latterite

[dalbrecht]

I'm planning a seagrass tank, I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried adding latterite or rowaphos directly to the sandbed as a source of iron supplementation?

 

[Samala]

Howdy Dalbrecht! The trouble with laterite is that, if it gets exposed to the saltwater, you can expect some cloudy water that will practically never clear. When I tested it it seemed that saltwater sped up the process of liberating iron or other molecules from the laterite and I would get bright orange hazy tanks for weeks.

If you go for it pack the laterite at the very bottom of the tank and be careful when planting or pruning new plants in the future. I tried Schultz aquatic plant soil, Florabase, Fluorite. The dark colored (black) plant gravels in freshwater seem to be okay, Tom Barr has suggested using Seachem's Onyx sand in saltwater tanks before, there is also EcoComplete from Caribsea to consider.

>Sarah

 

[dalbrecht]

Here's another idea I've had. What about simply adding an iron based phosphate filter to the soil? I'm thinking of two little fishies phosban.

The problem with the shultz aquatic plant soil is that it's basically inert.

 

[Samala]

Welp, it might be basically inert next to phosban, but it worked wonders in my freshwater setups. Your idea is interesting.. I really dont know if I see any immediate pros/cons to its use. Might have to ask the chemistry board guys.

>Sarah

 

[dalbrecht]

Shultz is fuller's earth, A highly porous clay that's been kiln fired. The reason it works so well for plants is that it soaks up nutrients & water like a sponge. The material itself lends very little in the way of trace elements. I do agree that most plants love it. A few of my plants esp my (Kleiner bar swords) prefer silver sand & I love the look of silver sand but I use shultz for most of my smaller tanks.

I think I'll try the phosban trick on a FW tank first in a controlled experiment. Can you think of any FW species with unusually high iron demands?