# Good and Inexpensive Fert?



## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Hello to all! I am going to be buying my 1st fert tomorrow for my low tec tank with Anubias, Aponogeton, and Marimo Ball as well as some plants to be added to my 2 gallon. I have proper lighting and PFS substrate with smooth gravel on top. What is a good fert that wont break the bank? It would need to last a while and be cost effective as well as not hurt Betta, Shrimp, Snails, or Cory Cats. Also, how would I go about using it?
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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

diy osmocote and red clay balls. working good for me.


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Will it affect pH or Hardness? And how often do I use it?
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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

it may lower your ph a bit.nominal. you need to put it as far into the soil as possible,and make sure its fully covered. i'd start out with just the red clay first. this helps to grow lovely red plants. i only add osmocote to my betta tank. it's under stocked. however, my goldfish tank is another story. just red clay in there. i really only use it once every couple of months. it helps to freeze the clay. flatten out ball,put into ice cube tray,fill with enough water to cover and freeze. this gives you a little more time to place it before it becomes mud.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

The cheapest ferts you will ever buy are dry ferts used for framing and stuff. You dose so little so you save tons of money. The problem is is you have to weigh out the ferts, so if you aren't good at algebra I wouldn't do it. Also you would need an accurate scale. The functional difference between liquid and dry is that liquid is just dry ferts watered down so you pay for water. Fine fore small tanks, but a bigger tank it would become pretty expensive.


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks for the info yall. Wish I could have bought one yall suggested, but they only had one in stock! Made by API, so I hope it's as good as their other products. :-?
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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Seachem Flourish has done a great job for me and you have to add so little that it lasts a long time.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

flourish is primarily micro nutrients. you should also dose macro from time to time.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

aokashi said:


> flourish is primarily micro nutrients. you should also dose macro from time to time.



Is there an equivalent to Flourish for macro nutrients? Or do you have to buy them all separately? I only have Flourish for my tank and am wondering if I should be dosing with something else too?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I think flourish sells macros(NPK). I'm not sure in what form... you will have to google that. I get mine from a member of the local aquarium society, who mixes his own from dry ferts.


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

kfryman said:


> The functional difference between liquid and dry is that liquid is just dry ferts watered down so you pay for water. Fine fore small tanks, but a bigger tank it would become pretty expensive.


There is a much larger difference than that. Liquid ferts are great for stem plants because they can pull their nutrients directly from the water column; other plants, like amazon swords, prefer root tabs because they pull their nutrients from the substrate. Also, I don't see the relationship between tank size and fert solution volume when you're making your own. I can prepare my solution so that I'm dosing 5mL into a 5g tank, or I can make it more concentrated so that I'm still only dosing 5mL in a 100g tank.


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## mld02004 (Jan 4, 2013)

I use tetra FloraPride. It's fairly cheap and seems to work well for me.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

i believe the dry ferts kfryman is referring to are usually dissolved in water and dosed directly in the water column....
you certainly pay a lot more when buying a fert solution from seachem as opposed to mixing your own ferts.


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