Jungle "Tank Buddies" plant tablets

[Faramir]

Anyone know what these are meant to achieve, and whether they are any good? I bought them not looking properly and thought they were a solid fertiliser, but they only say they "release beneficial electrolytes into the water". Vague scientific sounding blurb always rings alarm bells...

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.phtml?item=TB610 appears to be the product in question - we've only recently started getting Jungle products in the UK to my knowledge.

[Cichlid Woman]

Yeah, I've seen that product and wondered about it. How does it provide "CO2"?! The description is indeed vague; it doesn't say it's a fertilizer, just mentions "trace elements" without telling you what they are. I'd assumed they meant plant nutrients, when I saw it in the store.

Jungle is usually pretty good, though--does the packaging provide any other information, in an insert or something?

-- Pat

[Faramir]

Nope. The packaging has even less information than the web page....

Odd.

Anyway - soon see if they're any good. The proof of the pudding...

[mchernecki]

I bought a package of these tablets a about 2 months ago. They look like an Alka-Seltzer tablet, fizz like one too. I used these tabs for about 3-4 weeks in my 10 Gal and everything was growing good. I have not added any for a month and growth has slowed. Maybe the good growth was from something else. I just popped in another tablet today to see if anything happens. If growth starts up again, then it should be due to the tabs. I will repost with results.


Mike

[wetmanNY]

The fizz is CO2, like Alka-Seltzer's fizz. An expensive and perhaps not a steady way to introduce some CO2.

A daily bottle of low-sodium seltzer water would perk up your plants too.

In general, unidentified "electrolytes" in aquarium additives are code for sodium ions. The sodium bicarbonate in Alka-Seltzer for example, would count as "electrolytes." Any plant nutrients are usually identified as nutrients. The potassium citrate in Alka-Seltzer would permit the labelling note "Contains potassium essential for plant growth."

[jderuiter]

So can u use alka seltzer?