# gravel and root tabs?



## JonAseed (Oct 19, 2011)

I was just curious, the regular gravel sold at Petsmart or Petco, if I use that with root tabs, would plants thrive?

What root tabs can I get? I have a metal halide and compact light setup on my 178 gallon tank.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

You can definitely use root tabs - get whatever fits your budget, honestly. Just be aware that they're likely to break down a bit more quickly than they would if down deep in a dirt/clay substrate, as there's going to be more water hitting them.

Lots of folks use gravel and have great plants.


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## JonAseed (Oct 19, 2011)

Yeah ....I don't want to replace root tabs frequently.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

You shouldn't have to replace root tabs more often than about every 4 months.
And as somewhatshocked mentioned, when using gravel, rather than sand or dirt for example, you'll get some amount of leaching of the ferts into your tank water column - but your plants will benefit from that as well. If the gravel is quite small-grained the leaching will be almost negligeable.


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## JonAseed (Oct 19, 2011)

K have tons of gravel normal size you see. Perhaps that is good enough for plants? I want it 60% filled w Hardy plants low tech basically


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

That should be fine.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

JonAseed said:


> Yeah ....I don't want to replace root tabs frequently.


Even if you end up having to replace them ever 4-6 weeks, it's still fairly quickly and easy. 

My favorite tool to use when adding substrate ferts is a chopstick. Can do a 300gal tank in 4-5 min. Quick and painless.


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