ojustaboo
Member
- Joined
- 15 Mar 2011
- Messages
- 200
Hi all
Have read through the stickies and loads of other posts and the more I read, the more confused I get (nothing new there).
190Lt corner tank. Pressurised CO2
I asked the waterboard what my GH is and they tell me that my water is hard and It's 16.1 degrees German.
My tap water PH (after 24hrs) is 7.5
I'm grasping the concept but am confused over the different terms and suggestions. For instance, in Clives Tutorial it suggests no added ferts for 2 days before water change but on the Excel dosing calc, it shows ferts added every day.
Then if I understand correctly, there's different chemicals I can get the same nutrients from, for example Nitrate from, either Potassium or Ammonium Nitrate. Does it make any difference which I go for or (as is probably the case) am I completely misunderstanding something?
Adding different powders to the tank for 5 days then resting for 2 days seems simple enough to me, but which powders and in which quantity (even after using a couple of calcs) has sent my brain into meltdown.
If I understand Clives tutorial correctly, I should be looking to add the following each week.
Nitrate (NO3) 20ppm per week.
Potassium (K) 30ppm per week.
Phosphate (PO4) 3ppm per week
Magnesium (Mg) 10ppm per week
Iron (Fe) 0.5ppm per week
He also suggests to achieve this on a 20 US gallon tank, I would do
Sunday 50% or more Water Change then dose [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Monday 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
Tuesday - [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Wednesday - 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
Thursday - [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Friday Rest
Saturday - Rest
190Ltrs works out at around 50 US gallons so in theory, simply adding 2.5 times what he suggests I should be there?
How I would measure 2.5 x 3/16 teaspoon of KN03 is something I will worry about when I work out if I'm thinking correctly
That seems relatively straight forward but then it gets confusing.
What he's adding Sunday to Thursday doesn't exactly match up with the list above that that I thought I should be adding weekly. For example, we have CSM+B
To further confuse me I look at the Excel dosing spreadsheet and it gives doses for every day (no 2 day rest) and in addition to the above, also includes
Trace Element Mix
Potassium Sulphate K2S04
Calcium Sulphate
and it also mentions Ammonium.
Finally there's the question of my GH. Is 16.1 German above 3 GH (is it 16.1 GH) or do I need GH booster
Many many thanks for your time and help
Joe
Have read through the stickies and loads of other posts and the more I read, the more confused I get (nothing new there).
190Lt corner tank. Pressurised CO2
I asked the waterboard what my GH is and they tell me that my water is hard and It's 16.1 degrees German.
My tap water PH (after 24hrs) is 7.5
I'm grasping the concept but am confused over the different terms and suggestions. For instance, in Clives Tutorial it suggests no added ferts for 2 days before water change but on the Excel dosing calc, it shows ferts added every day.
Then if I understand correctly, there's different chemicals I can get the same nutrients from, for example Nitrate from, either Potassium or Ammonium Nitrate. Does it make any difference which I go for or (as is probably the case) am I completely misunderstanding something?
Adding different powders to the tank for 5 days then resting for 2 days seems simple enough to me, but which powders and in which quantity (even after using a couple of calcs) has sent my brain into meltdown.
If I understand Clives tutorial correctly, I should be looking to add the following each week.
Nitrate (NO3) 20ppm per week.
Potassium (K) 30ppm per week.
Phosphate (PO4) 3ppm per week
Magnesium (Mg) 10ppm per week
Iron (Fe) 0.5ppm per week
He also suggests to achieve this on a 20 US gallon tank, I would do
Sunday 50% or more Water Change then dose [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Monday 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
Tuesday - [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Wednesday - 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
Thursday - [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
Friday Rest
Saturday - Rest
190Ltrs works out at around 50 US gallons so in theory, simply adding 2.5 times what he suggests I should be there?
How I would measure 2.5 x 3/16 teaspoon of KN03 is something I will worry about when I work out if I'm thinking correctly
That seems relatively straight forward but then it gets confusing.
What he's adding Sunday to Thursday doesn't exactly match up with the list above that that I thought I should be adding weekly. For example, we have CSM+B
To further confuse me I look at the Excel dosing spreadsheet and it gives doses for every day (no 2 day rest) and in addition to the above, also includes
Trace Element Mix
Potassium Sulphate K2S04
Calcium Sulphate
and it also mentions Ammonium.
Finally there's the question of my GH. Is 16.1 German above 3 GH (is it 16.1 GH) or do I need GH booster
Many many thanks for your time and help
Joe