nutrients?

[Evan Keller]

i finished my first viv about 4 weeks ago and i didn't really think of this untill now. will the expanding brick substrate be enough to keep my plants alive or will i need to add something to it/my water to enhance the soils mineral/nutrient value. If it helps i have 2 bromeliads, a lemon fern, 2 air plants, something labeled as a jungle plant?, and some creeping fig, as well as most of the ground covered in native mosses. I'll post pics later.

[matt020593]

You could add some plant food you can get it from garden centres.
Not sure though.

[Dryn]

DO NOT ADD PLANT FOOD FROM REGULAR GARDEN CENTERS!!! All of those foods are made for terrestrial plants that need high concentration because most of it washes away. If you use those foods dilute it to like 10:1 or even more. The formulae will be way off anyway. There are many, very good fertilizers out there for aquatic plants. Pick one of those. SeaChem's Flourish is what I use. There are many different kinds out there too, but any "complete" formula will work well. If anything, dilute that out too, about 50%. Remember to spray the plants themselves and not the animals, b/c they will not appreciate it. If your leaves completely dry out between water cycles only wet the roots and lower stems with the mixture because the leaves may burn if the fertilizers dry out on them. I hope this helps you and anyone else who reads it.

[Evan Keller]

After making this topic my viv seemed to explode with growth, but thanks for the posts I'll try the aquatic fertilizers.