[ahem]

I know bottled ferts are more expensive and the dry ferts are quite popular. However with just a 50G tank, the Seachem ferts have not been that expensive for me with the exception of phosphorus. The bottle prescribes a dose in order to raise phosphates a whopping .15PPM. My tank easily uses double or triple that in a day and find myself putting in daily doses of anywhere 15-25ml of the product daily. I rifle through bottles of the phosphorus unlike any of their other macro and micro ferts, using it at a rate that is 3-4x the rate I use up their potassium, nitrogen, iron, and trace products. Does anyone know why they make their phosphorus so dilute, unlike anything else they produce? I know the obvious answer is "to sell more" but it's clearly a different concentration than all their other products. Perhaps Seachem themselves are part of the "phosphates cause algae" crowd and think there should only be a little in the tank?

I guess it is time to look at the dry ferts again. Last time I looked it was a little more complex than it seemed, I recall warnings from the vendors I was considering that "BEWARE! You will receive explosives!" and that ended up turning me off, not due to worry of explosion, it was just more research needed to understand what that warning was all about and making sure I didn't end up on a government list for buying plant food.

 

[repharaoh]

Dry ferts are really easy. You mix up two bottles of fertilizer+water, then dose a certain mL from that every day. It's a lot less measuring than individual liquid ferts. I add 30mL total to my 100g every day, 20mL macros, 10mL micros, you can even use a peristalsic dosing pump to dose it automatically every day.

You can get dry ferts from GLA. https://greenleafaquariums.com/categories/aquarium-fertilizer.html

No, it's not explosives, although the potassium nitrate can be manufactured into black powder, so is not available in some countries. It's a common fertilizer. No issue in the USA

 

[Jeffww]

You can use their aquavitro line if you want a bottled product available at an LFS. I personally use the seachem P to dose my reef tank to achieve 100ppb phosphorous. It's that dilute.

 

[Wasserpest]

To avoid the daily/weekly dosing, I use a little plastic syringe, cut the pokey part off, and attached a rubber sucker. Fill it with KH2PO4 powder, stick it to the glass, and see it disappear over the period of a month or two. I am not too concerned about the exact concentration in my tank, with regular water changes it all sort of balances out. Very low tech, low maintenance approach.

 

[Edward]

I guess it is time to look at the dry ferts again. Last time I looked it was a little more complex than it seemed, I recall warnings from the vendors I was considering that "BEWARE! You will receive explosives!" and that ended up turning me off, not due to worry of explosion, it was just more research needed to understand what that warning was all about and making sure I didn't end up on a government list for buying plant food.

Well, do you have sugar at home? Sugar can explode.