Plant in Pot, Fertilizer, safe?

[deranged chipmunk]

i thought it might be a taro as well, but it was bought at a pet store, if i am reading correctly. which would lean me more towards a lotus. taro isn't very popular in the pond trade here. it being in a mesh pot with rockwool is also an indicator to me that it's an aquatic, or hydroponically grown. besides, taro, larger syngoniums, and some lotuses share a very similar leaf pattern and structure.

[flipper]

Bill, not trying to be a wise crack but how do you feel about these reviews on Amazon. I also mentioned it again because you spell it fluorite and the product on amazon spells it "flourite" so want to make sure were talking about the same thing. Anyways, I've read so much about people putting flourite as gravel in tanks and having plants grow great from it. Maybe I'm confusing what your saying and if you will what is a CEC rating?

"Seachem's fluorite is an iron rich, clay, stand-alone substrate. You plant your plants in it immediately, and let 'em grow! It's excellent for both hydroponics and aquariums. You don't need to add any laterite or gravel or anything at all. It works best if it's not mixed with anything else such as soil, peat, or sand (You can of course place a thin layer of decorative gravel of your color choice on top if you wish). It never needs replacing. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for. My plants are lush"

'I have seen reviews on this site suggesting a heavy wash. Might as well throw your money in the garbage. This is a nutrient rich laterite gravel. That means it is made of clay and dirt. This is for planted tanks, to feed the roots of soi rooting plants like swords."

"This is a must have for planted aquariums. I have a 45 gallon and used two bags of this as my top layer and I haven't had to use any supplements for my plants"

[deranged chipmunk]

No worries. the fluorite I used was basically crushed pumice. In fact, the red even looks like gravel. The difference in spelling, btw, was apple's demonic autocorrect's fault! Lol

Now, I admit, I haven't used flourite in about 5 years, so they may have changed it. The ones I remember being clay based were fluval's stratums (shrimp stratum and plant stratum), red sea's florabase, and all the ada subs.

A CEC (cation exchange capacity) is the ability to retain nutrients in the substrate for the the plants to feed on. Gravel has too low a rating (there are no actual ratings, I just use the word to make it a bit easier to understand), the granules are too large, so nutrients flow through it too easily. Play sand, the granules are so small, that barely any nutrients get through to the roots of the plants. The specialty substrates are the right sizes to retain nutrients for the plants. Now. This is really only important when you are adding nutrients to the water, such as seachem's flourish, or dry, powdered fertilizers. When you run a dirt tank (crude, but that's really what it is), the CEC really doesn't matter because the plants are feeding directly from the soil under whatever cap you so choose. When I set up any planted aquarium/paludarium, I always use a peat moss base, with a play sand cap. I also grow a lot of heavy root feeders, such as cryptocoryne species. Some aquatics feed mainly through the roots, but others, like anubias, Java ferns and rotalas, feed primarily via their leaves.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[Tongue Flicker]

The plant to me looks like it probably is one of the Taro varieties eg Colocasia Taro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Taro plants have large elephant shaped ears like that so is also commonly called "elephant ears".

I have planted a black stemmed Taro (the green stem wild growing variety is more common in my bog area of my garden and if I was currently able to post a picture of it, you'd see the plant other then the stem colour looks the same. This kind of plant which can be growth in an aquatic area or in a normal garden, would get too big for aquariums and outside in an water area, it can become invasive.

If it is a Taro, taro plants when disturbed can release toxins harmful to native wildlife according to this article Removal of Wild Taro (Colocasia esculenta) . The sap is toxic (Thou I have mine in my bog area outside, due to it being a toxin releasing plant, I wouldnt put it into the pond itself. When I get my garden more set up, I plan to move it out of the bog/frog area as its very likely not to be good for frogs seeing it is harmful to "wildlife" and can be harmful to us too.. if handling it in a garden, pulling it out, gloves should be worn.. thou this plant can be eatten too if cooked right).

Most taro varieties have velvety, waterproof leaves that looks somewhat dusty or powdery and is gonna be itchy if you come in contact with it. The plant above has fleshier and glossy leaves.

From my Asian vacation, i saw a lot of fish ponds margined with plantations of taro. I dont think the catfishes and gouramis will dying anytime soon there. Cute sight btw, anyways from that leaf size, it is doubtful to get a small tuber based on the pot. If it is indeed taro.

[deranged chipmunk]

oh, i just realized, i never answered about whether it is good to use or not. if they changed flourite to a more stratum style substrate, i wouldn't hesitate to use it. i have used both the fluval stratums, the red sea that i mentioned and a few ada substrates. i like the fluval stratums and the red sea. the ada, i thought were over rated and not worth the cycling times of about 6 weeks, when following ada's instruction. it goes through massive ammonia spikes before it finally stabilizes.

i really need to brush up on my planted aquarium knowledge, i didn't know they reformulated flourite, so i am glad you were persistent about it

[flipper]

Thank you, I didn't know thats why I wanted a second opinion. You still very might be right. I asked these questions on the Amazon page and this is what I got.

Q: Is this Chemically Inert. Will this provide any nutrients. Can I use Flourite alone for my plants to survive

A: There is supposed to be nutrients. I planted a variety of plants that are just out of control in my tank. I uprooted several plants about a week later and found many of the roots on plants well over 10" long (They were appx. 2"-3" when planted).

A: Well,chemically speaking, the term ( inert) is to make reference to substances that don't have a chemical reaction in presence of others.
Yes, definitely, this will help your plants in the growing process.

I just asked the guy what he meant by the first answer. There is supposed to be nutrients meaning you have to add nutrients or theirs nutrients already in the substrate. I'll keep you posted.