The nutrients in our substrate will fade over the years of keeping planted aquariums. To keep your plants growing healthy and strong, hobbyists use liquid fertilizer or root tabs. Buying these ferts or root tabs can be expensive.

So for today's tips and tricks, we will be making budget DIY root tabs with Osmocote Plus and Gel Capsules. Osmocote Plus has has NPK ratio of 15-9-12 and also contain micro nutrients which is great for plant growth.

Some Supplies needed

Make sure to get the Plus and not the regular which lacks these micronutrients!

Once we have the supplies, fill the gelatin capsules with the Osmocote pellets. The Osmocote pellets are far too small to be pushing into the substrate. So make sure you get these capsules.

Vegetable Gel Capsule

Once you have your capsules filled, push the capsules deep into your substrate. There are horror stories of fish dying because the Osmocote pellets were coming out of the substrate because they were not deep enough. I would space out the capsules 2 inches apart in a grid. And there you have it! An extremely budget DIY root tab that will last for years.