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Nowhere to buy trace elements!!

Ok, so for my 1500L, you think I should dose 9g per week…. Spread over the week? So say, 3 x 3g per week?


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Depends on your target ppm or what dosing regime you are using/following

for example, say you wish to follow TNC complete for low tech tank or low light with a little CO2
1632467006735.png

N.B. I have increased the dose to 1.0g/100Litres/week for all Solufeeds NPK and trace products in pics above and just below
Both 4:1:2 and 2:1:4 have similar yields for trace elements
1632467179242.png
1632467234342.png
1632467277283.png


The upper limit used for a high tech tank is about 3.0ppm PO4
All the Solufeeds NPK and trace products are little low in Fe compared to most ferts used in our tanks. Although the rest of the trace elements ppms are not too bad.

Like @dw1305 posted the 2:1:4 is probably the better option has it has more K, but K ppms are easy boosted with adding some K salts cheapy so either salt isn't a deal breaker IMO.
The 4:1:2 has extra NO3 which will do no harm at those levels plus it has little more Fe also.
Based on the above I would probably dose 1.5g/100Litres/week after @dw1305 input and add a little extra Fe if the plants developed Fe deficiency
which would yield
N.B. I have increased the dose to 1.5g/100Litres/week for all Solufeeds NPK and trace products below
1632468460882.png

1632468523860.png


But both 4:1:2 and the 2:1:4 seem good value for money and 'may' just need a little fine tuning with Fe and K salts for low tech. For high tech the Solufeeds Trace and other salts for NPK is probably the easier option, unless Myself and @Hanuman integrate the Solufeed NPK +Trace salts into the IFC calculator which would require some thought and time, unfortunately time neither of us have ATM for larger integrations, adding the 6 products for a compare was very easy - just six lines of inputs on one sheet
1632469747293.png


There is always paper and pen or a spreadsheet option to calculate the ppms, which is the origin of the IFC calculator
 
Hi all,
Based on the above I would probably dose 1.5g/100Litres/week after @dw1305 input and add a little extra Fe if the plants developed Fe deficiency.
Looks pretty good for the Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4 mix.

If you did want to add more potassium (K) or magnesium (Mg), potassium chloride (KCl) and ,<"Epsom Salts" (MgSO4.7H2O)"> are cheap and easily obtainable. For added iron it is going to depend on your pH, but FeEDTA (low pH) or <"FeEDDHA"> (higher pH) are both easy to get hold of.
a spreadsheet option to calculate the ppms, which is the origin of the IFC calculator
That was my original, just an <"Excel Spreadsheet with a periodic table">, it allow you to work out the <"nutrient yield for any possible compound"> as long as you have its formula.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi @Zeus. and @dw1305 hope you’re well. My tank is being redone next week I’ve just ordered nearly £400 of plants and due next week. I did order the sodium free tec
And I’ve just now ordered the 2:1:4 high K

I just wondered if you ever added these solufeed products to the tool at all?

Looking back I can see you recommended 1.5g/100L/week, I just wanted to triple check this for my high tech 1500L tank.

It’ll be co2 injected with 4 x ADA Solar RGBs on it so it’s got umph for plants haha.

Love to hear from ya again to clarify dry dosing once more.

Cheers gents
 
On the released version we have

View attachment 178521

On my version I have
View attachment 178522
Some of them will probably be unsuitable for us to use and will be taken off

Ok cool. So am I right in saying I should dose 1.5g/100L/week of the 2:1:4

For me, that would be 22.5g per week.

I would spread this over the week.

But what about the micronutrients … the sodium free tec? Still based on 1.5g per 100L per week?

Cheers


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Solufeed High K has micro elements included!
So you may not need to add much micros.

Hi GHNelson, yes I can see and was aware of this.

I was hoping to be advised on how much to dose the NPK, then I’ll take a bit off the micronutrients.

For example, like 22.5g per week NPK, then I would just slightly supplement this with additional micronutrients .. like 10g micro per week.

Please let me know if I’m miles out

Cheers


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Hi all,
Solufeed High K has micro elements included!
For example, like 22.5g per week NPK, then I would just slightly supplement this with additional micronutrients .. like 10g micro per week.

Please let me know if I’m miles out
You should be fine with the micro nutrient dosage just from the Solufeed. The micro-nutrients are "trace elements" because plants only <"need a trace of them">.
So am I right in saying I should dose 1.5g/100L/week of the 2:1:4 For me, that would be 22.5g per week.
That sounds <"about right">. You might need to dose a bit more because you have high light / high CO2.

The maths is pretty straight forward for any of the nutrients.

If I just use nitrogen, total nitrogen content of the <"Solufeed 2 : 1 : 4"> is 15% N, (7% urea (CO(NH2)2) and 8% nitrate (NO3)).

22.5g of Solufeed contains (0.15 x 22.5 = 3.38) 3.4g of Nitrogen and that is ((3.4 / 1500) * 1000) = 2.25 ppm (mg/L) nitrogen (N).

If we assume that all the nitrogen is actually nitrate (NO3), then we need to multiply the nitrogen value by 4.43* (62/14) to get to the "10ppm NO3" per week the Solufeed is supplying .

*The "4.43" figure is the RAM of N (14) divided by the RMM of NO3 (14 + (16*3)).

cheers Darrel
 
Hi Darrel,

Thanks for that, it is a lot of info that some I don’t understand but I see the maths you were doing. Just want to know how many grams per week of the solufeed NPK 2:1:4 I should use

And, I wonder if I should be using the Solufeed Sodium Free TEC at all because the copper and Iron are rather high.

@Zeus. Could you comment to clarify mate? Getting pre-setup nerves about the dosing haha

I will definitely dose 22.5g of the 2:1:4 NPK per week on my 1500L.

I just want to know how much, if at all I dose the sodium free TEC micronutrient from Solufeed.

image.jpg


Cheers
 
Hi all,
Thanks for that, it is a lot of info that some I don’t understand but I see the maths you were doing.
That is the advantage of using a nutrient calculator like <"our IFC">, or the <"Rotala Butterfly">, one, it does the maths for you. You can use the same approach (you just need to know the percentage of the nutrient you are interested in, the weight of fertiliser and the volume of the tank) to work out the amount of nutrient supplied.
And, I wonder if I should be using the Solufeed Sodium Free TEC at all because the copper and Iron are rather high.
I really wouldn't worry about that.
Solufeed High K has micro elements included!
So you may not need to add much micros.
I just want to know how much, if at all I dose the sodium free TEC micronutrient from Solufeed.
I'd start by not using the <"microelement mix">, I'd agree with @GHNelson you are probably going to be supplying enough with your <"2 : 1 : 4"> mix and you can always add it in later on if you think something is deficient.

If you did want to add the micro-mix? Just use a nutrient level you are happy with for any one of the nutrients.

I'm going to say an additional 0.25 mg/L (ppm) for iron (As FeEDTA). You have "8.4% Fe" so that works out as ~4.5 g of the TEC mix in 1500 litres (some-one could check). From that 4.5 g weight you can work out how much manganese (Mn) (2%) etc you've added.

cheers Darrel
 
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I'm going to say an additional 0.25 mg/L (ppm) for iron (As FeEDTA). You have "8.4% Fe" so that works out as ~4.5 g of the TEC mix in 1500 litres (some-one could check). From that 4.5 g weight you can work out how much manganese (Mn) (2%) etc you've added.

cheers Darrel

Hi Darrel how do you work out the percentage 8.4% Fe to grams based on the volume? I’d love to know how to work that out!

Cheers mate


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Hi Darrel how do you work out the percentage 8.4% Fe to grams based on the volume? I’d love to know how to work that out!

Cheers mate


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TEC compound contains 8.4% Fe or 84 mg per gram.

1 gram of TEC in 1 liter of water gives you 84 ppm of Fe or 84/1500 = 0.056 ppm in 1500 Liter. so to reach 0.25 ppm of Fe in 1500 Liter you need 0.25 / 0.056 = 4.464 grams.

Or if you go by Darrel's advice you get:

4500 mg x 8.4% diluted into 1500 Liter = (4500 * 0.084) / 1500 = 0.252 ppm. of Fe

Hope that helps,
Michael
 
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Hi all,
how do you work out the percentage 8.4% Fe to grams based on the volume?
TEC compound contains 8.4% Fe or 84 mg per gram.

1 gram of TEC in 1 liter of water gives you 84 ppm of Fe or 84/1500 = 0.056 ppm in 1500 Liter. so to reach 0.25 ppm of Fe in 1500 Liter you need 0.25 / 0.056 = 4.464 grams.

Or if you go by Darrel's advice you get:

4500 mg x 8.4% diluted into 1500 Liter = (4500 * 0.084) / 1500 = 0.252 ppm. of Fe
Exactly like that.

For simple salts it is really straightforward, you just need to know the RAM of the elements and the RMM of the compound, so KNO3 would have a RMM of 101, worked out from the RAM of
<"potassium (K)">, nitrogen (N) and three oxygen (O) = 39 + 14 + (3*16) = 101 and 39% K+ and 61% NO3-.

If I'm doing it quickly (I can remember most RAMs) I just use a notional 100 litre tank, and then the 10^3 (mg to g) and 10^2 (litres) cancel out to just give me "divide by 10" (10^1). I'll be honest I don't usually worry too much about <"exact measurement"> myself.

For organic acids etc. it is a <"bit more tricky">, but the same principle, usually I just look them up on <"Wikipedia">.

cheers Darrel
 
With aquarium plant foods UK now shut I'd be interested to know how people are getting on with these mixes?
 
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Would these be similar to what APF used to sell?



Cheers!
 
Would these be similar to what APF used to sell?



Cheers!

Hi mate,

I’ve been going to eBay for magnesium sulphate and potassium phosphate, Amazon for Potassium Nitrate, and solufeed for their Sodium Free TEC for micronutrients




Amazon product ASIN B01IHNMSU6

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I’ve been going to eBay for magnesium sulphate and potassium phosphate, Amazon for Potassium Nitrate, and solufeed for their Sodium Free TEC for micronutrients
Understood, was more in regards if the CSM+B Trace mix was similar to what they used to sell instead of the Solufeed ;)
 
Hi mate,

I’ve been going to eBay for magnesium sulphate and potassium phosphate, Amazon for Potassium Nitrate, and solufeed for their Sodium Free TEC for micronutrients




Amazon product ASIN B01IHNMSU6

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That last link isn’t working on here but Amazon saltpetre and it comes up, a 3KG pale


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