[fishkeeper01]

I had a question on when to dose aquarium fertilizers. I read from multiple sources that when dosing liquid fertilizers you should dose prior to your lights turning on. My question is if prior means there is a specific time range to aim for. All my tanks turn on between 10:30am-12pm(different tanks get different amounts of light). I usually leave for school around 7:30, at that time is it alright to dose the fertilizers then? I will be pps-pro dosing.

 

[vision]

I haven't done much reading on the matter, however I do dose the night of for the "next day" if that makes sense.

I'll try to explain: my Friday dosing is done before I sleep on Thursday night, technically Friday morning. (I go to bed around 2-3am due to time difference in work).

not only does this work for my schedule, but I feel like it's giving the water column to circulate nutrients throughout the morning. plants are like little steam engines - they take a while to warm up hence why you see pearling a few hours after you turn lights on. having co2 and nutrients to their max at he time the lights turn makes me believe I'm not restricting my plants in any manner.


Brevity and typos courtesy of my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[Edward]

Plants can remove some elements in minutes so dosing at the end of a photoperiod may not produce the best results.

 

[Zorfox]

If you're dosing standard dry fertilizers or most commercial solutions then the timing really doesn't matter. Properly chelated micros can last for a couple of days or more. The macros will be there for a very long time. The plants will use them when they "wake up" as long as they are there.

The time of your dosing is only important if you're using something that will not last in the tank for long. If you happen to be dosing something like iron gluconate, then your'e better off dosing a few hours after lights come on since the iron will not last in the water column for extended periods of time.

 

[fishkeeper01]

So either I can does at night before going to sleep or in the morning when I leave for school?

 

[Zorfox]

So either I can does at night before going to sleep or in the morning when I leave for school?

Yup. Or anytime in between. The important thing is to remember to dose. Doing it at the same time simply promotes a routine and reduces the chance of forgetting. Just my 2 cents