soon.

JPC


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