Re: [APD] plants crypts post by jamie j

[RMGTBTS at aol_com]

always interests me in how someone can grow just tons of plants without  
giving the plants any of the various trace elements needed for maintaining 
cell  integrity.
 
IMHO and from what i have read and heard, fish waste just does not  have 
all of these elements.  Most of these elements are needed by the fish  and 
just are not expelled.
 
We as humans in this country do have waste that is loaded with vitamins and 
 trace elements as we intake much greater quantities than are needed (or at 
 least a great percentage of the population does).
 
But where are these things coming from?  Could it be that the water  source 
perhaps has it in it?  If so i would hesitate to tell someone to not  dose 
the tank unless i knew that the conditions of my water was identical to  
theirs.
 
For example, those of us living in the Northeast can have water with Kh so  
low that it wont register on normal test kits available to hobbiest.  Rain  
water filtering thru granite doesn't pick up a lot of things. The water has 
 so little of ANYTHING that you had best add some Calcium and buffering or  
you will not have much success with most of any types of flora or  fauna.
 
Are the elements leaching from the substrate? Possible but correct me if i  
am wrong, this has been studied and while short term will work, long term 
not so  much and eventually the substrate must be replaced or the water 
column  fertilized.
 
I was never able to keep any plants alive for more than a month until i  
started adding ferts to the water column.  And that was in 4 states over 15  
years. Now i grow anything i want to. 
 
so please share with us how this miracle happens.  Sure would save me  a 
lot of money on ferts, CO2, etc.
 
rich green
milton ma
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