dosing a 72 bow tank

[owens81jw]

hello all

Im recieving the following dry ferts tomorrow:

kno3
k2so4,
kh2po4,
CSM+B
10% iron cause my PH is 6.6
GH booster.

Giving that im off thursday and fridays, fridays is my sunday :

friday = 50% water changes, GH booster 1/2 Tsp
Saturday = 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 , 1/4 Tsp k2so4
sunday = 3/16Tsp-Trace, 1/4 Tsp Iron
monday = 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04, 1/4 Tsp k2so4,
tuesday = 3/16Tsp-Trace 1/4 Tsp Iron
wednesday=3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 1/4 Tsp k2so4
thursday= 3/16Tsp-Trace, 1/4 Iron Tsp


Is this correct?

[Dempsey]

Yeah, that looks fine. Here is the only thing that I would change but you don't have to.

friday = 50% water changes, GH booster 1/2 Tsp, 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 , 1/4 Tsp k2so4, 3/16Tsp-Trace, 1/4 Tsp Iron

Saturday = Nothing

sunday = 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04, 1/4 Tsp k2so4

monday = 3/16Tsp-Trace 1/4 Tsp Iron

tuesday = 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 1/4 Tsp k2so4

wednesday=3/16Tsp-Trace, 1/4 Iron Tsp

thursday= 3/4 Tsp-KN03,3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 1/4 Tsp k2so4

[stevenjohn21]

Dempsey... Its intresting that you are giving the plants a resting period the day after a water change, would you explain this ?
Wouldnt it be better to give the plants a resting period the day before a water change so that any excess nutrients in the water can be took in from the plants and then taken out by the water change?

[Dempsey]

Actually, I really wasn't giving them a "resting period". I just always thought it was silly to either not dose after a water change or just dose one, micro or macro.

The only reason I do it that way really, is so that at no point there is a "shortage" of nutrients.

On a side note, sometimes the day before a water change I dose a little extra for no other reason than "just in case". If they don't need it and I am adding too much, no biggy since I am doing a water change the following day. 80%.

[stevenjohn21]

Originally Posted by Dempsey

On a side note, sometimes the day before a water change I dose a little extra for no other reason than "just in case". If they don't need it and I am adding too much, no biggy since I am doing a water change the following day. 80%.

That makes sense.
I just thought by dosing both Micro & Macro on the same day is a waste since iron and phosphate form ferric phosphate which is unsoluble when they are dosed too close together ? Im still new at dry ferts also so dont shoot me ;-)

[Darkblade48]

Originally Posted by stevenjohn21

That makes sense.
I just thought by dosing both Micro & Macro on the same day is a waste since iron and phosphate form ferric phosphate which is unsoluble when they are dosed too close together ? Im still new at dry ferts also so dont shoot me ;-)

Iron and phosphate will form iron phosphate, but this really only occurs to any large extent in concentrated solutions.

Given that we are dosing small amounts of fertilizer and they are diluted rather quickly in the aquarium, the chances of iron phosphate forming are lower (still possible, however).

I think the one day where the macro and micronutrients are doubled up is fine.

[Dempsey]

Correct, and not to hijack but Congrats, Anthony!

To be safe, I dose them about 5mins apart after the WC. Some folks don't even do that, they just dose on either sides of the tank.

This is really more of a concern if you are making dosing liquids. Then of course, you wouldn't want to mix them together.

I will say this; I dose lots of Fe and I did once turn my tank water into milk. That was my fault though, I dumped them in the tank after a WC with no pumps or filters running and to top it off, I dumped them right ontop of eachother...

Originally Posted by Darkblade48

Iron and phosphate will form iron phosphate, but this really only occurs to any large extent in concentrated solutions.

Given that we are dosing small amounts of fertilizer and they are diluted rather quickly in the aquarium, the chances of iron phosphate forming are lower (still possible, however).

I think the one day where the macro and micronutrients are doubled up is fine.

[homemadepopcorn]

Were you using chelated Fe? I didn't think that you'd form metal phosphates using chelated micros.

[Darkblade48]

Originally Posted by homemadepopcorn

Were you using chelated Fe? I didn't think that you'd form metal phosphates using chelated micros.

Theoretically, if everything is chelated perfectly, then yes, the iron molecules should be complexed and unable to precipitate with the phosphates.

Reality, however, is not always the same as theoretical.

[Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Darkblade48

Theoretically, if everything is chelated perfectly, then yes, the iron molecules should be complexed and unable to precipitate with the phosphates.

Reality, however, is not always the same as theoretical.

Well said. I used to use both. Now I use both 13% and 11% chelated Fe. It's happened with these also. Not as milky but still cloudy. It can still happen... Like I said before though, I just wait a few minutes before I dose and no issues.

[homemadepopcorn]

No, but this:

http://george-eby-research.com/html/...constants.html

is some food for thought. EDTA seems to have a fairly high affinity for metals.