A while back I scored some aquarium plants (3 in total) free from a local fish keeper and I never thought about asking what they were. Here I'm thinking, just throw them in the tank and all is sweet.
This is far from the truth, while 1 of the plants seems to be OK the other 2 are not doing so well.
Now I have been using these 2 liquid fertilizers for while and they work well with the floating plants but are having no effect on 2 of the new plants. It was time to do some research.
These 2 plants are fed through their root system.
Which is done in 2 ways. Install substrate with fertilizer already in it (which I don't have) or embed root tabs into your inert substrate. I chose the latter.
The first thing I did was find 2 suitable containers to house the plants, mini terracotta pots came to mind but I found these ramekins in an Op Shop which would work just as well.
Next was to purchase some root tabs and OMG they are not cheap. Like everything else to do with aquariums, most items are imported into New Zealand. Research time once again !
Root Tabs DIY.
I was happy to see this is possible and there are many videos on YouTube of fishkeepers making their own root tabs.
Now I'm thinking, what are the chances I can obtain all the materials (only 2) here in New Zealand? YES !!! who knew !!!
So using PreSearch (my preferred browser search engine) I looked up gelatine capsules and found this site https://vitahealth.co.nz/. I have no idea about sizing so I picked Size 0 and order a 250 pack.
As for the fertilizer shown in the videos, it is highly unlikely that particular brand would be available here in New Zealand. Once again I was wrong,
Here at https://www.bunnings.co.nz/ there are quite a few brands of fertilizers I could've used as long as they are of granular type, but for now, I will go with what I have seen in the videos.
Making up the root tabs seems simple enough. Put fertiliser granules inside capsules, and poke a hole in each end before inserting them into the substrate. And from the video's it seems these root tabs are good for 1-2 months before they require replacement. Time and experience would tell.
This was a fun little purposeful DIY Project to put together, and only time will tell how successful it turns out to be.
I am also aware of the dangers of too much fertilizer released into the water which will cause an ammonia spike, bad for the fish. So the next few weeks would be critical.
Another update (of course) is coming.
Photos/Video were taken with the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G Phone.
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