Free fertilizer

[Rybka]

I' have been doing this in all my tanks for around 6 months now and it works great for planted tanks. What i do is...with all the left over plant material tthat floats in my tanks I simply grab and bury in my tank i've found that it works as a great fertilizer and my planted tanks don't have any other suppliments etc...besides co2 from fishies and they grow great

 

[Ami]

Could the rotting plant material not lead to an increase in levels of nasty chemicals and bacteria?

I've always been told to remove any ASAP.


Ami

 

[LifeBear]

We were told in a fish club lecture that we should remove dying leaves becayse all of the nutrients that they have absorbed get re-released and it feeds algae.

I suppose, if one were to bury those leaves, those nutrients would be released into the root area of the live plants. Not a bad plan.

Unfortunately for me, any digging or stirring up of the flourite gravel I have leads to proange clouds in the water, so I try to avoid that as much as possible.

 

[Rybka]

Thats what I mean...it fuels algae cos it has nutrients...but I bury it with the other plants...so I guess the nutrients would go straight to the plants. Do you think that nasties would break it down Ami...I don't know well im very proud of this tank cos nothing has died in it for over a year better not speak too soon.

 

[Ami]

I'm not expert on anything really, and certainly not aquarium plants, but it would seem to make sense that you could use the old ones as fertilizer. Hell, that's what compost is right?

It's just that I've been told that rotting organic matter, whether it is plants, uneaten food, fish poo, dead fish etc can lead to an increase in the amount of ammonia and nitrites in the tank, possibly to a level beyond which the beneficial bacteria and plants can keep up with, and that they should be removed ASAP. Plus there's the possibility of giving nasty fungus(s) a place to grow.

On some of the other threads over the past week, people have also mentioned UMFD that they've had and being told by their LFS that they could have disturbed an ammonia pocket when cleaning the substrate. Makes me wonder that, if you use the dead plants to fertilize the others by pushing them down in the substrate, would there be a risk of releasing a deadly ammonia pocket or possibly creating another?

I haven't kept real plants for very long and as you can see, at the moment it's pretty much all I do have in my tank so I suspect I'm not the best person to ask....

Ami

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Rotting plant matter does create ammonia, but if its just a fish free planted tank for growing plants in there shouldn't be a problem- i personally use "flora boost" by Interpet to fertilise my plants and they do great on it.

 

[Dubby]

Could the rotting plant material not lead to an increase in levels of nasty chemicals and bacteria?

I've always been told to remove any ASAP.


Ami

As long as this activity of burying old plant matter is carried out in moderation it should not cause any problems. And giving the gravel a regular stir would help get rid of the nastys.

 

[Ami]

That's quite helpful Dubby - cheers!
Ami