Quote:
Originally Posted by Socalsam
I myself never use any kind of fertilizers. The fertilizer i get is from any bugs that die, Nematodes, Frog droppings and dead plant matter. Basically your tank is its own ecosystem. Springtails can be added to the tank and would break down any decaying or rotting plant matter.Plus depending on what kind of drainage you use, hydroton and leca(don't know if i spelled right  ) is good to use in a sense it holds moisture from the water it is in contact with.So when your frogs and all that other stuff starts doing their thing, the nutrients will leach down into the drainage area and with hydroton and leca it will absorb that and basically release it when you would do a water change. Plants roots will grow in the drainage layer so it is a good thing. It is similar to a hydroponic system. Just think of it this way, your walking in the Amazon Rain forest and you see an area thats so beautiful you scoop it up and put it in a tank. The Amazon doesn't use fertilizers and its thriving with plant growth so why mess with a good thing.  Hope this helps
Sam |
First I do not use any fertilizers in my tanks, chemical or organic, it was a question based on curiosity and not a lack of experience or knowledge in maintaining or understanding the replication of the dart frog environment nor the care of amphibians.
Sam, Listen, I appreciate the post and the info, but the question was Organic Fertilizers. Organic fertilizers do not use any chemicals what so ever. I use Organic soil in almost all my tanks with my plants and it does not hurt the tank what-so-ever or any of my frogs. You imply that I am using chemical fertilizers or asking about them, which the product I was mentioning has NO fertilizers in it what so ever. All it is is processed earth worms, dirt, and plants waste. I have seen the studies and emailed back and forth on this product. The specialists I did talk to said it would be safe to use in the tank with the frogs but they said that they did not want to say yes because they did not test this product with amphibians (No they do not use this product to test on animals. The studies prove that there is nothing in the product to hurt these animals, unless they are allergic to Earthworms, plant waste, etc. They do not want to be liable.) As I said no chemicals were used, as it is an Organic product, hence the meaning organic. yes I used the product on my own plants not in the terrarium and it worked well. Maybe I didn't explain that I did not eplain that in my last post and I apologize. Second I like to address the inaccurate information you have posted.
Snip- The Amazon doesn't use fertilizers and its thriving with plant growth so why mess with a good thing.
-end snip
The rain forest uses fertilizers everyday. Anything dead or anything that can decay is an Organic Fertilizer, and even "chemical" reactions can occur naturally that is a natural fertilizer. A lot of chemical fertilizers have an equivalency to many natural plant fertilizers out there we use everyday. In turn the ecosystems that we provide as well as the Rainforest have their own natural breakdown cycles providing Organic and chemical fertilizers. With all do respect, I understand how the natural process of breaking down waste in the the terrarium as well as the process of the natural order of the tank. The question was if anyone uses any Organic fertilizers what are they using, if any and why? I do appreciate the explanation, but I have been doing this for over 20 years and the question was more directed to if anyone uses organic fertilizers. I am not trying to be an @ss but if you read my posts I am not nor near a beginner in the amphibian hobby, but keep posting and keep advising as someone else might learn something.
Socaled: Thanks for the post. This is more of what I was looking for. I have seen and heard a lot of things and my curiosity was peeked when it jogged my memory of the bottle I saw and bought at Lowe's a year ago.
Knoxter: Thanks for the post as well. The links were good. I was curious to see what was out there and if anyone uses these products. I don't but it's all good.
I thought that if I brought this up that it would be a good post for beginners in this area. I know it will come up eventually. LOL I just thought I give it a head start. Thanks everyone for posting and I do hope more do express their feelings and notions.