Okay trying this again after dreaded backspace button!
Thanks for the compliments!
No I dont have any soil in the tank. I only have the cheap aquarium gravel. However I would probobly use a substrate for plants the next time around.
Seachem Root tabs I use these because of my gravel. The gravel does not hold nutrients therefore does not provide any nutrients for the plants that are heavy root feeders to grow. Ie the Amazon Sword. Basically just push those little guys into the substrate by the plant and the plants are happy!
Trace = Trace elements or Micro nutrients. Not getting technical all these are are substances that plants use to grow that are not in abundance in the aquarium. Examples would be
Flourish or
Florish Trace. I use Flourish, and seem to have good success.
I just recently started dosing Potassium (K) because some of my leaves have started to turn yellow. From my reading this makes sense. K is a Macro or major element for plants. The other two are Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P). You get plenty of N and P from fish and fish food. This is the great thing about low tech. If starting to dose Co2, the plant will burn these elements out pretty quick and then you have to start dosing them into the tank when the fish cant poo enough.
I do not use Co2, and I try to stay away from it just because I think it involves more work. I use a regular air pump to pump in atmospheric air, with atmospheric air there is some Co2 and hopefully I get more into the tank without having to purposly inject it.
Couple of articles that can help with planted matierials!
Planted tank Fertilizers
Plant Deficiances
Hope this helps out a little!
Halo 3 Rocks by the way, would be well the coin to play!