Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropcheckers

[wet]

Hi. Recently Plantbrain linked my calculators here and, noticing the traffic, realized I never properly introduced these calculators to UKAPS. So, Hi, I'm wet and I'd like to share a couple of projects.

Yet Another Nutrient Calculator: http://calc.petalphile.com

Features

Support for more than 25 compounds/DIY fertilizers.
Support for more than 30 commerical products.
Calculates all macro and micronutrients.
Calculates dosing for the three most popular DIY methods (EI, PPS-Pro, and PMDD).
Friendly input: you could use 3/4, 0.75, or 0,75 teaspoons, for example.
Dry dosing or solutions for target or dose or teaspoon or bottlecap.
Solubility checks.
Toxicity checks and a wiki for Copper.
Warnings for tricky compounds (ex: K3PO4, EDDHA Iron, etc)
Mobile-friendly interface available at http://calc.petalphile.com/mobile
Approved by PlantBrain/Tom Barr!
Interactive, zoomable, fancy charts (via HighCharts )
Modelling projections for your first month of dosing by method (EI, PPS-Pro, etc) as well as suggested guidelines for each method.
Translations in Dutch, Italian, German, Japanese, Brazillian Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish (Actively seeking new translations! See http://calc.petalphile.com/contribute_translation )
Tiny, simple, english-only calculator available at http://tinycalc.petalphile.com

Concentrations of Stuff vs Time and Plant Uptake (or, the EI calc): http://ei.petalphile.com

Features

Model effects of fertilizing 1-7 times a week
Model effects of changing any % water 1-7 times a week, or 1-4 times a month
Project these models from 1 month to 1 year
Account for plant uptake, feeding, stuff/nutrients in tap water, and many other variables
Your choice of interactive (JavaScript) or simple (png) charts
CSV output for you spreadsheet nerds
Regression for the math nerds

Here's a short video clicking around the above calculators:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... XwnKN_Mq2M

Glutaraldehyde Converter: http://glut.petalphile.com

Features

Take, like, any Glutaraldehyde source and quickly and easily convert it to a 1.5% solution (cloning many commercial Glut. sources)
See the tips for standard warnings
Fast, cool, entirely browser-side calculator

Reference KH for target CO2 calculator (for Dropcheckers): http://dropcheck.petalphile.com/

Features

Make a DIY reference KH solution to target any ppm CO2
See models around error ranges for drop checkers (for example, a 4dKH solution that is green may be 18ppm CO2. It may be 45ppm)
Use two drop checkers to make a smaller ballpark of CO2 ranges
Make your own pH test kit chart
Calibrate for green or yellow drop checkers

I hope you try out and find use for these tools. Suggestions are always appreciated, and you can either post to these threads around the Internet, contact me at http://contact.petalphile.com/ , or open a request at https://github.com/flores All these calculators are free, open-source, and entirely supported without ads.

Thanks!

 

[GillesF]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Didn't know about the 4dKH calculator, very useful, thanks!

 

[Alastair]

Great article and very useful too

 

[wet]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Just a handful of info updates for http://calc.petalphile.com . Most of these have been live for a while.

New translations:

Lithuanian from Tautvilas
Polish (in progress) from Tomek

Traffic map for version 2:
We're at about 9 weeks and looking good. Google changed their demographics maps but hopefully this is still readable.

For developers:

Here's some JSON objects of all the compounds, commercial products, and dosing methods for the nutrient calculator. You might need to refresh the tab if you click on the links below. (Rack's XSS protection)

DIY/dry compounds: http://calc.petalphile.com/api/compounds.json
Pre-mixed/commercial stuff: http://calc.petalphile.com/api/commercial_products.json
Dosing recommendations for EI, PPS-Pro, PMDD, etc: http://calc.petalphile.com/api/dosing_methods.json
These resources: http://calc.petalphile.com/api/resources.json

Known forks of this data:

patw has updated his Spreadsheet. This is the one that sums up all sorts of stuff for you and lets you make combination mixes: http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts....tion-spreadsheet-stocksolpro-5.html#post32684
Florin Ilia kindly hosts it for our Eu (and all!) friends here: http://www.ilia.name/florin/StockSolPro.zip

mistergreen has released version 2 of his iPhone/iPad app. This works offline in case you need that: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mistergreens-aquarium-fertilizer/

Thanks!

 

[sussex_cichlids]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Hi Wet
Looks really good bit complicated still could do with giving some instructions with it as its quite an advanced tool
and for my first go at using it i could get a reasonable answer.

I always try to stick to few rules when build website keep things simple show plenty of information and think of how a user would use its OK as you devoloped it you understand how it all works but think as if your just visiting having never seen it and you cannot understand and how it works could you use it

I miss using the PFK tools and calculators shame they no longer have all of them i asked a while ago on there facebook page they said they were all coming back but that must been a year ago such shame as found they had nearly every tool or calculator you would ever need i would use them almost every day Co2 bubble per second calculator was the handiest not found one since so be bit of hit and miss using experience and guessing the correct Bubbles Per Second

 

[plantbrain]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Wet, while like myself, you want to offer everything to everyone, and folks keep asking more question, there is a risk much like with EI of over complicating things.

Perhaps a simple tool for newbies, then go from there?

New folks will be scared silly.

 

[wet]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

This is good advice, and it's true: I originally built this calculator for myself and made the assumption I'm not the only gardener who thinks like me, and as a result we keep adding features from the community while possibly leaving some folks behind. And the most requested features for the next iteration are even nerdier! (Multiple things in a solution, summing up dosing ala some calendar or something, etc.) So let's build new calculators to fill this space for the other folks. Let's collaborate.

What do you think sussex_cichlids? Up for documentation or using the existing data objects for a friendlier front-end or full-blown calculator? Do you find the interface easier if you use the mobile site ( http://calc.petalphile.com/mobile ) or the old calculator with less charts ( http://tinycalc.petalphile.com )? Got ideas for a new-gardener-friendly ui?

 

[wet]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Hey sussex_cichlids. Have you seen this? It's a beats per minute calculator for music, but I was just thinking this is an awesome bubbles per minute calculator for a planted tank.

http://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm

 

[geoffbark]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

Should this be made a sticky? And maybe some links to other calcs out there

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

I came across most of wets stuff though a google search, all very good stuff.

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Re: Sharing online calculators for ferts, glut, and dropchec

FWIW Looking through a couple of these calcs. The 4dkh ref solution is dealing with milligrams, I guess most people like myself who are diying wouldn't have scales working to this accuracy. I have always used the method of using a greater amount of bicarb then diluting this down to achieve the 4kh. Would be nice if that could be incorporated into the ref solution calc.

Interested in knowing which of the traces would also match the ones I use. I use Aqua essentials plus dry traces which they appear no longer to sell and can't seem to find the ratios for at the minute

Based on classing my traces as PlantedtanksUk for a 125ltr tank dosing 10ml 3xweek the calc says I would have to mix 18.6 grams in 250ml water

Now using James planted tank

10 gram of traces dosed 3x7ml would be ok! Seems to be a big difference.

Also I would lose the 2>4 times per week and just base it on 3x. For the ocd person trying to work out how much to dose and is new at keeping plants it's a bit vague. Seems like a lot of effort had been put into making sure everything is accurate to decimal places then finishing the calcs off with 2>4 times which could mean anything from 2/3 or four. I appreciate there's a lot of room for manoeuvre when dealing with salts but some folk don't.