ryanalan

I am considering using fish waste from my saltwater reef aquarium to fertilize my plants and looking for some feedback. I realize this is totally outside the box on fertilizing plants and most folks have never had the opportunity to try this, but want to gather as much opinion as possible.

I have already lightly treated a few plants (one or twice) without any visual negative effect, but nothing consistent to determine any real positive or negative results.

Attached are a few pictures of the waste that is pulled from my skimmer and collection cup. This stuff is very foul!

About 50% of the overall marine diet is seaweed and the other 50% is typically shrimp. Everything meaty that is fed to the animals is flash frozen from ocean collected methods.

I assume there are other elements (calcium, magnesium, iron, etc) within the waste along with salt, but am not quite sure how I would get an accurate measure of these.

Because of the water volume and size of the skimmer (filtration) I can pull a ton of this out on a very regular basis. I have yet to get anyone to take the $100.00 challenge by drinking a cup of the "nog"...LOL.

Let me know your thoughts!

Attached Images

	CameraZOOM-20120522151820725.jpg (132.1 KB, 19 views)
	CameraZOOM-20120522151800859.jpg (235.7 KB, 17 views)
	CameraZOOM-20120522151723760.jpg (113.8 KB, 18 views)

ryanalan

Here is a picture of the aquarium.

Attached Images

share.jpg (55.5 KB, 24 views)

trebor

I have used fish as fertilizer with out any problems.. Sea weed is great stuff . When I get a chance I collect it and use it on my tomatoes.. I would think that the "nog" will be pretty good stuff... Im not sure if you should compost it or not . But I kinda lean toward composting it on any plants for human consumption.
My sea weed method
5 gallon bucket 4 quarter inch holes in lid . Fill with sea weed . I do not wash it off . I place water in the 5 gallon bucket and make a tea after 60 to 90 days I pour it on the soil. Ive tried it on my hydro garden with a little success . Meaning nothing died
One of these days Ill set up 12 buckets and use it through out the growth cycle of tomatoes. Then Ill have better info

__________________


If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

Richard

Sounds pretty good for ornamentals provided there is no or negligible sodium and chlorine salts. For fruiting bananas, add an appropriate amount of potash which can be obtained from a variety of sources.

Keep in mind that seaweed is primarily a growth hormone, not a nutrient. It works well provided the plant has a real source of nutrients to fuel the stimulation.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

trebor

Oh so because the sea weed is more like a hormone the combination of the nutrient together with the sea weed is what will make it work for me! It needs the building blocks of the nutrient to properly perform .. That might explain why when I put it on the lettuce it went a little weird . The leafs got a little wrinkled .. Tasted fine just a little strange texture

__________________


If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

molec_biologist

be careful of using anything from a marine aquarium. you can build up salts in the soil very fast and completely ruin your soil.

waste from a freshwater tank is fine for fertilizer, but i'd caution against using wast from salt water.

G.W.

you need to dilute it by 90% and be sure to avoid muriate of potash !!

google "sea water tomatoes"

wait I did it for you

Watering Tomato Plants With Diluted Seawater Boosts Levels Of Antioxidants

even cooler
Seawater Greenhouses Produce Tomatoes in the Desert – Water Matters - State of the Planet

bleh
sea water tomatoes - Google Search

__________________
winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers