Cliff's Notes on Micros

Fishly

Discussion Starter · #1 · Sep 12, 2020

1948 8

The custom micro mix thread has reached nearly 100 pages and nearly 1,500 posts. Additionally, the old threads on trace toxicity are long and full of chaff. Now, I try not to be lazy and generally am willing to put some time into researching a topic, but this is a bit much. I realized I'm probably not the only one getting overwhelmed. Could someone give a summary of what we currently know about micro dosing, in particular:

1. Is micro toxicity a thing? Are there certain nutrients that we can lard on without a problem and others that we have to watch out for?

2. What is the difference between the various chelators? Do those differences really matter? Does the buildup of chelators cause harm? Is there a problem with using multiple chelators in the same tank?

3. How do you identify micro toxicities or deficiencies?

4. Tap water and soil usually have some nutrients. If you have a low-light tank, especially a dirt tank, do you still need to add micros? Does fish food have enough micros to have an effect? Do "shrimp blocks" give off anything useful to plants?

5. Is CSM+B a good or bad micro mix? How does it compare to other micro mixes?

6. Iron is usually grouped with micros. How much iron do we really need to add? Does the source matter? Is it better to add iron to the water or have it in the substrate?

7. How important are nutrient ratios? Which ones do we really need to worry about? Not just between different micronutrients but also between micros and macros.

8. Can dosing or overdosing micros be beneficial or harmful to fish or inverts?

9. Keeping in mind that plant species have different preferences, and as aquarists we're better off striving for "good enough" than "ideal", in general, what dose should we use for each micronutrient?

10. Is there anything else we should know about dosing micronutrients?

It's okay if you can only answer one or two questions. I just think the topic has grown to the point that having all the info consolidated in one thread would be helpful. Since this is also meant to help newbies, please try to keep your explanations in layman's terms. If you know of a good explanation elsewhere on the forum, please paste or quote it here or link to a particular post. It's very frustrating to sift through a dozen-page thread for a single answer or to have to go through a dozen threads on the same topic, each with only one or two pieces of the puzzle.

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Deanna

· Registered

Joined Feb 15, 2017

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2,602 Posts

#5 · Sep 16, 2020

Any of us could add variations to what @aclaar877 highlighted, but he captures the essence pretty well.

I will state that you can deliver toxic levels of micros. I've done it and saw severely crimped new growth within days. It was a dump of my micros due to a failed autodoser, so it was a large overdose. Plenty of water changes, and a week or two later and things were right again. So, toxicity is an issue, but I think only deadly at levels well above where we play. As mentioned, above, the main concern is with interference of other nutrient uptake.

To get a feel for this, check out Mulder's chart. Examples are spread throughout the forum. Here is one of the simpler versions: https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8-general-planted-tank-discussion/1311047-i-cant-find-balance-between-healthy-plant-growth-algae-driving-me-crazy-6.html#post11359851

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