# Rockwool and airating roots



## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

I think I have everything else I need and I am at a point I can make my emersed culture except this. 

I know roots need air to thrive and breath. Is there any reason why a setup can't provide the needed airation by simple hooking up a couple fine airstones to airate the water? Wouldn't this allow for a completely wet setup and no draining to provide air to the roots, even through rockwool?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I have tried using rockwool in a non draining setup a couple years ago. The results were not pretty. The wetness of the rockwool will cause slime algae on every part exposed to light.










You can see what I mean by the top left pot.

This slime algae will suffocate and eventually kill the plant.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Exposed to light; and air as in out of the water or was it any part that was hit by light at all? ? That is not promissing to what I planned to do. I wonder if places like tropica use an algaecide when they grow in rockwool? Who knows but thanks for the heads up.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Out of water and hit by light. If it is underwater, it will just turn green from green spot algae. Slime algae / BGA / Cyano bacteria is what build up on the rockwool when the rockwool is exposed to air and light in a wet environment. 

Bascially, what causes the BGA is lack of O2. The roots usually have a hard time establishing in rockwool sitting in a pool of water. When the roots rot off, O2 cannot be pump into the rockwool via roots. This causes the rockwool to get cover in BGA. BGA then cover the growing point of the plant and kill the plant. Even if BGA doesn't get to the plant first, the non established plant will eventually die due to lack of nutrients up take. 

If I remember correctly, Tropica uses a flood system where there is a drying period between feeding/watering.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Well I could try that. At setup I mix all the water with all the fertilizers, wet the culture, let it sit for 36 hours and drain it. Let it dry to the point the rockwool seems to have started to dry then do it agian. 

It soulds like I need to go with a setup like yours only 2 trays to start with. The rockwool have worked out for my aquarium and has allowed some rosetta sword to get roots instead of floating. I will look it up again but you use flourite and red stone if I remember right.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Ok, rockwoll isn't such a good idea, especially for the beginner. It looks like perilite, fluorite and onyx sand or onyx gravel are the way to go. Many more nutrients and much easier to work with than rockwool. I will try rockwool in a very small scale just to see if I can get it to work just because I have it and it is 1/10th the price of the others but I will see if I can find the better media because I really want this to work. Thanks again EDGE for all the help and useful information to steer me in the right direction.


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