Free fert for planted tanks

[Beachgrove]

I have been reading through a lot of your posts on fertilizing planted tanks and see a lot of you guys spend an awful lot of money on products which may not be needed. (not an expert but have had experience)

I used to have a 5ft x 2ft x 2ft tank which was heavily planted. I used to get rabbit dung and let it dry out then pop a bit into the gravel at each plant. I had stunning growth and no water problems what so ever. My substrate was lightly crushed washed coal which made the plants and the fish stand out perfectly. ( my opinion )

Has anyone ever tried this with the same outcome at such a little cost? (pair of marygolds for the ocd types required)

 

[meegosh]

Never heard of it or tried it myself. I would be a little hesitant putting rabbit droppings in the tank. How do you ensure that it is disease and bacteria free? I guess drying it out would eliminate some.

 

[BillD]

Rabbit pellets would not harbor fish diseases and any form of manure would have some bacteria. Really no different than using sheep or cow manure from the garden centre.

 

[Aquarium_Lover04]

My friend did that on her tank with GREAT results!! She dried it out for at least 2 weeks before use though

 

[Beachgrove]

Good to hear others have tried this method of fert. Was going to say that I didn't think there was any diseases which would cross over. I understand the fear of bacteria but don't think there is a high chance of complications.

 

[aqua_chem]

I have two concerns with this method. First, because planted tanks are all about balance, I would ne hesitant to give up the high degree of control that dry ferts give me. Second, this method would almost definitely introduce organics into the tank which have a multitude of undesirable secondary effects.

This is all assuming ammonia isn't a problem (which it may or may not be).

 

[epiphysis]

The other thing is, you'll have the extra cost of keeping and maintaining a rabbit for the sole purpose of manure. Unless you are lucky enough to have a neighbour you can get some of.

But I have heard of this on another forum as well as some local guys here that has done it with good results.

 

[Beachgrove]

Rabbits are also wild animals and very abundant as they breed like em guppies. All you would need to do is walk to a field and pick plenty, sheep dung works well to as they are herbivores also they produce handy pellet dung.

 

[jetajockey]

I agree with aqua on this. I don't see the need for using dung. When dealing with aquaria, it's important to try to control and know what is going in the tank if you can help it. Dry ferts are cheap and abundant, ~$20 of macros and micros is enough to last most aquarists for years. The other bonus is the ability to adjust levels of each fert as needed.

Dung has been used as a fertilizer for who knows how long, and it still is because it's great, but I don't think it has a place in a modern home aquarium. The garden outside and the planted tank inside are similar in some ways, but still very different.
Algae is a common issue in planted tanks and not a concern for a garden, so it's something to consider when adding supplements to a tank.

In an aquarium, the other inhabitants are forced to live in the environment that we create. Because of that, it's important to control/maintain safe levels of nitrates, for example.

One other cheap alternative is the mineralized topsoil method, I've used this extensively and it works well. And another is the Walstad method (NPT/potting soil method).


Overall I just don't see why any manure would be used when we have better things available, plus most people probably don't want to handle manure if there is a simpler and more constructive alternative.