powdered macros, guidance needed

[Arte Et Labore 1875]

Hi all, this is my first post so i hope I don't babble on too much...

i've been into planted tanks for a few years now but i've always kept the ferterlising simple, i think its time i started dosing dry powders.

I will base this on my 120L, i currently dose TPN for trace and TPN+ for my macros, i alternate a 3ml dose each day, co2 is pressurised and stable at 30ppm, photoperiod is 7 hours from 2 T5 tubes and i occasionally add TPN capsules to the substrate.

I have never dosed iron and i dont think its a ingredient in tpn or + so this is a obvious defficiency, other than that i guess i need to dose Potassium Nitrate and Potassium Phosphate but i have no clue how much and how often...

Also my water is very very soft, KH and GH are pretty much un-traceable with standard kits, does this mean i will have very low amounts of calcium and magnesium? If so is it necessary to dose these and if so how much?

I'd like to use powders in conjunction with tpn and tpn+ and despite days of research i'm still not sure exactly what to dose or how much and how often - this is why i need the help of experienced members. Any guidance that you can give would be a huge help to me.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

J

 

[Steve Smith]

Hi J, and welcome to UKAPS

Have you had a read about Estimative Index (EI)? EI is one of the dosing methods used by many (although there are alternatives) which uses dry powders. This method can be tailored to your particular tank and lighting/CO2 levels. Check out these two articles if you haven't already:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=13

http://www.ukaps.org/EI.htm

It can be quite daunting, but once you get your head around the numbers (or cheat and use a something like NutriCalc ) it's not that difficult. It boils down to dosing X amount of each powder every day/every other day.

 

[Arte Et Labore 1875]

thanks for the reply steve, i had a good read through those links and it cleared up a couple of things.

I'm not sure i want to stop adding tpn+ completely as i have had good results from it in the past and standard TPN is fine for the trace elements so my question is would it be beneficial to add additional macros on top of my current dosing schedule?

I was thinking of adding Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate and magnesium for my non-existent GH and potentially extra Iron, would this be beneficial for my plants? What effects does my extremely low GH and KH have on the system?


I saw this solution:
33g Potassium Nitrate
7.2g Potassium Phosphate
250ml Water

on my 3 days of dosing macros how many ml do i use each day for the tank specs in the 1st post?

 

[Steve Smith]

TPN+ already contains phosphate and nitrate so I don't think it would be worth adding dry powders, when you could just up the dosage of TPN+. TPN provides the trace elements which includes iron

JamesC has a great write up on making your own TPN+ with dry salts, but the information is useful as it tells you what's in TPN+

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm

 

[Arte Et Labore 1875]

Thanks again for your reply steve, so the only added ingredients in tpn+ compared to standard tpn is nitrogen, potassium and phospate?

if so then are the only benefits of making my own macro solution a slightly more controled fertilising regime and a slightly heavier wallet?

Finally, people say that overdosing plant nutrients will cause algae blooms, however i've never seen any evidence of this in my tanks - can someone clear it up for me?

 

[Steve Smith]

Essentially, yes Making your own works out cheaper for definite.

Overdosing isn't necessarily a good thing but if your tank maintenance is up to scratch then it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The EI method basically uses the idea of dosing more nutrients then are required to guarantee there are no deficiencies. This is why part of the EI method is to do regular weekly 50% water changes, to reset the levels of ferts and start again.

 

[Arte Et Labore 1875]

Thats always good its something i will look into more.

So what are the negative effects to overdosing (EI) that i should look out for?

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Arte Et Labore 1875

So what are the negative effects to overdosing (EI) that i should look out for?

Well I haven't seen any .
Healthy plants and no algae .

 

[Arte Et Labore 1875]

Hi CeeJay, can i trouble you for your tank specs, plants and dosing regime?

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Arte ET Labore

No problem.
Tank specs are:
180l,
90w T5HO lighting,
Hydor inline heater
Pressurised CO2 through Aquamedic 1000 inline reactor,
1 Tetratec EX1200 and 1 Tetratec EX700 filter (Couldn't fit two EX1200's in my cabinet )
(The Aquamedic CO2 reactor is on the return of the EX1200 and the heater is on the return of the EX700)

Dosing
I'm afraid I only use teaspoons to measure
Macros
7.5 tsp KN03 (EI tutorial dose approx. 5.5 tsp)
6 tsp KH2PO4 (EI tutorial dose approx. 2 tsp, keeping my GSA at bay )
added to 600ml water and dosed 50ml 3 x per week

Trace
1.25 tsp added to 200ml water and dosed 25ml 2 x per week

Plants
Eleocharis Acicularis
Microsorum Pteropus
Crypt. Balansae

Not the most demanding plants I know, but I had tried the majority of the more common aquatic plants before this set up.

Hope that's of use to you.
Works for me .
Check out my 180l journal in my signature if you want to see the condition of my plants