dosing questions...

Look up the pps dosing method.

How are you doing your water changes? If you use a water changer, it shouldn't be a problem regardless of the location of the tanks.

I prefer the Aqueon brand, but there are other brands from which you can choose. http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Aquari...&qid=1344261216&sr=8-1&keywords=water+changer

Aquinoobie16 said:

Ok so i wanna dose ferts in my tank but i dont wanna do a 50% water change weekly... is there any method i can use that would eliminate this step... i do 10% changes in my tanks weekly (less water makes it more managable(sp?) since my tanks are upstairs) is there any method that would make this work?

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setup a low light tank with low lights plants then you don't have to worry about the water changes much.

Dosing Questions

Aquinoobie16 said:

Ok so i wanna dose ferts in my tank but i dont wanna do a 50% water change weekly... is there any method i can use that would eliminate this step... i do 10% changes in my tanks weekly (less water makes it more managable(sp?) since my tanks are upstairs) is there any method that would make this work?

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Hello Aquin...

If you don't have many fish and keep land plants in your tanks like Chinese Evergreens, you can get by with small water changes. But, if you get out the equipment to do a water change, it doesn't take a lot more effort to remove 20 or 30 percent of the tank water. Your fish will be healthier if you change out more water.

Anyway, if you want simple, then dose liquid ferts. I dose them weekly and just follow the container instructions. I like hydroponics ferts, they work well and are inexpensive.

Consider larger water changes, though.

B

BBradbury said:

Anyway, if you want simple, then dose liquid ferts. I dose them weekly and just follow the container instructions. I like hydroponics ferts, they work well and are inexpensive.

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Actually, there's nothing special about liquid ferts. They are the same thing as dry ferts, only they have water added. Often they are diluted more than what most people who use dry ferts want. As a result, they are actually quite a bit more expensive.

You can accomplish the same thing by getting dry ferts and adding water to them. If you want to dilute them more than EI dosing suggests, then add more water. You get the same stuff for a fraction of the cost.

Dosing weekly instead of daily merely dilutes the ferts that much more.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with liquid ferts, and for some, they are exactly what is wanted. But it's important to understand what they are in relation to dry ferts, especially when discussing costs. Liquid ferts are extremely expensive compared to dry ferts.

You don't say whether you are using CO2 or how much light is over the tank.

I used Excel dosed as suggested in the 10 gallon tank and weekly did my water change and dosed 1/3 the EI amount. Worked great.

You could play with this calculator to estimate how nutrients might operate in your tank. In my little tank looks like a 20% weekly change tops out at 32ppm NO4 and a 10% change tops out at 63 ppm given 25% uptake over a year's time.
http://calc.petalphile.com/