Reddit reviews Seachem Flourish Tabs Growth Supplement - Aquatic Plant Stimulant 10 ct

Thank you very much! I picked up these from the Petsmart near me. I live in a smallish city, so I only have petsmart, petco, and the internet to choose from.

I know these have copper in them and that's not good for shrimp, but I already had the tabs in the tank when I got the shrimp. I'm wondering if the copper content is so low that it isn't too detrimental to them, because they don't see to be bothered by it so far. Fingers crossed.

Sand should be fine - you'd just need to get root tabs to place directly below the plants, since most of them are root feeders. You can either buy commercial root tabs like the ones linked, or make DIY Clay Root Tabs

Either way, you'll need to add some sort of root tab to your substrate for the plants. Lots of "low-tech" planted tanks use normal sand, so you'll be okay with that substrate.

These babies are what you want. They have done wonders for two of my sand/gravel substrate tanks. All stem plants are bright red or deep green and growing surprisingly quickly. I also dose flourish excel every other day.

Definitely! I don't do co2. I'm pretty low tech. Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count

This is my first jarrarium, so I followed what best practices I could find through Reddit as well as the recommended Walstad PDF. Since this is my first time, I figured it was best to not analyze every single detail and just get a jar going. Best to learn from experience!

The night before I soaked the potting mix in water and attempted to clear as many of the twigs and sticks as possible. It was a bit difficult since I didn't have a hose, but it still worked. I let that mixture sit overnight. To start the jarrarium, I placed roughly 1 1/2 inches of soil lightly patted at the bottom of the jar with 2 root tabs to hopefully give the plants a good start to the tank. I'm unsure whether or not the root tabs were absolutely necessary, so I'd like to hear any thoughts on this and if others have done it or not. Hopefully this soil was close enough to the recommended Walstad soil;however, I was unable to find any locally. Once the dirt was placed, I set the zebra rock in the tank and then began the planting process.


In regards to the plants, I wasn't complete sure what selection of plants I wanted so I went with a mix of background, mid-ground, and foreground plants. I knew I really wanted to go with Dwarf Hair grass, so the others were just plants I had seen before. I started the planting process by placing the Vals in the back of the jar, Anubias on the right, Dwarf lily on the middle-left, and Dwarf Hair grass on the front-left of the jar. Placement seems off right now and the jar seems a bit bare. I'll let the tank cycle before considering whether a rearrangement is in order or if other plants need to be added. I'm definitely interested in adding a floating plant, but I'll need to do research before moving forward. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Once the plants were in the dirt, I poured roughly 1 inch of gravel in the back, and 1 inch of sand in the front. Water was treated with SafeStart and Aquasafe before pouring it into the jar. The pictures in this post were taken roughly an hour after I poured the water, which allowed the sediment to settle. There is still dirt floating on top of the water so I'll have to do a few small (10%?) water changes in the next coming days.




Plants:



All plants were ordered through Planted Aquariums Central

Nymphaea stellata (Dwarf Lily Plant)

Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hair Grass)

Vallisneris spiralis

Anubias coffeefolia


Rock:


Zebra Rock from Petco


Hardware:


2 gallon Anchor Hocking Jar

https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-2-Gallon-Heritage-Hill/dp/B000KKI7GY

Natures care organic potting mix

https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-71678127-currently-Northeastern-Midwestern/dp/B00FVBQET4

Lamp

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-LA24118V-Get-it-Together-Adjustable-Task-Lamp-Rich-Black/16533259

Bulb (9W 5000K 800 Lumens LED Bulb)

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Equivalent-Daylight-Definition-Dimmable/dp/B01MAXUKMF

Petco Aquarium Sand and Gravel

Seachem Flourish Root Tabs

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG

Root tabs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000255QLG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1383061838&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Ferts that I use.
http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/pps-pro-fertilizer-package.html

Certainly. Petco and Petsmart carry them too but I’m not sure about prices. It will be fine for a couple weeks probably, but eventually it will want some food. I think maybe flourish tabs would be a good option.


Seachem Flourish Tabs Growth Supplement - Aquatic Plant Stimulant 10 ct https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CJRKDb6JV9A1E

Plant fertilizer in tablet/tab form. Pop them near the root base into the gravel. It feeds the plant. Lasts 3-4 months before you need to pop a new one in.

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480301975&sr=sr-1&keywords=flourish+tabs

Root tabs are root fertilizing tabs/pills that are recommended when using inert substrates like sand and gravel, since those don’t have the nutrients other products, like soil or Aquasoil, have.

Unfortunately a huge part of success in this hobby is patience, so there's going to be a bit of waiting before you can get fish in there. But it's definitely worth it!

Before you do anything, you'll need to test your tank for leaks, as someone has already mentioned. Then you'll need to decide where the tank is going in your home. Is it close enough to a faucet for water changes? Does it receive any direct sunlight from nearby windows? (This could cause algae issues later on.) You'll need a stand made specifically for an aquarium (craigslist is good for this, occasionally pet stores will have decent online sales as well). A gallon of water weighs ~8 lbs, so once your tank is full it will weigh about 500 lbs with substrate, most furniture can't handle that much weight unless it's solid wood.

It's been mentioned a few times on here, but make sure you have a great understanding of the nitrogen cycle before bringing any fish home. I've heard some pet store employees refer to "cycling" as "letting the dust settle from the gravel and the filter/heater run for a few days" but that is NOT cycling and will end up killing your fish from ammonia poisoning. As far as fish go, my only other advice would be never bring anything home without researching thoroughly (temperature, tank size requirements, full adult size, etc) Seriously Fish is a great resource for reading up on different species, it's usually my go-to.

For plants you can go as cheap/simple as pool filter sand with some root tabs or as fancy as plant-specific substrate (ada aquasoil, flourite, eco complete) with pressurized CO2. It really boils down to personal preference and how much money you want to spend. Plant species I've found especially difficult/impossible to kill are Amazon Swords, Anubias, and various Crypts. There are many more "beginner" plants, but those have all worked/looked best for me personally. Petsmart will occasionally have some really good markdowns on their tissue cultured plants (the ones in the packaging on the shelf) and I've had a lot of success with those, even when they're half-dead.

Sorry for the wall of text, I hope it was of at least a little help! This subreddit has also helped me tremendously, especially the links in the sidebar like this one. Good luck, and make sure to show us a picture once you get it up and running!

Well, they’re root feeder plants, so you will either need a plant specific substrate, or root tabs Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dQ-ZAbXG42HWD

I personally have one with just sand substrate with root tabs and it’s doing amazing https://imgur.com/gallery/49pX9

I just have an led light that came with a shitty like starter pack aquarium thing and all my plants are doing great. Here are some plants I recommend;

Amazon sword
Anubias
Java fern
Java moss
Hornwort

These are all low light plants and only the amazon sword feeds from the roots, so all the others you could either plant them in regular substrate (gravel or sand) or attach them to something or let them float. Btw tho anubias is a great plant but it has like a kind of bar/divider thing in between the roots and the stems that’s called a rhyzome. If you plant anubias, you have to keep the rhyzome above the substrate.

Basically fertilizer tablets that you bury beneath the substrate to provide nutrients for plants when you have an inert substrate like sand or gravel.

There are several commercially available types, (I personally prefer seachem flourish tabs ) or many people make their own by filling gel caps with osmocote +

http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345646737&sr=8-1&keywords=seachem+root+tabs


Basically they are fertilizer for your plants that get nutrients from their root systems. If you use substrates like pool filter sand, plain aquarium gravel, you can use these to help your plant get more nutrients easier and survive. But with you having flourite I don't think you need to spend the extra money on them.

Very simple really. You just poke the tab deep into the substrate every couple of months. I'm really not trying to pump you Seachem products but their fert. tabs are pretty good and I use them in my own tank. This is for any plant that you have actually planted. For floaters you'll need to sub with a few drops of liquid ferts.
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453098468&sr=8-1&keywords=freshwater+plant+fertilizer

There are, naturally, many more products to use for ferts. Some much better and more expensive, but I have found that these work well and are on sale quite often. A bag or two will last me a year. :)

Flourish Tabs are the common one but you are just looking for a root feeder tab.

The moss balls will be fine next to the sand.

Just little tabs (think like mentos size) of fertilizer you place in substrate once of month that contains most nutrients plants need!

https://www.amazon.com/API-Root-Tabs-Count-Ounces/dp/B003OYMOWQ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=psdc_2975478011_t1_B003OYMOWQ

Hey! Some other people asked about the air pump and fertilizer, but the root tabs are the the Seachem Flourish Tabs (these ones). There are five left. These are the scissors and tongs I have. Let me know if you're still interested!

how do you pre-fertilizing the soil?

Do I just throw in the Osmocote Plus, then Amazonia? is the root tabs optional? I was looking at this Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count. Does the Root tabs go on top?

Also, I was looking into the dry start method which seems like it would be a little easier for myself, what are your thoughts on this?

Thanks for being such a big help and having great advice for a noob like myself!

Nice work. Anubias is perfect - I keep it in my betta tank and he loves it. A few suggestions, though, to make it easier. Take some of the filter material from your current tank and put it in the new filter. If you do that, you have an instant cycle. One suggestion with the live plants is to pick up "Root Tabs." They will provide nutrients to the plants to promote strong root growth. I'd also suggest a liquid fertilizer like Seachem Flourish if you want optimal growth (nice looking plants!).

Also, driftwood is absolutely great. You will have "tannins" leaching into the water from the wood for awhile (essentially brown proteins without getting too much into the biology of it). They aren't harmful to the fish, but can make the water a dark, almost tea color. To deal with this, just change the carbon in your filter more frequently and do more frequent water changes.

That's a good gravel but it will be hard to carpet small plants in because of the size of the pebbles. So I'd suggest mixing a smaller more nutritious substrate in the areas you want to put your smallest plants. like Flourite
and also bury some fertilizer tabs

A few thoughts:

• Pick up a timer for your light. It'll give the tank a regular light cycle every day of the week without you having to do anything for <$10 (probably cheaper at a local store than Amazon).
  
• A lot of algae means there's a lot of nutrients in the tank your plants are unable to use. In the case of the dwarf baby tears, they probably need more CO2 than is available in the water column; if they don't have enough CO2, it doesn't matter how many other ferts you dose -- CO2 will be a bottleneck for its photosynthesis and it's going to struggle; meanwhile then the algae will happily use those extra ferts. Keeping up your Flourish Excel would help this situation if you didn't want to go all out and inject carbon. IIRC the correct dose for Excel for your size tank would be about 1ml every day. Flourish should only be dosed once or twice a week; I can't speak to Iron. Simply take whatever the recommended dose on the label is and divide it to match your tank. Example: if label says 5 ml per 50 gals; that's 1 ml per 10 gals, or 0.5 ml for 5 gals. I use graduated eyedroppers to dose my nano tanks.
  
• I think your substrate looks fine for plants (because you're not trying to plant in the sand). If it's not a fertilized substrate, consider getting some root tabs like /u/thefishnoob suggested.
  
• The dwarf baby tears also probably needs more light -- consider getting a higher-output fixture, or add a second of the one you already have. (But wait until after you knock down your algae.)
  
• Another tactic when it comes to knocking down algae can be reducing your photoperiod -- again something a timer can come in handy for.

Gotcha, thanks! Would this one be good, you think? https://theplantguy.ca/collections/substrate-1/products/plantguys-slow-release-substrate-fertilizer-50-100-or-200-tabs-free-shipping

Comparing it to, say API Root Tabs or Seachem root tabs, it's got a much higher percentage of N, P & K.

https://www.amazon.ca/API-Freshwater-Aquarium-Fertilizer-0-4-Ounce/dp/B003OYMOWQ

https://www.amazon.ca/Seachem-67105050-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/

Get some root tabs.

IMO unless you have ada aqua soil (or something similar) or capped potting soil, the substrate doesn't have enough nutrients for root feeders.