Redoing substrate with live plants in mind and need suggestions

[Gabriel20]

Hardness is a measure of divalent metal ions. In rivers, lakes etc, this means mainly calcium with some magnesium and trace amounts of others. Most fertilisers do contain divalent metal ions but in such tiny amounts compared to the amount of calcium already in even soft water that there will be negligible effect on hardness.

Okay cool! So would high dosages of fertilizers have any kind of affect at all on water parameters?

 

[LordHappy]

Happy day,

I am one of those annoying types. I use organic dirt and in a 5g have a gravel cap and in a 10g I used Eco-complete. Both are under 10 months old and seem fine so far. My 125 has larger gravel only and no rooted plants...just java fern and anubis and a messload of floaters, also with no ferts. The 15g has smaller gravel and I did put tabs in by the rooted plants because folks said it was a good idea, so we'll see. My 50 gallon has africans, and this summer I plan to re-home them and move to the Walstad method as the things I have learned from the 5 and 10 will make life so much easier for me. Good bye filters and pumps

By and large, I think it all boils down to how much time and money you want to spend on it. There isn't a right or wrong in the sense that over time, if you wanted red plants, you'll need to be adding whatever is missing from your water. There are so many wonderful ways to keep aquariums, and the tech described above makes it all possible. Just go slow...you can always add more of something if needed, but taking out extra can be very traumatic for the inhabitants.

In a funny way, its pretty similar to marriage. Spouses provide each other with fertilizer for the relationship to grow. Apply too much drugs and alcohol, it dies. Provide too much fecal material, it dies. But ya get the mix right over time, and things flourish. And that's the key right there...be patient, let nature do what it does and goose it where necessary, and its all going to turn out ok in the long run.