# DIY fertilizer tabs



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

It has been suggested to me that one can use pure clay and mix with dry fertilizer making mud balls. Let them dry, then place under the substrate for direct fertilization of stem and rooted plants.
I would assume there are probably threads here-in re: this subject, but I thought I might just ask this here------Where does one buy pure clay for this purpose ?
Google sends me to info. about clay, but not to it's purchase.
Can anyone recommend where to buy it in a bagged form ? A local chain store or a Internet site ?
Any info. will be helpful !!!


----------



## CichPhreak (Feb 9, 2003)

I purchased mine at Michael's. It's called mexican pottery clay and was about $10 for a five pound box.


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey, Thanks so very much !!! I looked at their website today, but was not sure exactly what I was looking for. I found all the polymer clays for making pottery, but knew I needed clay that would dry out yet fall apart again when rehydrated with the fertilizers in it, once I bury it in the substrate near the root systems. This info, is invaluable to me and I will go to my local store, which we have one w/i 5 miles of my house, and check it out. Thank you so very very much !!! 
Anyone else with any suggestions ?


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

Ok, I just looked at Michaels on line and they have a clay called paper clay and one called modeling clay, both described as not needing to be fired to harden, but I do not find one labeled Mexican pottery clay. I will go by the store and ask, but if it is known under a different name, I would like to know that too if anyone knows, including you, CichPhreak.


----------



## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

The root tabs are something I've never bothered with. A few months of good fertilizing with a decent CEC substrate will pick up nutrients; turface is cheap, so is kitty litter. Some people give it a head start with a bit of osmocote under the substrate.


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

I do hate to sound ignorant, and having been a fish hobbyist for many years, but relatively new to the technological aspect of plant care, thus I need to ask this. What is CEC substrate and what is turface ?
I understand the idea of kitty liter or dirt under a gravel bed and even the idea of adding osmocote into the dirt, but I don't understand the rest of the advice. I appologize for my ignorance but I continue to need guidance. Philosophos or anyone else, please chime in here for me !
And Thanks Philosophos !


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

Ok, Turface is ball field dirt. Never used it in a tank. Would it be mixed with gravel, used alone, or put under a gravel bed ? Does it leach any minerals ?


----------



## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

CEC = Cation Exchange Capacity

It's basically the ability for the substrate to sequester nutrients that plants can use later.

Turface is meant for baseball fields, but it's basically hardened clay with good drainage and a high CEC. Lots of people use it in their tanks. You can use it alone, and as far as I know all it takes is a good rinse. It won't change your hardness, and I doubt if it would back-leech anything.

Just adding dirt will cause issues. You'll want mineralized soil if anything, otherwise you may find your substrate belching up gas and releasing tons of NH4. 

Ask as many questions as you can, read whatever you can get your hands on. No decent hobbyist should refuse you knowledge


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I use Turface and Soil Master Select (same products- sports fields stuff)
I do not bother rinsing. 

These products will hold the fertilizers that the plants need, so that as I have been dosing over the years they have taken in some fertilizers, so I can now be a little more casual about the dosing schedule. The plants will get the nutrients from the substrate. 

These are fairly new materials, and I remember reading in older aquarium plant books how to make fertilizer clay balls, but in those books someone just went out and found some high-clay soil. 

If your tank is already set up with sand or coarser substrate it will not sequester fertilizers. Larger particles have no cationic exchange capacity. Adding fertilizer tablets (purchased or DIY) is the way to get fertilizer into these substrates. I suppose you could try Osmocote, but be sure to get it down to the bottom of the substrate, or else it might get into the water column in such a large amount as to contribute to an algae problem. The same is true of other fertilizer tablets, too. Put them down deep so they dissolve slowly.


----------



## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

ree123,

Any basic red art clay is what you're looking for. Modeling clay from Michael's is the right stuff.

I think this is a good idea for Crypt/Sword/rosette tanks that are allowed to grow (not for propagation/trading) or for stem placements in young tanks you're sure you won't want to uproot. Else the risk of root tabs entering the water column isn't worth the rewards of reduced water column dosing. But YMMV, 'course.


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice you-all ! I may ask for more as I move forward with this new angle of my hobby. I now have several tanks with red and black Soil Master Select, and I have several dry DIY fert's on the way. My new project is coming together slowly but surely. -- Interesting story re: the SMS. It was not available locally to me but the John Deere store here found it available in R.I., @ another J.D. store. When he told them why he was ordering it for me, they knew all about it and said they sell it all the time to hobbyists for aquarium use. Funny how different parts of the country know all about its additional uses and others are oblivious to it. -- I'll keep you-all posted on my progress. No clay bought yet, but soon...


----------



## MrFishyBob (Oct 12, 2010)

If I were you I wouldn't use clay that is modeling clay or throwing clay. Those clay's, called Clay Bodies are artificially put together clays for certain purposes Ceramists use for art. Most of them have fired little bits inside them. While they may be ok because it can absorb nutrients I wouldn't think of them ideal to consistently over a long period of time put into your aquarium. Unless of course you don't mind taking out some of your substrate every once every two years but remember to do so. Those fired pieces will never be dissolved.

I would recommend you to put a Ball Clay or EPK into your aquarium because it is one of the main ingredients of clay and it is clay. However I'm not sure the nutrient content of it. It is often sold in big quantities and in powdered form. However makes me ask further questions.

What is the purpose of adding clay to those DIY plant tabs?
What nutrients if any are we looking for the clay to add to the DIY plant Tabs?


----------

