Archivarium 2004

[Laskey]

If you are afraid that your plant substrate is declining in quality (nutrients are getting all used up), I read that you can try this:

Layer what you use for substrate into ice cube trays. This is easier with sandy/silty complete substrates like Dennerle's, which I use. If you also use peat, maybe chop it up finely so it can be distributed into the ice cube slots. Add water and freeze.

Then wherever you need to touch up your nutrient-rich substrate (wherever there's a plant, basically), insert an ice cube. Obviously, not many at once, because you wouldn't want to throw off your tank temp.

Sounded good to me and I might do it in 1/2 a year or so. What do you think? I know temp extremes can shock a plant, but we're not talking about a really long time before the ice cube would melt. Think how fast bloodworms thaw out in aquarium water. Plus, a healthy plant's roots are all over the tank, and new roots keep growing. Laskey

[Darkblade48]

I believe the same thing was done with laterite, but they were "laterite balls" instead