Hi,
I am starting a 20 gallon planted tank, and was originally going to put laterite in it, but the stuff is really expensive (ecocomplete is even worse) I'm on a shoe string budget, so I was wondering, would something like pond tabs or liquid fertilizers do the same job as a laterite substrate?

Right now I'm only planting hornwort, java moss and java fern, and I don't have much light (about 3/4 watt per gallon lol) Would adding fertilizers cause too much phosphate or nitrogen in the water and give me algae problems?

Anyone have an opinion - laterite vs fertilizers?

Thanks