Aquarium Root Tab Experiment - Putting Root Tabs to the Test to Find the Best One

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey everyone! Loved putting together this video for you all. Soon I am going to redo this experiment, let me know which root tabs you'd like to see put to the test 👍

[@sq33qs]

Maybe try doing your own root tabs in this test as well to compare with brand tabs? I'm trying this currently. The benefit being that i could choose exactly which fertilizer i want to use. Also just an experiment. New sub, love your content.

[@elephant0kingsueperb546]

Give seachem another test. Rotate the plants. It could be lighting

[@jasminemartinez2855]

root tabs from the brand “thrive.” i haven’t heard much about them but i would like to see if they’re worth it

[@zakger]

@@jasminemartinez2855 I use them and love em! They're from NilocG actually. Their moniker for the product is Thrive. Kinda like how Seachem makes Excel. The only issue with those tabs is keeping them under the soil haha. They like to float. But my Ludwigia LOVES them and gets tons of roots growing from the stems.

[@belliqueu]

Thrive Root Tabs by Niloc G

[@curtis1905]

13:27 - #1 Seachem 13:32 - #2 API 13:34 - #3 LCA

[@dureiii9101]

This video is such a lifesaver, I can’t express how happy I am that I found this video. Thank you so much dude! You deserve the best!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you liked it 👍

[@onlycars693]

Dude i respect the time and money you used to do this experiment, i really thank you alot, and you also got a new subscriber😁

[@anieb153]

Just set out to research root tabs for my very first planted tank, and so glad I found this! I know this video is "old," but thank you for taking the time and effort to do this for our benefit. 😊

[@BobMossNanoTanks]

This is my type of content! Love it!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@BobMossNanoTanks]

well these comments look like spam lol

[@Z4U3398]

Thanks, man! Appreciate your taking the trouble on this kind of objective experiments. Imma go get me some Seachem root tabs! You're The Man!

[@zigg4045]

I love this kind of experiments. Such a life saver. Thank you brother.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad to help

[@MrGrombie]

Oh fck yeah bud. I like this already without watching it. And you had a ton of them... and a control... love it!

[@GoldenChild20k]

Great video Blake. If you ever repeat it, I wouldn’t mind seeing how Aquagreen’s Dino Dung measures up against the big hitters.

[@Yakjiru]

Well made! I've noticed a difference with Seachem as well. Well worth the extra $! Thanks Blake!

[@bonwrentaylor2743]

Great little experiment - thank you for doing this - can save hours on researching this sort of thing. I found this video as part of doing my research on root tabs and luckily, I'd just put an order in for some Seachem root tabs a day earlier ..... Keep up the good work ..!

[@lvengineerable]

Thanks for putting the effort in! Subscribed!

[@petosjr]

Every time I have a specific question, you have a video for it. You're the best 💜

[@wayne2411]

Great video. When I recently started a planted tank I was recommended the Seachem root tabs and it's clearly a winner!!

[@Diosesdepapel]

Great experiment , great comparison of different fertilizers obviously this is going to help people looking for the best fertilizer for their planted tanks. Thanks for Sharing.

[@BlakesAquatics]

So nice of you

[@thomasbardenwerper9365]

Outstanding!! Thank you for taking the time to do and share this experiment with us.

[@samueluwl2952]

Thanks for this video. Very informative. And its nice to see the growth on the plants with different tabs

[@pochbelmonte]

you help a lot of people with these experiments!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cheers 👍 many more planned

[@ragingcalmness7815]

Thanks for running this test, was nice for me to watch and I feel like after I have mastered the art of growing algae, I will be more informed towards the most effective products to use for plants! 😅🙌

[@BlakesAquatics]

Good luck!

[@underdog1117]

Great video thank you. I just started putting plants in my tank after 30 years of keeping fish. This video is a great help. Thank you.

[@edstar81]

Great video mate. Thanks for taking the time and uploading

[@orchedt]

Another interesting secondary experiment would be rerunning this with fewer plant species and a larger sample of plants in each pot. So like, 3 crypts and 3 vals per pot, same range of tabs. If all three plants in each pot don't thrive you can be more sure the tab isn't suitable, but if you get a mixed result there are more questions

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah theres at least 3 other versions of this experiment i will run

[@ADUAquascaping]

Exactly 💯

[@MYTHDUBSTEPP]

Blake! This video is greatly appreciated!

[@Colin002]

Thanks this was just what I was looking for. Too bad you couldn’t have any co-op tabs.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah need someone to smuggle some in to australia lol. Thanks

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

This was a great experiment Blake!! I really appreciated you doing this... it was very interesting and so were the results!! The way you set it up with the different plants with each supplement was very well thought out! Thanks for sharing your experience with us and it does help me in the future when considering what products are worth trying!! I hope you had a very blessed weekend and always much love from my family to yours 🙏🌿🐟🌿💚

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Mary, happy to help :) have a great day!

[@undr_life]

Thanks for the awesome video! This was super helpful. I was about to add root tabs and was debating which would be best.

[@rabianaturaltanks2212]

I use osmocite for a months now. Great for repens, valinsirai , crypts, hygro and many other plants

[@johnmaude5065]

I use seachem flourish tabs and seachem flourish liquid fertiliser, with great results

[@BlakesAquatics]

Good to know!

[@ironfae]

I must have won the Seacem lottery. I got a pack of 15 at PetSmart for $6. I used them three weeks ago to help my water lilies and onions. Now there are five beautiful little sprouts in my tank growing like weeds. I also mixed in the API tabs for $10. Either one is a great brand. 👍

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah Aussie prices 🤷‍♂️ happy to hear youre having success 👍

[@ironfae]

@@BlakesAquatics Maybe ordering online would be cheaper for you. I usually get pretty good deals on Amazon. 👍

[@rajp3667]

Great video!! One if those that take a good skiing of time. The results do help viewers. Much appreciated!!!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks Raj 👍

[@ADUAquascaping]

Thanks for doing this experiment! Who does the artwork for your merchandise? It looks really nice.

[@BlakesAquatics]

A friend of mine 👍

[@anoobis_]

Great video. Very straightforward.

[@justjosh.r.l8278]

I use the z aquatics root taps they are a long stick that you can break in to smaller pieces I have had really good success with them

[@RussMcCord]

Your experiment is awesome. Brilliant! Looks like I'll go for the Seachem. =)

[@THEBISH809]

Great video. Thanks. I put live plants in my 29g for the first time two weeks ago. Glad I used Seachem ! Plants look great so far.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Sounds great!

[@jimmytheskip]

gotta redo the test now that aquarium coop send to Australia... Great video as always mate

[@BlakesAquatics]

Absolutely, have their tabs on my desk ready to go as well

[@jeffbetz8157]

Awesome video! Thank you!👍

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thank you too!

[@Johnjimo1987]

Awesome video. I just bought seachem root tabs so I'm happy to see those results.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Great to hear!

[@lucasmelo9545]

Seachem, give this dude some money I'm definitely buying some Flourish Tabs Great video

[@BlakesAquatics]

hahahah thanks for the support mate, maybe one day :D

[@DanielKeepingFish]

Great experiment. Nice idea for a video and nicely executed bud.

[@sijuvarghese5469]

Hey mate, very helpful video. Thank You

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks 😀

[@KentoLeoDragon]

Another interesting experiment would be to use the same cost per pot. For instance, it's about $3 per pot for Seachem. What would be the results if you used $3 worth of Osmocote, Dymax or Liverpool, for example.

[@BlakesAquatics]

good idea

[@yohanmestre2203]

Hey that is really informative thx‚ What happen with the osmocote one ? First update all plant die ?

[@BlakesAquatics]

bit of a mystery, not sure what happened there either.

[@LogacysAquaticLove]

Can you do this again except this time add the aquarium co op root tabs to the list? Take out the crappy ones an add the co op ones to test. That would be dope!

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

Keen for this one as new plant man . Was asking myself this ??

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

Got the member vid thanks

[@SugarMapleForge]

Great experiment! Awesome video!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thank you 🤗

[@endoglewoh]

Wow thanks for the experiments

[@billwitt1713]

Thanks for sharing your results!

[@BlakesAquatics]

No problem 😊

[@rogergibson7938]

Excellent video!

[@ironix1]

Well done for an excellent, informative video. I was hoping you were going to empty each pot at the end to see what was left of each tab, as that would give a great insight into when each tablet would need replacing or whether to double up at the beginning. Maybe next time!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Good idea I will do that next time

[@azielmontiel8268]

Amazing content, great experiment, here in Mexico, the seachem tabs are not so expensive, about 33 USD for the 40 tabs bag, definetely will get those. Thanks a lot for doing this. Would love to see a similar experiment using carpeting plants such as HC Cuba in the pots.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Sounds like a good idea

[@asier2001]

Great experiment! Well done!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@JeffNielson]

The seachem tabs are mostly micronutrients. The NPK could have been high in the water from overfertilizing the tank(and in each container for that matter) , then the micronutrients in the seachem tabs helped the plants that were the closest to them. I don't recall him mentioning whether he added micronutrients to the tank in addition. Anyway, it is just something to consider as a source of error. I could be wrong. Maybe next time you can measure NPK in the water. Thanks for doing this.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks for that insight, i dont recall dosing any liquid fertilisers during the experiement but if i did it wouldve been an all in one style fertiliser containing micros and macros

[@trevormurphy3457]

@@BlakesAquatics You used a gravel substrate in the pots so the nutrients from the root tabs wouldve seeped straight into the water column. Basically every plant was being exposed to nutrients from every root tab.

[@aaronnash1776]

Loved it! What was the name of the song that started playing at 3:40?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hi its called this is what we're waiting for I think. Was just in some copyright free music library.

[@boges11]

Great stuff mate. Maybe the 2 Dymax was too much. I am not familiar with that one, but too much ferts can be worse than not enough. Would be interesting, seeing you have 48 left, to see each pot with different amounts of tabs in.

[@BlakesAquatics]

that sounds like a good follow up test. have more or less in each

[@Mikinct]

Does distance of where actual root tab is placed to actual plants roots? If one plant has roots hitting root tab bit another plant is 4-5" away maybe its not getting equal amount of fertilizers? Or does one root tab stated to feed a 6" circle ⭕ of plants within a certain radius?

[@Socalshortybulls]

I bought and opened the aquarium co-op root tabs and noticed it is a powder form. Would it be okay to grind the osmocote plus into powder form for it to dissolve faster because i did an experiment putting osmocote in a cup of water and noticed it took many days for it to dissolve.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Great idea. Ive never tried it myself to know for sure but it would help with the unsightly blue and yellow balls. My suspicion is that it might dissolve a lot faster and release too many nutrients though

[@willykiddsDONK]

Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. Have a great forever sir

[@taryziforde7662]

Cool informative vid as usual.. 👍

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks! 👍

[@vetter2769]

Hi Blake what lights are you using on this Tank? And can you maybe do a video going through all your lights on each tank, rough cost and where you got them. Thanks

[@BlakesAquatics]

Its a chihiros wrgb2. Sure i can do that in an upcoming video

[@vetter2769]

@@BlakesAquatics thanks man look forward to it.

[@EyezLikaFox̌]

Have you done a comparison with flourish tabs vs thrive caps?

[@velidae]

Great experiment, very interesting. Do you know how Tropica capsules compare to any of these? I bought some Seachem ones and also some Tropica ones, wondering if I should just stick to Seachem.

[@BlakesAquatics]

I dont have any access to tropica ones to know sorry

[@rastapandaz]

Great content!!!!

[@markkoerner8969]

Awesome, thank you!

[@Ishiisan]

Great video! Osmocote + Red clay mix does better than the capsule for me.

[@voluntaryismistheanswer]

I just postulated that on a Rob's Aquatics video, glad to know someone has been there before me lol

[@GabbyRocio]

Thanks for this.

[@BlakesAquatics]

My pleasure!

[@herpdiversity9152]

Definitely i would love a breakdown of what root tabs have more or less of certain nutrients. Also what nutrients your water already has. That way I can get root tabs best for my water

[@BlakesAquatics]

Noted!

[@ANinjasMom]

Thank you for doing this

[@stampedfish]

Very nice study

[@jonathanpilmore7140]

Very good video, thanks very much. Luckily I actually ordered the Seachem ones earlier today, then watched this video hoping Seachem would be the winner and it was !! :)

[@Sinserg]

Great idea to make something like this. 👍

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you like it!

[@FreakyT333]

I’m a big time novice here just soaking up all the info I can. However, in an experiment like this to give each contender a fair shot I think you’ll need to rotate each pot’s position in the tank every week or two. Might make no difference but seems logical to me. Great experiment though, thanks!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah good call, not the perfect experiment by any means

[@FreakyT333]

@@BlakesAquatics I’m definitely not meaning to criticize your efforts in a negative way, I think what you did here was awesome and greatly appreciated by thousands of us. A perfect experiment doesn’t exist 😉 You provided a really great example of base expectations people should have with these products. If you choose to do another one using other popular products maybe you can implement some rotation. Personally I’m curious how the aquarium co-op stuff does as well as a couple other frequently recommended brands on the tube these days. Again I’m a noob, thanks again for your killer content and info!

[@michaelwillett1990]

i think you should run again but have the root tabs closer to the midle of the pot, make sure the plants dont have to send roots terably deep to reach them and maybe use something that has a higher cec and see how that changes things, i mean old used uyp aquasoil would be ideal for this test as it will make the root tabs more accesible for the plants

[@Lana_Warwick]

Yes, like any gardening, correct placement, depth, release rate, flow. You could plant 6 seedlings all in the same garden bed, all different results. So many options, however a Father Fish style pot would have been interesting.

[@aigomorla]

Nice experiment however you have a critical flaw when it comes to the application, which is called osmosis. So the ferts could be leaching out of the system and the current carrying it out with the flow. The last pot you have being the seachem shows roots in expanding like crazy which means it could be where the ferts are mostly concentrated. A proper but tedious way to do the test would of been in its own each system, but i think that would be too time consuming. Regardless thank you for your contribution, I personally always use base amazonia aquasoil in my planted tanks, so had very little need for root tabs unless i wanted to supercharge the growth with massive injection of CO2 otherwise you will get a algae explosion on a exponential category.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Agree, i have long thought about having individual tanks or something to avoid that but am yet to get around to if

[@erl911]

great video mate

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you enjoyed

[@samantharodriguez9586]

thankyouuu omggg i needed this !!!🎉🎉🎉

[@TheStormRogue]

Are any of these safe for invertibrae? I see horror stories of ones with 0.0001% copper killing their colonies.

[@BlakesAquatics]

If you want to be really safe some people freeze some shrimp safe fertiliser in an ice cube tray and then push that into the substrate. Havent tried it myself but thats what id try

[@lauchlanstill6677]

I use ada and the tabs are awesome

[@ayantikpal3684]

good experiment!!! but you see companies design their root tabs in such a way that it supports the company's own substrate system...seachem flourite has less nutrients than ada amazonia..this is why the root tabs complement their own substrate systems

[@voluntaryismistheanswer]

Well, hopefully red clay Osmocote balls will complement my red clay (under gravel) substrate, lol. I have not enjoyed my experiences with packaged aquatic soil, messy and expensive (and my plants grow better in deep layered substrate/with plenum than any of the commercial products).

[@Pray4Mojo1]

I feel like you did anamazing job here. Problem is, the ludwigia is mostly a water column feeder. So I'd say the osmocote did the best, the val and crypt look much healthier than any of the other pots. However, any root tab is better than none.

[@nicolero8130]

thank you

[@mikes6490]

nice experiment!!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks 😃

[@chocolatefreak121]

I know it would be hard to say but I'm going to be doing a crypt only tank soon(if I can get ahold of the crypts I want😏) seems like osmocote did the best for crypt, would you say that more down to luck/particular health of that crypt or osmocote would be the way to go?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Id personally back in the seachem. Im going to be redoing this soon 👍

[@LovelyDeviant]

You have to poke holes in the DIY and the Liverpool ones to help release more of the nutrients (other than to keep the root tab from floating)

[@BlakesAquatics]

No you dont the gel capsules dissolve instantly, put one in water and see.

[@suman5492]

I have only Cryptocorynes in sand. Which tab will you suggest?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Seachem 👍

[@fadilramzi7665]

thank you buddy

[@BlakesAquatics]

No problem 👍

[@Buciiio]

May i ask why aquarium co ops root tabs didnt make it in?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Sure. I am in Australia so we cant get them. 👍

[@cparch1758]

Should do an ADA vs Seachem vs Thrive!

[@captainkrusty2379]

Woot woot I got the seachem

[@gr3123]

Osmocote have premade ones at Bunnings now.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah used them heaps before. 👍

[@gr3123]

@@BlakesAquatics are they any good?

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@gr3123 better than nothing but the seachem ones are the bees knees

[@D1sc1p1e]

The only one I wish you'd added is ThriveCaps. Other than that good video.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Never heard of those, ill have to research them

[@margooz1852]

Do you remove the osmocote on its capsule???

[@BlakesAquatics]

Nah i dont, it dissolves

[@margooz1852]

@@BlakesAquatics Thank you!

[@rara5212]

@@BlakesAquatics mine don"t dissolve. It is resin. Great video!

[@ntwcoolguy]

Api has best price value IMO api all the way.

[@Jimbosreptiles]

Next time could you try aquario neo root tabs ?

[@vanschermerhorn7167]

When starting out what size pots/

[@BlakesAquatics]

11cm diameter from memory mate

[@youngmango4508]

Is there a benefit to filter floss on bottom

[@BlakesAquatics]

Just so the gravel didnt fall out the hole

[@endofstory211]

Did u put put any fertilizer during this ?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I did put a little bit of fertiliser but since it was all the same body of water it didnt skew the result

[@rider67dinu]

why no tropica tabs in this comparison?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I dont believe we can get them in Australia

[@Marcos28nk]

I want to know what do you think of the aquarium co op root tabs? I have used them for a while now and want to know what you think about them? Edit: I have realized that aquarium co op doesn’t ship to Australia, so I just want to know could I use multiple root tabs for my plants? Will too much have a negative effect on my tank?

[@WastedTalent-]

You may have an algae bloom.