does sand have iron?

[danski]

okay i thiught i read that if you have low light plants and a stocked tank you shouldnt need supplements. i have only one watt per gallon in an 18 gal tank and live plants along with sand substrate. does my sand have the iron i need or do i need a supplement. what should i use? i have also recently removed my carbon from my aqua clear filters and inserted a new sponge in its place. i have 2 ten watt 6500k mini compact bulbs. i have some java fern and anubias along with some other fast growing plant i cannot remember the name of.

 

[Nospherith]

Regular ol' sand, (the kind that you find on most beaches and bagged at Home Depot) is quartz sediment, which is basically silica, so no sand does not have iron in it. However, many LFS's sell "root tabs" that you plug under the roots of root feeders, such as anubias, cryptocorynes, echinodorus and such. So you could get those. Or, if you want to dose directly into the tank, then there's various commercial liquid supplements that will do the trick. Just read the bottle and see if theres and Fe listed in the ingredients. However, with a low light setup and only java fern (and probably hygrophelia, wisteria or anarcharis) to feed from the water column I don't think adding liquid supplements would yield much better results.

 

[abstract]

well the java fern and anubias shouldn't be rooted in the sand anyhow (they CAN but do not bury the rhizome)....usually you attach these types of plants to driftwood and it feeds from the water column...since that is the case, it doesn't matter what type of fert. you put in the substrate unless you have roots feeding from the substrate (stem plants usually)....although, liquid fertilizers COULD help if all the nutrients are already being absorbed by the plants from the water column...

EDIT: and if you do have plants feeding from the substrate, you can always use a layer of laterite underneath your sand...that will add the much-needed iron for the roots

 

[cla55y19]

for good plant growth you shouldnt be using sand it stunts there growth and can make there stems rot as sand when wet becomes compact and water cant pass around the roots for plant food you can get it cheap here and lots of plants http/search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrpp...ssZnannyspetals

 

[abstract]

sand stunts growth? not in my tanks lol

the major problem with sand, as you stated, is the fact that it compacts if not stirred once in a while.....however, i have never had an issue and many, many people on this forum use sand in their planted tank and swear by it (i do)

i use a chopstick to stir the sand slightly every water change...and have malaysian trumpet snails in all of my planted tanks to help aeriate the sand... using sand isn't close to as much of a danger as some people make it sound, plus it looks tons better than gravel in a well planted tank IMHO

and there has to be some kind of rule against posting to all of your ebay auctions on the forum, right??

 

[cla55y19]

the stunting growth is just that i used to use a tank with sand and as you said it compacts around the plant and the roots cant get through it youd be better of with coral sand if your going to use coral sand or add something like aqua grit thats clay based and the plants root system can get in amongst it, but if you like the look of sand you should add a layer of proper plant substrate and then the sand on top i think stiring it up would be a bit of work thjat could be avoided