[APD] Re:Re: clay balls or jelly balls

["Robert H" <robertph3 at comcast_net>]

>>Very common in clayfertilized aquariums because of the
convection shooting up iron in the water column. Clay contains
double amount of Iron compared to Potassium, and our
plants uptake is 200 times more of Potassium than Iron.
Not that ideal if you ask me.<<

I wasn't aware that clay typically had any significant amount of potassium.
Although the make up of clay can vary greatly as there are many types of
clay, I do not think potassium is usually present. The iron in clay is also
oxidized, which plants and algae have difficulty using until it becomes
water soluble. Initially, I don't think a small dust cloud would have much
affect.

>>BTDT. As I said. Dust-clouds all over the place. Never again.
I had to use my siphon directly at the spot where I was going
to remove a clay ball and *very* gently lift it up to not make
a really big cloud.
Perhaps you mean fired clay?<<

If I remember Steve's clay ball recipe correctly, he calls for "baking" your
balls in an oven. This takes care of severe clouding. Once several years ago
I experimented with using raw pottery clay. That created one big messy muddy
soup!
Using soil, not clay, has created the most immediate algae problems for me.
It is not the iron that is the problem, it is the organic properties of soil
and the nitrogen and P it contains.

Making marble size clay balls is easy as described on Steve's WEB site, and
it is no more dangerous than using the laterite balls made famous by Dupla.
Laterite has even more iron than clay, and little else other than Aluminum
oxide. The messiest laterite I have ever used is Aquarium Pharm. First
Layer. It can be very dusty, but it has still never casued a major algae
outbreak for me.

Robert Paul Hudson
www.aquabotanic.com

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