# Best nutrient mixtures



## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

Hi this is a question for the chemically oriented
I want to create 4 solutions for my dosing pumps.
I was wondering which is the best combination of chemicals in each solution.
Lets consider the following chemicals MgSO4+7H2O, KH2PO4, KCl, KNO3, K2SO4, CSM-B, DTPA iron, Flourish, Flourish Iron (I know that some of this will be only used but lets include them all for various combinations).
Which nutrient combinations Will be the least reactive that will keep the nutrients in there original form?
Which will be the best kind of water? RO, Distilled, Tap water and for which mixtures?
Can there be any different kind of liquid to dilute the chemicals with?
How much hydrochloric acid must be diluted with Flourish to keep the mixture mold free? ( I know as a fact that flourish will need lots of hydrochloric acid to stay without mold) will this affect the chemicals in it?
Are there other nutrients that need some additive to keep them stable?
How long will the solutions stay with the nutrients in there original constituency? 
Please feel free to add additional chemicals, or parameters.
Thanks in advance


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Here's what I use in my dual dosing pump system:

Pump 1 - KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4 in 16 liters of RO water (sitting in a 16l aquarium in the stand). This is both for top off water and macros.

Pump 2 - Flourish diluted in 500ml of RO water.

Pump 1 doses 6x a day for a total of 1,300ml. Pump 2 doses 30ml 1x a day.

The most important two chemicals to keep apart are Iron based chemicals (Flourish, Flourish Iron, CSM+B...) and PO4 as they will bind together and precipitate out of solution.

With the above setup and mixes I've never had problems with the resulting solutions... and I've never seen mold in the Flourish either!


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

Thanks Laith 
Still what I would really like to know though is the chemical reactions that take place, do we loose something by mixing nutrients that turns to some insulable thing or what ever, that can make the mixture to dose different ppm from what we expect it to dose? Also it seems that contamination of the mixtures with living creatures could create problems.
I think that the interaction of all this nutrients in the small amounts of mixtures is an interesting subject.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

I use two pumps as well and ditto what Laith said.
I use another device for top off water though.

I only had mold when I did not change the reserviros frequently(once every 2 weeks is good as rule). Keep them clean and washed, make sure to use Tap water etc or the RO/DI, never tank water!!!! Covered also, make a small hole in plastic or some cap etc so that no openings are exposed. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## defdac (May 10, 2004)

What kind of pumps (name, brand etc) is recommended?


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I'm using the AquaMedic Twin Reefdoser (http://www.aqua-medic.de).

Another option is to get pumps from APT Instruments, such as these:

http://www.aptinstruments.com/Merch...e=AI&Product_Code=SP100FO&Category_Code=SP100

However when I calculated the cost of two of the pumps, two digital timers and shipping to Europe, the AquaMedic solution was more cost effective.

The only flaw of the AquaMedic Reefdoser is that if the electricity goes out, it does NOT come back on.


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

I use dosing pumps in 2 of my aquariums for the last 5 years with np at all.
The ones I use are Seko detergent dosing peristaltic pumps each costs around 45 $ and each one requires a cheap Chinese weekly digital timer (1 min minimum on) total cost for each pump (which by the way includes a separate one way valve) and timer is something like 55$ (I am sure you can get cheaper pumps as-well):
http://www.sekousa.com/Search.bok?category=Cleaning+and+Hygiene:Warewashing:Compact
I use both the ones with fixed flow of 0.4 lt/h which gives a flow of 6.4 ml per min and the volume controlled ones which give a flow of 3.5 ml/min minimum both types have performed flawlessly for all this time. In my 147 lt tank I use a single pump connected through a T connector to 2 chemical type brown bottles 1 lt each and add the ferts separate like Laith and Tom. On the big tank I dose through 4 dosing pumps http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/ekfrasis/P9010007a.jpg and thus I keep the ferts as separate as possible for total control and avoidance of interaction. I use mixtures with lots of ferts in them so I can dose for 70 days with no interference from me in each one of the four two litter bottles.
So this is a description of my dosing automations but I still consider my question unanswered, do all this chemicals interact and maybe negate each other specially when the solution stay for so long? Let me give you some examples, iron glouconate powder if added in my tap water it just precipitates while in RO water it stays in solution, I need to add 20 drops of hydrochloric acid to keep the flourish solution with RO mold free I also sterilize the bottle before using it also (my solution gives the equivalent of 1 ml flourish as in original bottle mixture per min of my mixture so I can adjust according to the dosing of the consensus). CaNO3 will attack metal parts of the pump immersed in the solution and cause them to rust.
So what K2SO4+KNO3+KH2PO4+H2O=> ? or all the other combinations. Do all stay available to the plants at the end? Does lets say iron dtpa powder when mixed with RO water and kept in the dark stays in solution for that long (70 days)?


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