Miracle-Gro Spikes safe with fish and shrimp?

[Sfuentes125]

Hi guys,
I read that Jobes plant spikes would benefit my plants but I couldn't locate them. All I could find are Miracle-Gro plant spikes which have .05% copper.
Will they be safe in aquarium if buried under plants were the fish and shrimp cannot reach them?

 

[Sfuentes125]

Was this question too stupid to answer?

wow no answers in almost 2 weeks. I'll try another site, mean while looking for tabs at petsmart.

 

[mfdrookie516]

not too stupid... i just don't think anyone has used them here. I certainly haven't. I use flourish tabs. I have seen people recommend osmocote frozen in to cubes, but never tried it myself.

 

[Sfuentes125]

Osmocote? hmmm. thanks Jonathan

wow i had not thought of that. my bottle is so old the ingredient list has peeled off. I'll look online for osmocote, see what it says. my biggest concern are my glass shrimp. They are so big now LOL.... 1 inch!

 

[mfdrookie516]

crepe and jetajockey have both said they use osmocote. No personal experience with it myself. I just use SeaChem Flourish tabs here and there.

 

[meegosh]

Copper and inverts is not a good mix. I would stick with tabs if it were me. What type of plants do you have? Unless you have heavy root feeders it may not even be needed.

 

[Crepe]

Use osmocote PLUS regular osmocote is pretty useless. Anyways, it works but I suggest using it sparingly otherwise you'll be dealing with an excess of nitrates for a few months.

 

[jetajockey]

it was only about a week. Sorry I didn't see this thread till now. I use csm+b (and a ton of others do also) and it has copper in it also. Most micro mixes do. That being said, I have no experience with miracle gro plant spikes. Osmocote does work, and has an extremely slow release. However the regular osmocote doesn't have micros in it. Osmocote PLUS does, but then you run into the copper thing again.

Regular osmocote is far from useless, it has the three major macronutrients in it.

I make my own root tabs now, because I'm partial to using red clay and getting a comprehensive tab, and don't like paying the ridiculous price they charge for root tabs.

 

[Crepe]

Regular osmocote is useless in that it is an incomplete supplement. Without the trace elements, especially iron, osmocote is no different from using cheap API root tabs or just leaving your gravel really dirty.

 

[Batt4Christ]

I make my own root tabs now, because I'm partial to using red clay and getting a comprehensive tab, and don't like paying the ridiculous price they charge for root tabs.

Care to share your recipe/method?

 

[jetajockey]

Regular osmocote is useless in that it is an incomplete supplement. Without the trace elements, especially iron, osmocote is no different from using cheap API root tabs or just leaving your gravel really dirty.

I don't really think that basic osmocote is comparable to dirty gravel. If it is, then lots of aquarists are wasting their time and money on adding macros to their substrate. Heavily planted and/or higher light tanks need more supplementation than fish waste, for sure.

That being said I prefer a comprehensive root tab also, just to make sure all my bases are covered.

Care to share your recipe/method?

Yeah it's not a big secret or anything.

This is the percentages:
Iron rich red clay powder: 48%
CSM+Boron (micronutrient mix): 32%
Magnesium Sulfate (mgso4+7h20) 8%
Potassium Sulfate (k2so4) 8%
Potassium Nitrate (kno3) 4%

mix well, add enough water to form a putty consistency, and mold/cut to shape and let it dry. I sun bake mine.

 

[Aspencer]

Thank you too jettajockey