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850ltr Tank fert recomendation.

Katfish

Katfish

Member
Joined
21 Jan 2012
Messages
141
Location
Tunbridge Wells
I am just in the process of adding co2 to my tank and start adding ferts.

I am stuck on the fert side of things as in I need an all in one solution as I would have to get the wife to dose tank when I am away.

I currently have in the tank Java Moss, Xmas moss, crypts, Anubis, Amazon swords, Dwarf Grass, Red Serpent & Vallisneria.

Hemianthus callitrichoides is going in this week

I have brought some dry salts as per the mix on theplantedtank.co.uk

This what I have
Potassium Nitrate
Monopotassium Phosphate
Potassium Sulphate
Magnesium Sulphate Heptahydrate (Epsom Salts)
E300 Ascorbic Acid
E202 Potassium Sorbate
TNC Trace

What is the best all in one solution i should make up for the plants I have or is there a better one or one someone can suggest?

Thank you
 
Hi Katfish
That's a large aquarium.
You would be better adding the salts dry.
Because if you made up a litre of fertilizer you probably only get two or three doses from it.
Dose 3 x week
2 teaspoons Kno3
6 teaspoons MgSo4
3/4 teaspoon Kh2po4

Trace 2 x week 3/4 teaspoon on non Macro days.Say Tuesday/Thursday T for Trace days only.

Make the macros up in small containers with the days on them for dosing cant be more simple than that.... tip them in the aquarium.
Put a label on the trace container as per instructions above.
hoggie
 
Thanks so as I will be using dry salts and not a solution I will not need the

Ascorbic Acid (E300)
Potassium Sorbate (E202)

But I still have a full pot of
Potassium Sulphate K2SO4

What can I do with this ? or do i just throw in the bin so to speak
 
Hi
No you don't need the Ascorbic Acid (E300)
Potassium Sorbate (E202)
You can send them to me if your gonna dose dry from now on :lol:
Will pay for them and postage ;)

Keep the Potassium Sulphate K2SO4 you can use it as a Potassium source.
hoggie
 
Katfish said:
I have brought some dry salts as per the mix on theplantedtank.co.uk

This what I have
Potassium Nitrate
Monopotassium Phosphate
Potassium Sulphate
Magnesium Sulphate Heptahydrate (Epsom Salts)
E300 Ascorbic Acid
E202 Potassium Sorbate
TNC Trace

What is the best all in one solution i should make up for the plants I have or is there a better one or one someone can suggest?
Click to expand...
Honestly people. If you went to the trouble of going to James website to see the list of ingredients for his all-in-one mix why on earth would you not simply use his all-in-one recipe? It's right there in front of you=> http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm

Using the all-in-one is exactly the same as dosing on independent days. Why would you not use it? This is the same as EI. There is really no difference, except you do not have to worry about dosing NPK on one day and traces the next. His recipe is to make life easier. Why not use it since you have bought the stuff already???

Cheers,
 
The reason I asked is when I worked it out I would need 1ltr of solution every 2 days.

also I asked as I have different plants than the ones on the site and did not know if they used more ferts etc

I am new to this and I always find it better to get it right the 1st time and ask the questions rather than lose my stock etc.
 
Katfish said:
The reason I asked is when I worked it out I would need 1ltr of solution every 2 days.
Click to expand...
But 99% of that 1L is water. Why not just add 10X as much powder to your solution and that way you only have to use 100L every two days. If you use the classic EI recipe you will dose just as much powder. Nothing will change.

Katfish said:
also I asked as I have different plants than the ones on the site and did not know if they used more ferts etc
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter what plants you have. Dosing programs would be unbelievably complicated if you had to make adjustments for the 300-400 different plant species...

Katfish said:
I am new to this and I always find it better to get it right the 1st time and ask the questions rather than lose my stock etc.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree, that's an excellent policy. But can you also see why hinch and I are incredulous? Using fertilizer is just like making coffee. You can make it strong and drink less or make it weak and drink more. At the end of the day it's the amount of powder that you are putting into the tank that counts. The water volumes are just their to simulate what the commercial brands do and to make it easy for you to measure. Think about this for a minute and it will become obvious.

Also you need to read this tutorial which disects the dry powder dosing scheme => http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1211

Cheers,
 
Clive
Well have you ever tried to mix that amount of powders salts in 500ml of water?
I have and most of it wont dissolve.
That's why i advised him to dose dry whats so hard about that..he was looking for something easy for his wife to do when he was away.
I think throwing a few tubs of dry ferts in the tank is easier than measuring out liquid ferts.
hoggie
 
Hoggie,
What I'm trying to get across is that it doesn't matter how much water you use in any mix. If 500ml won't dissolve then use a liter. However, it's an all-in-one, so you can dump the water in the tank and be done with it. This has to be balanced against the complaint that so many people make about not remembering what day to dose what fert. Does that sound familiar? I assume that is the attraction of the all-in-one and why the OP chose that formulation on James' site instead of the 4 other PMDD/EI formulations on the site.

Yes, you and I know it's not that hard. I'm not disagreeing with you mate, but will the wife agree? He can make up any volume of all-in-one that he wants. Mix it in a 5 gallon bucket if he wants, and then all she has to do is grab a jug of it and dump it in the tank. That's my point.

Cheers,
 
Hi Clive
I get your point...I know you can dose 100grams of salts in a 5 gallon bucket.
The thing is would he like a 5 gallon bucket of water lying around for weeks on end.
I have a 2 bed flat and my Missus wouldn't be too happy.. its all about convenience whats convenient for you may not be for someone else.
Cheers
hoggie
 
I generally do 2 mixes..........one for the macros and one for the traces. This is more out of habit.
I sometimes dose more Traces during the week.....and feed the fish more etc.

So I will not dose the macros as much.

You can do this at the individual level also, but for the wife.....may as well make is as simple as you can.
 
Making the water you are trying to dissolve the ferts in would help quite a bit.

I have prepared 2 months supply at 20ml per dose EI stock solutions for a 450 liter tank and all the salts dissolved just fine in 600ml of lukewarm water with some shaking. It contains

10 tsp KNO3
2.5 tsp KH2PO4
2.5 tsp K2SO4
40 grams MgSO4

Im sure another 2-2.5 tsp of Traces would have dissolved in it just fine

Just out of curiosity to make the AIO solution do I NEED Potassium Sorbate or is just Ascorbic acid just fine on its own to prevent the TE and MAcros from reacting ? And do I have to use lab grade Ascorbic acid or could I just crush a couple of basic 500mg vitamin C tablets and use that ?
 
Mortis said:
...Just out of curiosity to make the AIO solution do I NEED Potassium Sorbate or is just Ascorbic acid just fine on its own to prevent the TE and MAcros from reacting ? And do I have to use lab grade Ascorbic acid or could I just crush a couple of basic 500mg vitamin C tablets and use that ?
Click to expand...
The Potassium Sorbate is a mould inhibitor. The Vitamin C is just to make the solution acidic. Really you can use any acid, but Vitamin C works just fine and is not dangerous. I believe James targeting a pH of 6 in this formulation so just get the pH of the solution to that target and you'll be fine. Whether you can crush some VitaminC tablets, I don't really know. I doubt very much that 100 percent of any tablet is the active ingredient. Most of a tablet is just filler to bulk it up so you can swallow it. If you don;t reach the target pH you run the risk of losing the chelation. The chelation of the traces works best in acidic conditions. You do not need lab grade. Food grade works just fine.

Cheers,
 
Ive never had a problem with mould so I think I could skip the Potassium sorbate. As you mentioned Vit C tablets would probably contain various fillers so better no to take a chance. I have been using separate mixes for macros so far and I think Ill stick with them rather than getting another chemical n what not.

Hoggie : Just buy some distilled bottled water or use RO water for your mix then
 
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