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Good and Inexpensive Fert?

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  ao 
#1 ·
Hello to all! I am going to be buying my 1st fert tomorrow for my low tec tank with Anubias, Aponogeton, and Marimo Ball as well as some plants to be added to my 2 gallon. I have proper lighting and PFS substrate with smooth gravel on top. What is a good fert that wont break the bank? It would need to last a while and be cost effective as well as not hurt Betta, Shrimp, Snails, or Cory Cats. Also, how would I go about using it?
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#3 ·
Will it affect pH or Hardness? And how often do I use it?
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#4 ·
it may lower your ph a bit.nominal. you need to put it as far into the soil as possible,and make sure its fully covered. i'd start out with just the red clay first. this helps to grow lovely red plants. i only add osmocote to my betta tank. it's under stocked. however, my goldfish tank is another story. just red clay in there. i really only use it once every couple of months. it helps to freeze the clay. flatten out ball,put into ice cube tray,fill with enough water to cover and freeze. this gives you a little more time to place it before it becomes mud.
 
#5 ·
The cheapest ferts you will ever buy are dry ferts used for framing and stuff. You dose so little so you save tons of money. The problem is is you have to weigh out the ferts, so if you aren't good at algebra I wouldn't do it. Also you would need an accurate scale. The functional difference between liquid and dry is that liquid is just dry ferts watered down so you pay for water. Fine fore small tanks, but a bigger tank it would become pretty expensive.
 
#11 ·
The functional difference between liquid and dry is that liquid is just dry ferts watered down so you pay for water. Fine fore small tanks, but a bigger tank it would become pretty expensive.
There is a much larger difference than that. Liquid ferts are great for stem plants because they can pull their nutrients directly from the water column; other plants, like amazon swords, prefer root tabs because they pull their nutrients from the substrate. Also, I don't see the relationship between tank size and fert solution volume when you're making your own. I can prepare my solution so that I'm dosing 5mL into a 5g tank, or I can make it more concentrated so that I'm still only dosing 5mL in a 100g tank.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the info yall. Wish I could have bought one yall suggested, but they only had one in stock! Made by API, so I hope it's as good as their other products. :-?
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