# Lateritic Nodular Substrate



## essabee (Oct 11, 2006)

Where I live you cannot get custom substrate and any shipping cost is prohibitive. I have been using lateritic soil covered with river sand and planting screw vals, crytocorine, cabomba, ludwiga, wisterias etc. which have done well in the past.

I intend to use nodular laterite granules, grain size 2mm-5mm, as substrate. Can I grow plants on it? I have installed two 150W. 6500K MH, and two 150W. 8000K. MH on the roof, 22” above the water level. I have also installed a fan to blow across the water surface and ventilation. I am starting a DIY CO2 system. My aquarium is 72”X 36”X 24” high.

Laterite is notoriously low in Ca. P2O5, and S. Can I add some calcium phosphate and calcium sulphate to the lower portion of the substrata. The phosphate in Calcium Phosphate is soluble, should I use calcium metaphosphate, the phosphate is insoluble till acid action of the plant roots.

I am a gardener too, but on land you don’t worry about the excess fertiliser growing algae in the atmosphere and we are limited on land by the fact we cannot feed fertilisers to plants through their leaves at levels we can under water. 

My entire exercise is that I intend to grow some exotic varieties of your water plants. It will be a long learning process at this age, but then I have one advantage, I have lots of time on my hand.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

The substrate you described should work fine. It sounds as though it's similar to Seachem's Flourite. Do you have access to dry chemicals? This can be a good way to mix your own fertilizers.


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