PURE LATERITE

[wellmax]

Hi Every One,

Can "anyone" tell me if pure laterite is a fertilizer? Could I use it by making ice cubes and logging them underneath my plants. The same method used when we use JBL BALLS. Kind Regards

[Joe]

No don't make ice cubes out of it because you will chill the roots of the plants and they won't like that and it seems silly when you can just use the JBL Balls. Laterite is best used when setting up a tank or redoing a tank when you are able to put a layer under the substrate. Laterite is an iron-rich clay that has undergone weathering for thousands of years.

From this site: http://home.infinet.net/teban/substrat.htm

Laterite - A red soil found in tropical and subtropical regions that has been leached of soluble minerals, aluminum hydroxides and silica. It is primarily composed of iron oxides and iron hydroxides. Often the term laterite is used to refer to an expensive commercial aquarium soil product that is mined in the tropics. Lateritic soils or latersoils are commonly fine clays (< 2 microns); however, latersoils may have any texture. Dupla laterite appears to be a mixture of silt and sand textures with some fine clay components. This may avoid some problems with turbidity when the aquarium is first set up or facilitate the circulation of interstitial water. This coarser texture will reduce the CEC of the Dupla laterite in comparison to fine clays and reduce Fe availability due to reduced surface area.

It has been suggested that excessive concentrations of some minerals have been leached out of laterite in comparison to other mineral clays. This may render it safer as the sole addition to a non-organic substrate; however, the use of humic materials will also act to absorb or buffer concentrations of soluble minerals.

It has been said of laterite that it possesses a high CEC or the ability to chelate nutrients. The CEC of laterite is much less than for clay or humus. This can be misleading since the CEC of lateritic soils depends strongly upon its texture and the presence of various silicates which have higher CEC. While the CEC of commercial laterite is comparatively low, it is a tremendous improvement over sand or fine gravel alone. Only organic compounds can act as chelators. Laterite does not help preserve the solubility of minerals like Fe or Mn.

In my opinion, laterite has five important beneficial properties.

Laterite is rich in iron which is an important nutrient for plants. Upon initial submergence, it will provide a considerable release of iron into the water; however, this does not continue for long. In the anoxic areas at the bottom of the substrate, the ferric iron compounds will be acted upon by bacteria and reduced to the more soluble ferrous form. In this role it is similar in function to many common soils. Without benefit of some organic material to promote bacterial activity, laterite is an inferior source of iron compared to natural soil mixtures. The use of laterite in the optimum aquarium regime as described by Horst Kipper and Kaspar Horst of Dupla does not include significant organic material although it is noteworthy that Dupla laterite does contain 0.2% humic matter in contrast to Aquarium Products laterite which had 0.0% humic matter (according to an Internet posting by Shaji Bhaskar).

Laterite may help the control of phosphates when used in conjunction with proper wattage substrate heating cables. Iron oxide has the ability to capture and fix phosphorus in small quantities from the aquarium water. Laterite is not a panacea for the control of algae but it may be useful in conjunction with a phosphate limiting strategy such as frequent water changes.

Laterite will improve the CEC of pure sand or gravel substrates.

The iron will help stabilize sulfides.

The last property is the lack of carbonate salts and organic material which would otherwise affect the pH chemistry of the water and complicate CO2 measurements. Laterite makes automatic control of CO2 injection by pH much simpler while still enjoying the benefits of iron within the substrate.

Often red, iron rich clays or soils are erroneously referred to as laterite; however, only those soils which have undergone considerable weathering over thousands of years are true laterites. There are sources of latersoils in many locations throughout the world which were deposited thousands or millions of years ago during times when the global climate was significantly warmer. Weathering and leaching of laterite is only important for benefit 5.

Is the leaching of silicates from laterite to differentiate it from iron rich silicate clays important? Possibly not. We lack further evidence and theories.

Caution: some fine laterite clays can produce cloudy water when you uproot plants.

A good functional substitute for laterite is micronized iron.which has the similar chemical composition to laterite.

[wellmax]

Thank you JOE for the information you have gathered. An excellent article. Kind Regards

[GZ_Loach]

It makes it sound like laterite isn't that special