# Water column vs. root



## jcaxtell (Apr 5, 2011)

I was having some growth problems in my low-tech 60 gallon tank. By testing I found my water column to be almost without any iron. I have corrected the water column but now my question is should I also use some kind of root tab to treat the roots better. If so what is reccomended?
Thanks all


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

A couple of comments. First of all, if you set your tank up w/ a soil sub-layer, then you should not be having issues w/ iron (Fe); Fe is very abundant in soil and not very stable in the water column w/out a chelating agent (i.e. unless you bought either an Fe fertilizer or a fertilizer w/ Fe in in, you probably won't have much Fe in the water column). How did you set up your tank? Do you have pictures? What parameters did you test for? 

Second of all, feeding your plant via the substrate is easily done w/ commerically available roottabs like those from Seachem or Pfertz or w/ homemade roottabs made from osmocote.


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## jcaxtell (Apr 5, 2011)

JeffyFunk said:


> A couple of comments. First of all, if you set your tank up w/ a soil sub-layer, then you should not be having issues w/ iron (Fe); Fe is very abundant in soil and not very stable in the water column w/out a chelating agent (i.e. unless you bought either an Fe fertilizer or a fertilizer w/ Fe in in, you probably won't have much Fe in the water column). How did you set up your tank? Do you have pictures? What parameters did you test for?
> 
> Second of all, feeding your plant via the substrate is easily done w/ commerically available roottabs like those from Seachem or Pfertz or w/ homemade roottabs made from osmocote.


First off I never said anything about a soil sub-layer. I said that I had almost no Iron in the water coulmn and that I fixed the water column (yes! with a chelating agent )
What do you need pictures for? I always test all parameters that I am able to do with test kits NPK etc. All are good.
I though the question was pretty simple. Guess not


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

You said the tank was "low-tech" and I think he must have assumed you meant NPT style. The term "low tech" seems to be used interchangeably with NPT at times. NPT uses a soil substrate with a layer of gravel or sand overtop and doesn't usually require additional fertilizing. What he was saying was that _IF_ you had an iron rich substrate, it wouldn't show up when you test your water, so you might be lead to think your plants were iron deficient, even if they weren't.

Plants will get their nutrients from the substrate or water. Wherever the nutrients are available.

Certain plants like Echinodorus or Cryptocoryne are considered "root feeders" which respond very well to substrate dosing. But even these can thrive through water-column fertilization.

Popular fertilization routines for high-tech tanks ignore the substrate completely. Other methods (like NPT) focus almost exclusively on the substrate. So there is no dire need to provide your nutrients through both. Though some might favour substrate since nutrients 'locked' in the substrate are not available to algae. Others might favour the water-column approach because it's easier to add, remove, and measure nutrients.

If dosing iron to the water column does not resolve the problem, then iron either wasn't the problem, or wasn't the only problem. It wont be because the iron needs to be provided through the substrate instead. Hope that answers your question


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

First off if you are maintaining any testable amounts of fertilizers in your water column you need to do some more reading and make up your mind about how right or wrong that is.

First thing to know is that iron falls apart and becomes untestable really quickly. 

One of the first things to know as a general common sense knowledge is that chasing after chemical concentrations in the water column makes you work and maintain your tank in a tip-top shape. Some people have the time and patience to do that day in day out without dropping the ball. Once you slack off things go bad, guaranteed. And noone has a reasonable answer how to fix anything.

--Nikolay


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

Hah, Niko, you really ought to promote your dummy question threads more often. They can be quite inspiring and thought provoking to those of us living the micro/macro/50% change lifestyle


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## jeremy1 (May 6, 2007)

Using both is ideal. Try osmocote plus and freeze them in icecubes then place in substrate. I have noticed good results in my tank.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Jeremy, I am trying to collect information about the use of Osmocote in one place. Could you describe how you use it in this thread http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/79468-osmocote-thread.html?

Thank you!


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