Newbie on plants need advice

[candygirl415]

I will be getting two packages this week with a variety of single stems, strands, ect. of a variety of plants. Java moss, hornwort, wisteria, flame moss, willow hygro, bacopa carolina, gisnt willow moss, and 4 dwarf sags. I have a question on the rooted ones. I will be getting a chunk of dried red clay from a pottery maker. I am making little pots from bottoms of water bottles as I don't want to stir up my gravel to put clay down underneath. I'm going to crush the clay and mix it with something to put in bottom of my little pots before adding plant roots and then gravel. I'm very low tech, not doing co2 or fertilizers. My question is what can I mix the clay with? I don't want to use top soil or any kind of dirt. Should I just mix it with some gravel? Or mix it with some peat moss? I have an area outside that used to have a pool. If I scooped up some leftover sand, boiled it to clean it, would that mix well for my plants? What about some ground up charcoal? I want to do what will help the most without getting into chemicals or fertilizers and I don't want to deal with dirt. Any advice?

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[wildroseofky]

Plants do not do well in clay. It is too dense for the roots to grow and get oxygen. You would be better off putting the sand in the pots. Even just putting fine gravel in them would be better than clay. Boiling the sand or cooking it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees will get rid of anything in it. Pet moss would also work but you need to soak it in water before using it or it will float up even through the gravel.

 

[Fresh2o]

Here's a discussion about clay from last month.
"Which is better, diy dirt mix or prepackage aquarium substrate?" http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317049
Years ago I used laterite clay for a planted tank for its rich iron content. It is usually mixed with gravel.


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[candygirl415]

Oh I didn't intend to put the roots IN the clay. I am mixing it with something and putting in it the very bottom of my little pot, some gravel, roots, and more gravel. The roots will be able to grow through the gravel, or I may do plain sand on top the the mix for the roots to grow through. I know to poke holes throughout for water flow and root expansion if needed. The clay mix is under for the added iron. Was just wondering what would be more beneficial. Does peat moss add anything for the plants?

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[jetajockey]

The addition of clay is fine and adds CEC which is a good thing. The amount of iron that you get out of clay is fairly minimal since it's a relatively slow acting process. But in a low tech tank it could be good enough. Peat can be beneficial as well, but honestly if you are going to the trouble then you might as well go with an organic dirt mix. Fish poop alone isn't going to keep the plants going over the long term and if you aren't dosing ferts in any way then you really should consider it.

 

[candygirl415]

I'm just not keen on the idea of dirt and any possible mess. They way my frogs dive down into the substrate, I just know i'll be dealing with it. I think I may do some tabs to start out with. I wanna give my plants a boost on growing to fill out a little, but then slow it down. I don't want a fully planted tank. Just enough to look pretty, protect baby shrimp, and make my frogs happier. I've just read so many different things its hard to tell what's right, what works, which method is best.

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[candygirl415]

Btw what is CEC?

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[candygirl415]

I have some osmocote slow release fertilizer pellets leftover from my garden and flower baskets. Would I be able to use these in my aquarium under the roots? Is there any ingredient in fertilizers for outdoor plants that I have to watch out for?

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[jetajockey]

CEC is cation exchange capacity, basically the ability of a material to hold nutrients for plant roots to use.

Osmocote works fine, however it does utilize ammoniacal nitrogen, so use it modestly because it can give your tank an ammonia spike.

The root tab (osmocote works for this) method in basic sand or gravel would be easier to deal with I think. Clay, dirt, etc, will all cloud up your tank if you have something digging. A clay based root tab will as well, but at least it will be less of an issue as it would be if an entire tank were covered in clay or dirt.

 

[candygirl415]

I think I will try clay/sand, a cpl little osmocote beads, more sand topped with little bit of gravel. My frogs don't really dig so much as dive nose first or try to shove their noses down. This will only be for 6 individual stems, but i'll be sparing as to avoid a major spike. I plan on quarantine the plants for a cpl days in an empty 3 gallon tank after I do an alum dip. Maybe that will avoid any spike. How many days will it spike?

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[jetajockey]

I would just test daily for a couple of days and then if it all looks ok I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[candygirl415]

I'm going to try some soil with the clay. I have some soaking in a bucket.

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[candygirl415]

I have my tank all set up and just waiting thru the cycling. I did put a layer of soil and clay mixed under sand. I kind of sectioned off the airstone with a small wall of flat rocks, mainly for the purpose of making sure I didn't plant anything too close to it. I am going to look into getting a co2 additive to use when my plants look like they need it. I'm only going to use the airstone briefly for my frogs to play. Will I have success with my plants this way? They are all beginner easy plants.

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[jetajockey]

Sounds ok to me. Looking forward to pics.

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[candygirl415]

This is it so far. There's more stuff to be added as I transfer everyone and the rest of deco/plants today. New pics later. And apparently I'm getting 2 more different kinds of plants with cherries I ordered to up my population while waiting for breeding. I hope I can keep all these plants going!

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[Sk3lly]

Why dont you buy a small bag of specially formulated plant substrate to use in the pots?

Like an eco complete, ada amazonia or flourite


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[candygirl415]

Everything is all planted now, something's stayed in the plastic container and it got buried. I had to watch my budget with everything else I have purchased. I had miracle grow soil and osmocote from this summer. I found a pottery maker to give me some dried up red clay. I'm not too concerned. What grows, grows. Its for the cherries and babies cover from my frogs, and for my frogs health and comfort.

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