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New to ferts - how much Fosfo?

daizeUK

daizeUK

Member
Joined
18 Jun 2013
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161
Location
Berkshire
Hi, I have a 64L low light tank with no CO2 (see my sig for picture of current planting!).

I currently dose 2x 0.5ml Flourish weekly and 1ml EasyCarbo daily as per instructions. The water out of my tap also comes loaded with about 40ppm nitrates.

I've got a little bit of algae and some of my stem plants aren't growing very well so I thought I might need to start dosing phosphate. I bought a bottle of EasyLife Fosfo today but the instructions aren't very clear. It says I should add about 1ml to achieve 0.1ppm concentration but it doesn't say whether this is actually enough or how often to dose it.

I've recently heard about EI and it seems to suggest that I should be dosing four times as much Flourish as well as about 1ppm of Phosphate per week. That's a bit of a shock, am I getting this right?!
 
If you are using easycarbo, you are classed as high tech. If I were you I would get a ei starter kit and use that instead. You won't need the full reccomended dose, but something like 3/4 would be a good start.

You do have co2, easycarbo!
 
Sorry I thought that CO2 only referred to gaseous carbon dioxide while the stuff in bottles is known as liquid carbon (chemically glutaraldehyde I think) :) I know that classifies me as high tech but still low light (average about 1 to 1.5 WPG)

I'm all for buying dry ferts and EI kits once I get the hang of this but for now can't I just use up the stuff I've bought, it's exactly the same chemicals just in diluted form isn't it?
 
daizeUK said:
t's exactly the same chemicals just in diluted form isn't it?
Click to expand...
Yes, and that's probably why you have algae, because it's diluted - unless the type of algae you have is a CO2 related algae, which would mean that you need to add more Easycarbo.

You'll need to identify the algae you have and that will tell you what you don't have enough of.

Cheers,
 
I'm not very good at identifying algae. The main one at the moment is green stuff on the sand and glass (GDA?). There's also some fine green fuzz on the leaves. It's not a large amount of algae, I just wipe it off. I had a few diatoms a couple of weeks ago so I decreased my light and turned up the flow on the internal filter and they have all but gone now.

EasyLife Fosfo contains potassium phosphate so surely it shouldn't matter whether I use Fosfo or dry ferts as long as I calculate the correct dosage to achieve the recommended ppm?
 
I was trying to avoid adding more nitrate since I've got tons of it in the tap water already. The whole point of originally adding plants was to soak up nitrates not add more lol
 
And why do you want to soak up nitrates? This is a pointless goal. If you have BGA then that clearly indicates that your nitrate level is low, not high.

Cheers,
 
If there is one thin I have learned on my planted tank journey, its add everything your plants need regardless of how much of it you think is in the water. It eliminates any doubt that your plants are getting what they need. Then you can concentrate on getting co2 and flow right.
Nitrate tests are known to be inaccurate at best so its not a good idea to trust them.
 
I don't think I have BGA. The pictures I've seen of BGA look like sheets of slime but I don't have anything that looks like that. Which algae do you think is BGA?

The water quality report for my area states about 25ppm nitrates and my API test kit looks to be around 40ppm. Either way I thought that would be plenty enough.
 
You guys have really left me confused . I guess I will just follow the suggestions on this calculator I found Yet Another Nutrient Calculator. I assume I want to follow the EI low light plan so I'll aim for 1ppm phosphate and increase my Flourish dosing as it suggests. As far as I can tell that should cover everything except potassium.
 
Fish are somewhat unconcerned with nitrate levels caused by adding fertilisers. By adding them, you are ensuring good plant growth, and so, a healthy environment for your fish.

Nitrate levels are usually a symptom of neglect, but not the root cause of the issue.
 
I'd just do a weekly large water change, there's your NO3.
Feed fish well.
Dose the Easy carb daily and at a relative high rate.
I'd switch K2SO4 with the KNO3 for dosing EI, and then use about 1/2 EI, maybe 1/3 EI ranges.

Add some fish/algae eaters, Bushy nose plecos, gold nuggets etc, shrimp etc.
 
Thanks Tom!
Is there a reason why I need more sulphate or would I be okay with something like Easy Kalium?
 
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