Feeding plants

G'day,
Just wondering if anyone knows about plant food and Axies? I have several live plants which my Axy loves to play in and I want to keep them healthy to avoid high nitrite or amonnia levels (I had some plants die recently which caused some problems with water quality).
The plant food I have contains : N,P,K (2.6,0,5.0). Chelates of Iron, Copper, Manganese, Boron and Zinc and is Phosphate free. I have no idea what any of that means so if someone could help explain this and wether it is a good or bad thing to do I would appreciate it.
Cheers.

Hello Rastus,

Just wondering if anyone knows about plant food and Axies?

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No need. Axolotls are carnivorous animals. They will get all the required nutrients from worms and salmon/trout pellets. On the odd occasion, you can feed beef heart, mealworms, crickets, slugs, waxworms and so forth. You will find more information in the following links:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml

The plant food I have contains : N,P,K (2.6,0,5.0). Chelates of Iron, Copper, Manganese, Boron and Zinc and is Phosphate free.

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Copper is a heavy metal, you should avoid it because your axolotl will most likely die due to a build up of this toxin. Heavy metals have the ability to disrupt enzyme functions, which is dangerous for an axolotl's overall health.

This product is made specifically for plants, so it's best to keep it that way.

Jay.

I see what you mean - how do the fertilisers potentially effect the axolotl when added to the tank. While Kal El is correct in the fact that these nutrients can be potentially toxic, the micronutrients the plantfoods sold for aquariums are typically aimed at keeping plants with fish - chelated metal nutrients are usually in a form that safe for fish in controlled doses. Saying this, it would be wise to avoid the plant foods. The reasons i come to this conclusion are:

• axolotls are likely more sensitive to over-absorption of toxins through their skin than fish
• the plant types most suitable for keeping with axolotls (ie. tolerance of lower water temperature and low light intensity requirements) often do not need more nutrients in the water than what the axolotls rather messy feeding and defecation habits provide

Now, the plants that do require plant food supplements are typically from warmer waters, and these will not thrive in a tank aimed at optimising the conditions for an axolotl. I would feel safe in saying that all but a select few species are robust and tolerant enough to withstand the environmental and physical conditions of an axolotls tank.

Plants such as Java Fern and Java Moss have a wide range of environmental parameter tolerance (temperature, lighting, pH, etc), look good, and are not reliant on substrate for security (they can be attached to wood and rocks). I have seen that these two are recommended more often than other plants here.

I must admit that I misinterpreted this post, because I thought that Rastus had intended on feeding his/her axolotl plant food. My apologies. However, I still stand by what I mentioned about the toxicity of copper.

Despite copper (and the other listed heavy metls) being chelated to an inorganic molecule, whether it it be EDTA or any other source, chelation is only semi-permanent. Therefore, at any moment some chelated metal ions will be released into the environment as a free metal. In this case, it will become toxic to an axolotl and even the plants.

If the tank is well established and the plants are pruned from time to time, there should be no problem in maintaining healthy plants and plant food can be avoided.

Jay.

Thanks for that,
It always amazes me the amount of knowledge people on this forum have!
I probably should have mentioned that I have more luck with broadleaf plants and have abandoned anything else. I think Jay's tip about pruning might be all I needed to know and I don't reckon I'll bother with the plant food just in case.
On a side note, as both my reply's were from Aussies, I saw some plants the other day that I think were Java Fern attached/established onto a piece of driftwood that looked really good but were $40! Do you know if that is a good price or can you do it yourself?
Cheers.
Ps. No, I wasn't going to feed the plant food to my Axy.

I saw some plants the other day that I think were Java Fern attached/established onto a piece of driftwood that looked really good but were $40! Do you know if that is a good price or can you do it yourself?

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I can't really comment of the pricing because I have never purchased plants or driftwood. Although, I know that you can recreate the driftwood/Java Fern aquascaping if you have the time on your hands. I'm assuming it will be cheaper as well because most home-made materials tend to swing in that direction.

Regarding the aquascaping, you can try the following with Java Fern and bogwood: Staple the roots (but not rhizomes) to wood, given that your stapler is strong enough. Alternatively, you can unwound a long thread of Java Moss and use it to tie down the Java Fern to the bogwood. The thread of Java Moss can be removed later without disrupting the attachment of the Java Fern to the bogwood.

Personally, I would go with the home-made solution because you can leach out any tannins, if the aquarium/pet store hasn't already.

Jay.

Have to agree with that - plant + wood combos seem to be way out of whack when it comes to pricing compared to DIY style. As Jay says - any rudimentary form of attachment is good and they attach fairly quickly (but going along the metal theme - maybe staples arent the best idea )

Thanks, might give the DIY version a go.