Phill Joynes
Seedling
Please could someone help me do the maths here. This is what I have so far, but have checked using different calculators and have different figures every time, sometimes way out. My aquarium is 23 litres. I am just trying to work out the Macro solution, as I will be dosing Seachem Flourish (until it runs out) for trace.
I am trying to achieve the following a solution that is dosing 3 x 5ml weekly (nice and easy to do for my small aquarium).
So here are my maths:
Based on the dosing article on this site a 20 Gallon (assume imperial measurement) should be making the solution:
[3/16 tsp KNO3]*12 = 2 ¼ tsp KNO3
[1/16 tsp KH2PO4]*12 = ¾ tsp KH2PO4
[1/2 tsp MgSO4]*12 = 6 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 600ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 600ml/12 = 50ml
Therefore I believe my 23 litre, which equates to 5.05929 gallons (lets call that 5 Gallons, makes it a lot easier) so the calculations would be a quarter of the mixture:
[3/64 tsp KNO3]*12 = 9/16 tsp KNO3
[1/64 tsp KH2PO4]*12 = 3/16 tsp KH2PO4
[1/8 tsp MgSO4]*12 = 1 1/2 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 600ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 600ml/12 = 50ml
This is very small quantities and 50ml is 10 times that of my biggest syringe, so I will now attempt to get the measure to 5 ml. To do this I will do two things, 1 half the amount of water mixed from 600ml to 300ml (I only have 500ml bottles anyway), so my dose will not be 25ml, so still 5 times bigger than I would like. Next I will increase the powers by 5 and this should allow me to dose 5ml once a week and give me 60 doses, 5 months.
[15/64 tsp KNO3]*5 = 1 11/64, lets call this 1 1/5 tsp KNO3
[5/64 tsp KH2PO4]*5 = 25/64, lets call this 2/5 tsp KH2PO4
[5/8 tsp MgSO4]*5 = 1 7/8, lets call this 2 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 300ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 300ml/60 = 5ml
Is this correct? The site I visited suggested (based on the EI article on this site, with a link and approval):
Macro Solution
4tsp Potassium Nitrate
1tsp Potassium Phosphate
6tsp Magnesium Sulphate
500ml Water
Dosing
Macro 3x a week. (10ml per 50ltr of Aquarium water)
So equivalent to the top mix would be:
Macro Solution
2tsp Potassium Nitrate
1/2tsp Potassium Phosphate
3tsp Magnesium Sulphate
250ml Water
Dosing
Macro 3x a week. (5ml about 25litre, roughly my aquarium size)
This is why I am confused and probably over analysing it! If someone could help we out with the maths that would be great! I am aiming at ultimately using this a base line and then amending it if needed (if I have a deficiency and I my try and wind it down one by one slowly). So if I could make 5ml (any whole number between 1 and 5ml would be fine) doses that will last for about 3 months that would be great (I only have a 500ml bottle, so no more mix than that please)?
My water supply has a hardness of this:
Total hardness (various measurements) Fluoride
mgl CaCO3 (ppm) Degrees Clarke Degrees German(DH) Degrees French Detergent rating Fluoride(ppm)
253 17.71 14.168 25.3 HARD 0.123375
Should I still does the Magnesium Sulphate or not?
Also I noticed that in the article trace is only dosed 2 a week, is this correct or should it be 3 times, like Macro?
Thanks for even looking at this long post.
I am trying to achieve the following a solution that is dosing 3 x 5ml weekly (nice and easy to do for my small aquarium).
So here are my maths:
Based on the dosing article on this site a 20 Gallon (assume imperial measurement) should be making the solution:
[3/16 tsp KNO3]*12 = 2 ¼ tsp KNO3
[1/16 tsp KH2PO4]*12 = ¾ tsp KH2PO4
[1/2 tsp MgSO4]*12 = 6 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 600ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 600ml/12 = 50ml
Therefore I believe my 23 litre, which equates to 5.05929 gallons (lets call that 5 Gallons, makes it a lot easier) so the calculations would be a quarter of the mixture:
[3/64 tsp KNO3]*12 = 9/16 tsp KNO3
[1/64 tsp KH2PO4]*12 = 3/16 tsp KH2PO4
[1/8 tsp MgSO4]*12 = 1 1/2 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 600ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 600ml/12 = 50ml
This is very small quantities and 50ml is 10 times that of my biggest syringe, so I will now attempt to get the measure to 5 ml. To do this I will do two things, 1 half the amount of water mixed from 600ml to 300ml (I only have 500ml bottles anyway), so my dose will not be 25ml, so still 5 times bigger than I would like. Next I will increase the powers by 5 and this should allow me to dose 5ml once a week and give me 60 doses, 5 months.
[15/64 tsp KNO3]*5 = 1 11/64, lets call this 1 1/5 tsp KNO3
[5/64 tsp KH2PO4]*5 = 25/64, lets call this 2/5 tsp KH2PO4
[5/8 tsp MgSO4]*5 = 1 7/8, lets call this 2 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 300ml of tap or distilled water
This mixture must serve 12 doses so each dose is 300ml/60 = 5ml
Is this correct? The site I visited suggested (based on the EI article on this site, with a link and approval):
Macro Solution
4tsp Potassium Nitrate
1tsp Potassium Phosphate
6tsp Magnesium Sulphate
500ml Water
Dosing
Macro 3x a week. (10ml per 50ltr of Aquarium water)
So equivalent to the top mix would be:
Macro Solution
2tsp Potassium Nitrate
1/2tsp Potassium Phosphate
3tsp Magnesium Sulphate
250ml Water
Dosing
Macro 3x a week. (5ml about 25litre, roughly my aquarium size)
This is why I am confused and probably over analysing it! If someone could help we out with the maths that would be great! I am aiming at ultimately using this a base line and then amending it if needed (if I have a deficiency and I my try and wind it down one by one slowly). So if I could make 5ml (any whole number between 1 and 5ml would be fine) doses that will last for about 3 months that would be great (I only have a 500ml bottle, so no more mix than that please)?
My water supply has a hardness of this:
Total hardness (various measurements) Fluoride
mgl CaCO3 (ppm) Degrees Clarke Degrees German(DH) Degrees French Detergent rating Fluoride(ppm)
253 17.71 14.168 25.3 HARD 0.123375
Should I still does the Magnesium Sulphate or not?
Also I noticed that in the article trace is only dosed 2 a week, is this correct or should it be 3 times, like Macro?
Thanks for even looking at this long post.