help with dosing please

1675 Views 12 Replies 4 Participants Last post by mommabear1007, Jul 31, 2012

mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · Jul 26, 2012

I'm sorry this is another "how much to dose for this size aquarium" post..... But how much should I dose for a 29 gallon aquarium? I've been reading and reading for the past couple of weeks about EI and dosing. I just want to make sure. Math isn't really my thing. (Apparently, neither is planted tank-keeping, hah). This has one of the nutrafin natural plant system things on it for CO2. I will switch to DIY when I run out of the packets. It has t5ho aquaticlife fixture with one 24w 5600 k and one roseate bulb. I'm thinking of replacing the roseate with a 10000 k. but that's another story.

I'm awaiting the arrival of dry ferts. I have flourish comp. but it doesn't have enough macros from what I can tell (or any NO3). I ordered the green fertilizer package from greenleafaquariums. It has KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, and CSM+B. I don't entirely understand the implications of dosing dry ferts directly into your tank. I know I've read "warning/be careful" things here and there so it seemed like I should make solutions. If someone can explain this to me, please do. It would be easier to just toss them in there dry.

Plan: Find container to make liquid solutions (Does it matter what type of container I use? Also refrigerating the Flourish was recommended - is refrigerating these solutions also recommended?).

- Add 134.245 g OR 9 tbs, 1 & 1/4th tsp to 500 mL and dose 5 mL of KNO3
- Add 20.448 g OR 4 & 1/4th tsp to 500 mL and dose 5 mL of KH2PO4
- Add 183.477 g OR 12 tbs & 2 & 1/2 tsp to 500 mL and dose 5 mL of K2SO4
- Can't seem to figure out how to make a solution with the traces. :-/ So I was just going to mix with some aquarium water and then toss that in there.

Conversions are not exact. I would end up adding slightly less than recommended by calculator. If someone can tell me exactly how many fractions of teaspoons I would need, please do so. Math still isn't my thing.

then follow this regime:

Mon: KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Tue: 1/8th tsp traces
Wed: KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Thur: 1/8th tsp traces
Fri: prune, clean glass, 50% WC, add KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4

I'd prefer not to have to do anything on the weekend since this tank is at the office, across town.

Sorry for long post.

What do you guys think??

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HD Blazingwolf

· #2 · Jul 26, 2012

hey there!

just add the teaspon equialents to ur tank... dont mix it with water. that makes it painful and difficult

1/4 dry teaspoon for kn03, 1/16th teasspoon for csm+b and kh2po4.
1/2 teaspoon for ghbooster once per week

u do not need to add k2so4 if u add gh booster. i've never had to add it

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temple2101

· #3 · Jul 26, 2012

HD Blazingwolf said:
hey there!

just add the teaspon equialents to ur tank... dont mix it with water. that makes it painful and difficult

1/4 dry teaspoon for kn03, 1/16th teasspoon for csm+b and kh2po4.
1/2 teaspoon for ghbooster once per week

u do not need to add k2so4 if u add gh booster. i've never had to add it

+1. I have a 20 gallon and this is how I dose. I take a plastic solo cup, dip it in the tank and fill about half way, put my ferts in the cup until dissolved and then dump in the tank. Easy.

Don't over think it! I only say that because I did and I later learned it's really pretty easy! :icon_smil

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 26, 2012

hey!!

i have relatively hard water and relatively low CO2. as of now. do you think i need to make gh booster or get some equilibrium right now? also i still have most of the bottle of flourish comp. left. Maybe i could get away with dosing that once a week for ca and mg? Maybe change Fri to WC, flourish, and NO3??

thanks again and again and again

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HD Blazingwolf

· #5 · Jul 26, 2012

eh if its hard u can probably skip the equilibirum and gh booster (1 and thesame) u may need to add the k2s04. check ur water quality report andsee if it has potassium in it

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 26, 2012

I think I remember reading that it does. Flourish def. does, and there's some in KNO3 and KH2PO4, right? Probably enough if Fri I do WC, flourish, and NO3?

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Hoppy

· #7 · Jul 26, 2012

One of the reasons for adding GH booster is to get some magnesium in the water. Some relatively hard water is still short of magnesium. But, GH booster also has potassium in it, so you don't need as much KNO3 to get enough potassium. But, if your water has very little, if any, nitrate in it, you need to dose the KNO3 for nitrates, and that adds plenty of potassium too, so you don't need the GH Booster unless your tap water is short of magnesium. (I'm getting dizzy for some reason!)

I just dose KNO2, KH2PO4 and a trace mix (Miller's microplex plus extra iron). Maybe I'm short on magnesium, but my plants grow well. I may try some magnesium sulphate (epsom salts) later to see if this helps with the colors of the plants..

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 27, 2012

Hoppy - lol im always dizzy by the time i get done reading about this stuff... and i thought i understood until you went and said that

I knew gh booster had mg in it. And I have very little NO3 so definitely need to dose that. But I thought I was already adding Mg with csm + b. Plus it comes compliments of the hard water. and its in flourish.. (i am bound and determined not to waste that bottle of flourish)

From my notes:
Macro: Carbon (C), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulphur (S)
Micro: Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zink (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B), Nickel (Ni), Chlorine (Cl) and Molybdenum (Mo)

Regime:
Mon: KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Tue: traces
Wed: KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4
Thur: traces
Fri: prune, clean glass, 50% WC, add KNO3 & Flourish

Trace in my case being:
Plantex CSM + B = 1.50% Magnesium, .10% chelated copper, 7.0% chelated iron, 2.0 manganese, 0.06% molybdenum, 0.40% zinc, 0.04% boron

K2SO4 = potassium sulfate (which has sulfur)

Hard water = calcium carbonates and magnesium

Flourish Comp = Total Nitrogen 0.07%, Available Phosphate ( P2O5) 0.01%, Soluble Potash 0.37%, Calcium (Ca) 0.14%, Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%, Sulfur (S) 0.2773%, Boron (B) 0.009%, Chlorine (Cl) 1.15, Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%, Copper (Cu) 0.0001%, Iron (Fe) 0.32%, Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%, Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%, Sodium (Na) 0.13%, Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%

Barrs GH booster = 1 part magnesium sulfate, 3 parts potassium sulfate and 3 parts calcium sulfate

But I'm already adding those things several times a week to already hard water, so I didn't think I needed it?? Esp. since I don't have very high light and i have relatively low CO2.

I thought that the aforementioned regime with my already hard water would allow me to check everything off of of the nutrient list.... except Nickel... which is probably in the tap anyway... at this point, f*&% the nickel.

temple2101 said:
Don't over think it! I only say that because I did and I later learned it's really pretty easy! :icon_smil

fail.

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 28, 2012

Read over that and thought it might sound like i was trying to argue.. That was certainly not my intention.... I just copied and pasted most of that from notes i had made for reference. Just trying to understand... Wanted to make sure i got it.. :s

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HD Blazingwolf

· #10 · Jul 28, 2012

csm does add some MG but the amount ur ading is like 1/10th of a ppm its not enough to matter really

u can always add straight epsom salts to ur tank 1/2 teaspoon will add a small amount, and if u see improved growth try adding 1 teaspoon and if it improvs from there add more till u ee no more growth potential

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 31, 2012

oooohhhhh now i get it :icon_redf

so gh booster recipe says:
1 part magnesium sulfate
3 parts potassium sulfate
3 parts calcium sulfate

How much is a part? Do I mix this all together and then dose x amount of the mix, or do I dose x amount of each? ... I would think I'd rather dose x amount of each so i know what i'm dosing for sure... can you tell me how much i should dose of each? i can't seem to find this on google, sorry. and thanks for all your help.

HD Blazingwolf said:
csm does add some MG but the amount ur ading is like 1/10th of a ppm its not enough to matter really

u can always add straight epsom salts to ur tank 1/2 teaspoon will add a small amount, and if u see improved growth try adding 1 teaspoon and if it improvs from there add more till u ee no more growth potential

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 31, 2012

And do I need to store these in any special way or just leave them in the bags under the aquarium?

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mommabear1007

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 31, 2012

omg *facepalm* forgot about the calculator.. so this is what i've come up with. im posting it because i wanted to make sure dosing these things together won't cause any crazy reactions, crashes, swings, explosions, etc...

Mon: 1/4th tsp KNO3, 1/16th tsp KH2PO4
Tue: 1/16th tsp traces, GH Booster = 1 tsp MgSO4, 1 tsp CaSO4, 1/16th K2SO4
Wed: 1/4th KNO3, 1/16th tsp KH2PO4
Thur: 1/16th tsp traces
Fri: prune, clean glass, 50% WC, add 1/4th tsp KNO3 & half cap Flourish

last post i promise

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