Question about Jobe's Fertalizer spikes

T

thebach

AC Members
Jan 23, 2005
75
0
0
I notice a lot of people say they use Jobe's fertalizer spikes. I was wondering what kind do you buy, and do you buy the small ones for small house plants? How many can you put in without hurting your fish?
 
I wouldn't use them. They contain ammonia and urea which are fine for house plants and such, but in a closed system like a tank, especially if fish are involved, ammonia and urea are not good as it can lead to problems of pollution, algae, etc.
 
The fertilizer spikes are OK to use, you just don't want them getting into the water column. If you constantly rearrange things or do a lot of transplanting stay away from them. If you can leave them alone after you put them in you're OK. Much cheaper than the seachem tabs as well.
 
Karnaaj said:
The fertilizer spikes are OK to use, you just don't want them getting into the water column. If you constantly rearrange things or do a lot of transplanting stay away from them. If you can leave them alone after you put them in you're OK. Much cheaper than the seachem tabs as well.
Click to expand...


From what I understand, the best to use are the fern and palm spikes if you can find them. They have a lower phosphate content. But definitely leave them alone if you use them. I moved a plant that I forgot had a jobes spike under it, and it was a disaster. :eek: The spike turns into slimey goo and breaks up if you disturb it. I ended up gravel-vaccing it, draining my tank down by about 50-60%. Did not have any major algae problems. But it was a big hassle.

I've abandoned the jobes idea. For one thing, I had a brush algae outbreak shortly after trying it. I couldn't find the fern and palm spikes and used the regular houseplant ones. Jobes is way cheaper, but I am sticking to the seachem tabs... they only need to be replaced every few months. As I have just a 25 gallon tank, it is not a big investment.

If you do choose to use the jobes, break them into 3 or four pieces and bury the pieces as deep under the substrate as you can.
 
The type of Jobe stick does not matter whether it has a lot or little PO4.

The issue is getting the NH4/Urea into your water column and then getting greenwater and having to use micron filters, UV's and diatoms etc to remove it.

That's a lot more costly than any SeaChem tab.
Just some folks that have used them then got Green water........

A minimum of 3" should be the depth of the gravel for jobes, deep it better.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
As far as the SeaChem tabs, if I have a 20 gallon tank with about 16 plants, how many do I put in and where do I put them? I can't put one by every plant, can they be cut into pieces or is there some other way all the plants will benefit?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom