Root Tabs

[aquabeast]

do plants really benifit from them? i have them in my tank, and it doesnt seem to help. i have assorted crpypts, spiralis, red wendetti, luteas. Thanks

 

[jcolon]

do plants really benifit from them? i have them in my tank, and it doesnt seem to help. i have assorted crpypts, spiralis, red wendetti, luteas. Thanks

Root tabs mostly benefit heavy root feeders like Amazon Sword .... the rest .. benefit from a liquid fert like seachem comprehensive. Out of the ones you mentioned, I only have Crypts, but It Sounds like they're fert feeders and you may just need to give liquid ferts a try.

Some members do make their own ferts with good results ... hopefully someone else with that experience will comment.

 

[aquabeast]

i used a liquid florite solution, but that didnt seem to work either.

 

[Sake]

I'm sure aqua-chem will come in here and figure this out, but I may as well fumble away at it till he does! What's your lighting like? Even with all the ferts/tabs in the world if you don't have enough light the plants won't grow quickly. I'm not sure on those plants light requirements..

 

[Coursair]

Crypts are also heavy root feeders. I use DIY root tabs, plus a liquid Fert. Water changes weekly and proper lighting. All are needed.

You may also want to look at Excel or CO2.

 

[TXaggie]

I've heard root tabs are good for crypts that are in regular gravel with no special plant substrate. I'm planning on getting some for mine.

 

[Coursair]

do plants really benifit from them? i have them in my tank, and it doesnt seem to help. i have assorted crpypts, spiralis, red wendetti, luteas. Thanks

How long have you had the plants ??
Crypts sometimes melt at first when you move them, they do recover almost always.

What is your lighting ???

 

[aquabeast]

i have a single 40 watt, T8 bulb, all my plants are low light required, i run the home made co2 mixture of water and yeast. the canister is a nutrafin one. ive had a few of my plants for over 2 years, my crypts are prettty large. i havent moved them since i got them, so the roots are established. look in my photos, you should see them. i also run a layer of laterite gravel for the substrate.

 

[Coursair]

i have a single 40 watt, T8 bulb, all my plants are low light required, i run the home made co2 mixture of water and yeast. the canister is a nutrafin one. ive had a few of my plants for over 2 years, my crypts are prettty large. i havent moved them since i got them, so the roots are established. look in my photos, you should see them. i also run a layer of laterite gravel for the substrate.

40 watts over a 55g is super low light. If your fixture will allow you may want to up that to 60-120 watts total ?

The substrate does run out of nutrients. I'm about to add more Root tabs ( Osmocote Plus ) as I was told 4-6 months is about time to renew the Ferts.

DIY will have a hard time keeping up in a large tank. Anything over a 20g, may need a pressurized system ???

I love my Crypts and need to pick and chose since my tanks are so small

My tanks are in my sig line.

 

[aquabeast]

its the most powerful bulb ive found, trust me, if i found a stronger one, id have it. the co2 was rated for 20 gallons each canister, thats why i have two on it, it may not still be up to par, but what i see in my tank are growing, thriving plants. theyre getting bigger and bigger, not sure how though since my light really sucks. pressurized are so expensive to build, i couldnt afford it. my undulattas are growing really fast, i bought 3 of them about 3 or 4 months ago, they really adapted well.

 

[mohican]

I hated root tabs and found them to be a waste of money. Invest in a good substrate and it will feed ALL plants. Good light, CO2 and plants should take off.

 

[Coursair]

its the most powerful bulb ive found, trust me, if i found a stronger one, id have it. the co2 was rated for 20 gallons each canister, thats why i have two on it, it may not still be up to par, but what i see in my tank are growing, thriving plants. theyre getting bigger and bigger, not sure how though since my light really sucks. pressurized are so expensive to build, i couldnt afford it. my undulattas are growing really fast, i bought 3 of them about 3 or 4 months ago, they really adapted well.

I'm confused ? You said you don't notice any benefit, but then you say your plants are thriving ??

I've had plants grow under a table lamp near the tank, not even that close LOL.

2 CO2 tanks I'm sure do help. If you ever want to go pressurized in know lots of folks sell paintball set ups.

Crypts are awesome.

 

[jetajockey]

I hated root tabs and found them to be a waste of money. Invest in a good substrate and it will feed ALL plants. Good light, CO2 and plants should take off.

The issue is lighting related primarily. Root tabs do serve a purpose, they aren't just snakeoil. But, they aren't going to save a system fraught with other issues as well.

 

[aquabeast]

what im saying is the plants are thriving, but the root tabs dont seem to be assisting to it.

 

[Coursair]

what im saying is the plants are thriving, but the root tabs dont seem to be assisting to it.

Hmm ok. My dramatic difference was my Chain Swords. Slow growth, no baby plants. I added Root Tabs and my Chain Swords starting putting out runners like mad !!! My Crypts grew better as well.

 

[jetajockey]

what im saying is the plants are thriving, but the root tabs dont seem to be assisting to it.

Well there is more to plant growth than just adding ferts. Lighting, co2, and ferts are all part of the equation. So no matter how well fertilized the plants are, they still may have their growth limited by their lighting or available co2. The general idea that I go by is to be sure that they have an ample supply of ferts at all times so that it is not one of the limiting factors. If someone adds ferts to their tank and growth takes off then the tank was deficient in something.

 

[aquabeast]

Good advice, im gonna try and find a double fixture light and maybe get two 40 watt T8 bulbs, would that make it any better?

 

[mohican]

As u can tell, everyone has a different opinion on what works b/c each tank is different. If ur plants are doing well without them, don't use them. If u feel u need them, use them. Compare this site to what plants need and you can determine if they are of any use.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlourishTabs.html

Some of Plant Needs:
Mn: 2%
FE: 7%
Zn: 0.4%
Cu: 0.1%
Bo: 1.3%
Mo: 0.06%
There's more but these were just some that I came across.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Hmm ok. My dramatic difference was my Chain Swords. Slow growth, no baby plants. I added Root Tabs and my Chain Swords starting putting out runners like mad !!! My Crypts grew better as well.

I have the same results. I decided not to add root tabs for a year and my mini chain swords and stems suffered. That's with fluorite as my substrate. I believe in root tabs. They make a noticeable difference for my stem, crypt, and ground cover plants. I use flourish root tabs and not DIY tabs.

 

[aquabeast]

i use the flourish tabs too. yeah, i agree with mohican, everyones aquarium is different, and with that comes different results.