Osmocote Plus causing ammonia problems

[CorallineAlgae]

I put a sprinkling of Osmocote Plus at the bottom of my tank underneath a brand new substrate four days ago. I went very light, it wasn't even close to a single layer. Truly just a sprinkling. Ever since then my ammonia has been spiking. It started out above 4 and has taken 2-3 large water changes a day to keep just barely under 1ppm.

I wanted to be sure it was the Osmocote so last night I put about a teaspoon of It in a cup of water. I tested it for ammonia this morning and it was off the scale! Literally beyond what the test kit had a color for. It went through all the colors from yellow to dark green before ending up blue.

Has anybody else had issues using this product?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

So nobody has tested and found ammonia with Osmocote? This is hard to believe. Maybe it's a rare fluke.

 

[bigbanker]

It does have ammonia + nitrate in it. I use a ton of it in my tanks but have never had spikes.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I was very shocked to see it spike. Been using it for DIY root tabs for some time.

Another person on the forums is having the same issues with it at the moment. Nearly uncontrollable ammonia levels after putting it under his substrate and filling the tank.

 

[Rivercats]

I was very shocked to see it spike. Been using it for DIY root tabs for some time.

Another person on the forums is having the same issues with it at the moment. Nearly uncontrollable ammonia levels after putting it under his substrate and filling the tank.

I would think that's just an inital spike kind of like the spike of extra nutrients you get from organic soil (if not mineralized). All I can think of is WC's or maybe try using some ammonia chips in the filter. But I would think if you have enough plants in your tank they should take care of it. You could add some floating plants to help if you don't already have some (I can't remember).

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I would think that's just an inital spike kind of like the spike of extra nutrients you get from organic soil (if not mineralized). All I can think of is WC's or maybe try using some ammonia chips in the filter. But I would think if you have enough plants in your tank they should take care of it. You could add some floating plants to help if you don't already have some (I can't remember).

Thanks for the wise words. You're probably right about it being an initial spike similar to organic soil. I had the same idea and added white diamond ammonia chips to the filter as soon as i noticed the spike initially (it was 4+ppm after a water change). That was 4 days ago. I never thought I would need it but I keep the stuff on hand in case of an emergency. Ammonia is at 1ppm each morning and 2-3 water changes a day seems to keep it at about 0.5ppm.

I do remember seeing higher than normal nitrate levels after putting in DIY root tabs made from Osmocote+. I don't generally test for ammonia in my basic routine but I'm suspicious that the nitrate levels that arise after adding the DIY root tabs comes from converted ammonia that it leaches.

I'll still be using Osmocote+ because it works great for the plants but I'll feel much better about it once my Python water changer comes in. Two to three water changes a day with a bad back gets old very fast.

I don't think I'll use Osmocote on my tiny 5.5 gallon planted tank. I doubt it would be able to handle such a large amount of ammonia with a small HOB filter.

 

[Rivercats]

I think that would be a good idea not using it in that tiny of a tank. And I know what you mean about WC's without a changer... it sucks big time especially on large tanks.

 

[jetajockey]

Thats one of the drawbacks when using terrestrial ferts. Last time I read the labels it has a mix of nitrate and ammoniacal nitrogen.

Getting dry ferts both macro and micro isn't that expensive and you could avoid this as well as have more control over individual macros.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Thats one of the drawbacks when using terrestrial ferts. Last time I read the labels it has a mix of nitrate and ammoniacal nitrogen.

Getting dry ferts both macro and micro isn't that expensive and you could avoid this as well as have more control over individual macros.

I do use dry ferts (from GLA). I go with PPS-Pro dosing for all my water column feeding and I definitely agree that it's the best way to go.

Osmocote is used in the same way that root tabs are, as a root nutrient. The two ways people usually use it is first as the basis for DIY root tabs either put into caps or frozen in ice and shoved down into the substrate. The other popular way to use it is to lightly sprinkle it over the glass of a bare dry tank before adding the substrate. I just never see anything about the ammonia spikes that can happen after using it.

It's a definite risk when used when remodeling a tank (my case). If it's for a new tank I don't see any issue because you usually add ammonia anyway just to establish the bacteria in the filter. In an established tank it's not so fun. lol

 

[jetajockey]

I'm familiar with osmocote, I've used it both in tanks and gardens for a few years now. When it works right, it's supposed to have an ultra slow release, but as some have seen it doesn't always work that way.

I think it happens more often than reported but most don't even notice it.

When using a high cec substrate, dry dosing alone is plenty, the extra root supplement isn't really necessary.

One alternative I've gone to is diy root tabs. I think I posted the recipe on here a while back, but its basically just a dry macro/micro mix and clay powder.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Really? I need to search for that recipe. How are they working out for you?

This is great information by the way. I really do appreciate it. I wasn't aware that I didn't need to use root tabs or substrate ferts with Eco Complete. When I had Flourite my plants did ok without them but they did far better when and where I used them. It's just a reflex to use them now. Thank you for setting the record straight.

 

[jetajockey]

It's really just my opinion on the subject. It looks good on paper anyway. Cation-exchange capacity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some of the substrates I use (oil dri for example) work so well at sucking up nutrients out of the water, that I have to regularly dose ca/mg just to keep the GH up, sometimes every day or two, for the first few weeks/months.

The root tabs work fine, I often tailor them to the needs of my setup. I may end up packaging them or something similar in the future.