[Raymond S.]

I have heard that this is at times hard to disolve ?
And to make sure I heard it right or I'm not mixing the wrong two nutrients in this equasion...it should be used in a 4/1 ratio/w MGSO4 ?
So if I just put it into my filter, won't the water flow disolve it for me ?
The MGSO4 is already on my once a week dosing list and actually I turn off my filter to do water changes and put my other dry ferts in there before I turn it back on so why not just add this one also.
I've had a couple of wrinkled leaves lately and there is a gap in my shrimp's shell on a couple of them. I was told to add MGSO4 for this but just read that the CaSO4 also needs to go/w it for the plants...so...

 

[acitydweller]

yep. this is true as CaSO4 is used as a coagulant in products.

 

[jrman83]

What is the gh of your tap? You may have adequate amounts already.

Pretty sure I have CaSO4 at home. If I remember right there was nothing special putting it in the water. I dosed like any other fert and had no issue. Took a little while to dissolve, but no longer than say GH booster.

 

[Positron]

I just recently been having trouble with wrinkled leaves. My tap has a low gh and I added dolomitic limestone to the bottom of the tank when I set it up. It seems like the mg part of the stone is leaching faster and throwing off my ratio. At one point I tested my gh to be 2.5 and Ca to be less than 10ppm. That means there was way to much Mg in there compared to Ca and even K+. I have to up my Ca by adding 25ppm CaCl2 after a water change.

So yes I have seen that ratio be important, and too much Mg can effect uptake of other nutrients. The easiest answer is to try adding 15 ppm of Ca and see what happens.

CaSO4 is a pain to dissolve. I use it in my smaller tanks with a HOB filter and just dust it in there and let the filter take care of it. For my 75 gallon with canisters, I use CaCl2 and if I need to add even more I supplement with CaCl2 + CaSO4 to keep the chloride content below 40 ppm.