Bit of a bump (felt that extra info wouldn't hurt): In response to the aquarium salt question, it is not necessary. It 'can' help with disease and some fish-keepers use it as general maintenance (1tbs per 5 gallons). I wouldn't bother, I've used it a few times for 'aiding in treatment' with no confirmed results. Certainly don't use a 1tbs/5gal mixture of aquarium water to water you plants. Most aquatic plants thrive on NitrAte, which is only present in an established (and HEALTHY) aquarium after it has become cycled. Fish waste (Ammonia) is eventually converted to NitrIte after beneficial bacteria has established in the filter. Both are poisonous to fish and some plants help in absorbing these harmful chemicals (java moss to name one). After a bit more time, another type of beneficial bacteria will establish itself in the filter converting NitrIte in NitrAte. Nitrate is what aquarium plants thrive on (as well as most common forms of algae). Given this, well established aquariums should ONLY have NitrAte present. As with aquarium plants, house plants tend to thrive off of this nutrient. I can only speak for aquarium plants, but I would suspect that some "easy to care for house plants" would only need aquarium water as a fertilizer if the nitrate levels are at a moderate level. As far as backing up the "propagating plants in fish tanks", I've started a few spider plants by floating the roots in my aquarium water with VERY accelerated results. The roots are present within 24 hours and within a couple of days the roots are around 2" long. Plant in soil watch em grow. I water all of my plants with aquarium water.

No true fresh water fish needs salt. As long as you keep your tank clean and your fish seem to be doing fine, leave off the salt. A tiny pinch wouldn't harm the Plays or the Gup, but would NOT be appreciated by the Gouramis or the Tetra. One of the greatest problems with too many aquarium owners, is not understanding that not all fish have the same water parameter needs and mixing them can lead to unhappy, if not dead fish. The Platys and the Gup prefer harder water and a higher Ph than the Gouramis and the Tetra, but that can also depend on which species of Tetra you have. Generally, it's best to set up tanks by region, for instance, an Amazon tank, with soft, slightly acidic water would be ideal for small Amazon tetras such as Neons, but the best water for them, would not be good for Gups. If you want to get live plants that will do well in a 10, try an Anubas Petite and a few Crypts. They don't need a lot of bright light and won't overgrow your tank. If you can't find them locally, check out aquarium plant sellers online. Good luck.

Dogma is holding firm to the belief that something could neither be a conceptually or practically superior practice because you believe something else seems to be satisfactory - 'works for me'. Old beliefs are like a pair of old shoes - we often value their comfort so much we tend to ignore the fact they're full of holes. Almost everyone prefers the relative comfort of belief to the exercise of reason because believing is easier than reasoning; which brings us full circle to why there are so many more believers than thinkers. My $.02 I'm pretty sure you're not suggesting that a haphazard approach (a little of this and a little of that, even though I know neither what the plant needs nor what I'm giving it) is a superior approach to a well-reasoned supplementation plan. Discounting all reason because we're satisfied with the status quo is self-limiting by default. BTW - if Punky's trees are in pots (don't think that was made clear), moving closer to how nature does things is an exercise fraught with obstacles. Growing in the ground and growing in pots are widely divergent cultures. On a scale of 1-10 with growing in the ground being a 1 and hydroponic growing a 10, conventional container culture is probably a 7 or 8. Al

In as word : no. Vegetables need mucho mucho light. There should be -- at a minimum -- two 40-watt florescent lights, 48" long, suspended a few inches above the seedlings, moved up as the seedlings grow. Cabbages probably want to be grown as cool as possible, as well. A cool sunny window with a supplementary 100 watt incandescent (or the equivalent) in the evening would probably work also. My mother grew delphinium seedlings that way years and years ago in the old days before we had all this equipment at our disposal. I am not an expert vegetable gardener, but I imagine you would want to get those cabbages outside into the ground as soon as you ever possibly can. They are winter vegetables, no? The good news is that seeds are cheap and you can always try try again.