Biozome?

Pirarucu · 12-24-12, 02:27 PM

I was picking up some plants for a future project the other day, and I found a bag of "Jobe's Organics Fertilizer with Biozome". Essentially the idea is that it is a natural fertilizer which contains lots of stuff such as bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and archaea to speed up decomposition and break down nutrients faster for plants to use. Has anyone ever tried this in a planted or bioactive enclosure?

beardeds4life · 12-25-12, 08:42 AM

I personally wouldnt. My other hobby is gardening and I can tell you that pretty much all fertilizers that are man made are extremely harsh and in my opinion would not be safe for a reptile.

Corey209 · 12-25-12, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

I personally wouldnt. My other hobby is gardening and I can tell you that pretty much all fertilizers that are man made are extremely harsh and in my opinion would not be safe for a reptile.

They advertise it online as 100% organic so I doubt it has anything man made unless they're false advertising.

Found some info on biozome > OBI - BioZome

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 11:24 AM

Exactly, organic means all-natural. That website says it's 100% safe for everything, so I think I'll be using it in my future cages.

SpOoKy · 12-25-12, 01:54 PM

I would personally not put any type of fertalizer around my animals. Plain clean top soil of black earth is all I use.

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 03:10 PM

It really isn't fertilizer as in toxic, it's a bunch of microbes that make things decompose faster, therefore filling the soil with nutrients for the plant to use. It's exactly what happens in nature, just sped up.

BarelyBreathing · 12-25-12, 06:17 PM

Unless you can absolutely know 100% of the materials in there, I wouldn't use it.

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 06:58 PM

It's all listed on the bag. One moment.

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 07:25 PM

Here's what the entire side of the bag says:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Total Nitrogen......................................... 4.0%
0.8% Water Soluble Nitrogen
3.2% Water Insoluble Nitrogen
Available Phosphate (P2O5)........................4.0%
Soluble Potash (K2O).................................2.0%
Calcium (Ca)............................................8. 0%
Magnesium (Mg).......................................0.5%
Sulfur (S)............................................... .1.0%

DERIVED FROM:
Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Composted Poultry Manure, Sulfate of Potash.

ALSO CONTAINS NON-PLANT FOOD INGREDIENTS:
Bacteria (CFU's / lb.): Contains 12,606 colony forming units (CFU's) of: Arthrobacter globiformis, Arthrobacter simplex, Azotobacter chroococcum, Azotobacter paspali, Azosprillum lipoferum, Streptomyces griseoflavis, and Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Endomycorrhizae (Propagules / lb.): Contains 24 propagules of: Glomus intraradices and Glomus etunicatum.

Ectomycorrhizae (Propagules / lb.): Contains 294,699 propagules of Pisolithus tinctorus. Contains 19,912 propagules of: Scleroderma cepa, Scleroderma cintrinum, Scleroderma geastrum, Laccaria laccata and Laccaria bicolor.

Archaea (CFU's / lb.): Contains 23,679,698 colony forming units (CFU's) of Nitrosopumilus maritimus.

beardeds4life · 12-25-12, 08:06 PM

Just because something is 100% safe for people and pets does NOT mean it is safe for reptiles. By pets they mean that it is safe for dogs and cats. It does not say "safe to use in a reptile vivarium". Things like nitrogen can BURN you. I have had it happen to me. I have used similar products and can tell you I would not be comfortable putting it in my cage. Just because it is labeled as organic does not mean it doesnt have stuff such as sewage sludge. They dont even have to put sewage sludge on the bag. All they would have to put is compost which some dont even do that. If it does have sewage sludge in it I would bet money on how long your animals will live. If you really want to fertilize your plants just make your on compost or vermicompost (worm composting). You could also put worm castings in their (worm poop). Both are wonderful fertilizers that will do much much more than that.

If you really want to go ahead and do it but I would never put that in my viv.

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

Just because something is 100% safe for people and pets does NOT mean it is safe for reptiles. By pets they mean that it is safe for dogs and cats. It does not say "safe to use in a reptile vivarium". Things like nitrogen can BURN you. I have had it happen to me. I have used similar products and can tell you I would not be comfortable putting it in my cage. Just because it is labeled as organic does not mean it doesnt have stuff such as sewage sludge. They dont even have to put sewage sludge on the bag. All they would have to put is compost which some dont even do that. If it does have sewage sludge in it I would bet money on how long your animals will live. If you really want to fertilize your plants just make your on compost or vermicompost (worm composting). You could also put worm castings in their (worm poop). Both are wonderful fertilizers that will do much much more than that.

If you really want to go ahead and do it but I would never put that in my viv.

It doesn't say safe for "pets". It says "BioZome is 100% organic. Safe for humans, animals, fish and wildlife, and the environment." Also, yes nitrogen can bun you, but it is also vital to support life...

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 08:31 PM

I just opened the bag to have a look, it certainly doesn't look or smell like sewage. It looks and smells like dirt. Very healthy dirt at that, it smells alive. You can't describe it, but I'm sure those of you with bioactive setups know what I mean. The white specks appear to be bone.

totheend · 12-25-12, 09:22 PM

MSDS states: Warning - This clay product contains a small amount of crystalline silica which may cause delayed respiratory disease if inhaled over a prolonged and extended period of time. Avoid breathing the dust.

This is the only health hazard on the MSDS. And this refers to human safety.

Pirarucu · 12-25-12, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totheend

MSDS states: Warning - This clay product contains a small amount of crystalline silica which may cause delayed respiratory disease if inhaled over a prolonged and extended period of time. Avoid breathing the dust.

This is the only health hazard on the MSDS. And this refers to human safety.

And playsand is even worse in that regard, but we use it for reptiles all the time. The only time you ever have to worry about the dust from the sand is if you dump a big bag into the cage, then it goes everywhere. Once it settles though, it's no problem.

totheend · 12-25-12, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

And playsand is even worse in that regard, but we use it for reptiles all the time. The only time you ever have to worry about the dust from the sand is if you dump a big bag into the cage, then it goes everywhere. Once it settles though, it's no problem.

I was just stating what the MSDS says. It's really the only concern. And I'm not saying it's a huge concern, I don't know. I am not familiar with the product at all.