# Preparing a liquid fertilizer with my dry chemicals...



## bms (Feb 19, 2004)

I will be out of town for some months, so I will be asking my wife to take care of the tank for me. I figured I should mix my dry chemicals in water and have her add a fix amount of this mix ONCE PER WEEK after the water change.

My tank:
20 gal long
A&H 55w PC kit
L. Repens
B. Monnieri
B. Caroliniana
Crypt Lutea
Elodea
Bladderwort
Hairgrass
3 or 4 unknown plants
Guppies

The mix:
- 500 ml water
- 4 tbsp KNO3
- 1/2 tbsp KH2PO4
- 6 tbsp Plantex CSM

I plan on having the tank dosed 10ml of this mix once per week after the water change. This should come up (If my math was right) to:
1) ~11 ppm K
2) ~1.8 ppm P
3) ~1.5 ppm Fe

Questions:
1) does this seem like a good fertilizing regimen?
2) I am having problems mixing the solution... I mixed it last week, and this week there was a think layer of chemical at the botom of the container... had to mix it with a stick. I then mixed it in the liquifier. Any tips on mixing the chemicals so they will last longer as a solution?

I am attaching a pic of the tank...
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=457

Extra question... how do you attach pictures from the albums here so they are shown in the post? I've tried but always get the red X... meaning the picture was not found at the specified URL...

Thanks!


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Dear Benicio,

For 10 ml I get 1.5 ppm Fe, 1.6 ppm PO4, 10.6 ppm NO3, and 7 ppm K.
Looks good.

For your precipitation problem, try mixing it in a 3 liter plastic soda bottle, and have your wife dose 60 ml per week. Have her shake the bottle first.

Regards,

Steve Pituch


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

bms said:


> 2) I am having problems mixing the solution... I mixed it last week, and this week there was a think layer of chemical at the botom of the container... had to mix it with a stick.


Maximum solubility / 100ml

KNO3 35.7g
KH2PO4 22.0g
K2SO4 12.0g
MgSO4 35.6g

Edward


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## bms (Feb 19, 2004)

Thanks Steve! I will try mixing everything on a pepsi bottle... 

Edward, I do not have K2SO4 or MgSO4, so I will stick to my current formula for now.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Edward,

Where did you get the solubility info? I would like to add it to my site at:
http://users.ev1.net/~spituch/Chemicals/chemicals.html

I think Benicio's problem was with the CSM mix. I have had the same problem.

Steve Pituch


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Steve Pituch said:


> Edward,
> 
> Where did you get the solubility info? I would like to add it to my site at:
> http://users.ev1.net/~spituch/Chemicals/chemicals.html
> Steve Pituch


The data can be found at most MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheet, like this one, http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/K2SO4.htm and http://www.allanchem.com/docs/Potassium Nitrate MSDS.doc .

You got a great web site, I keep scaring people with it when they think aquatic plants are simple.

Thank you,
Edward


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

The "how" is simple, the "why" is not.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Edward,

Thanks for the links. I didn't realize that the MSDS sheets had the solubility on them.

Steve Pituch


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## bms (Feb 19, 2004)

*I´m back!*

Guys,

It has been a while, but I am back. I recently moved from Miami to Monterrey, Mexico. Before that I was involved in a quite hectic project, I wasn´t home for around 5 months, and came home to a beautiful tank! The formula worked, and my wife did a great job... I enjoyed it for a week and had to take it down because of my moving to Mexico.

I have not yet setup my tank here... and I have a lot to explore in the site, I see there are many new things. Congrats!

~Benicio


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## 83mulligan (Dec 28, 2004)

*Keeping Chemicals from precipitating out*

I am going to be using a metering pump that I picked up for free. Its lowest setting allows it to deliver 1 quart per half hour, which will work with the timer I have. If I make a two gallon mix, it shoud last for 8 doses over the course of 8 days. Can't I use an airstone in the bottom of the two gallon tank to keep it all in solution? Or, will it just stay in solution at this volume of water? Final question: Does anyone know of a fairly inexpensive timer that will allow me to control the pump for shorter "on" intervals. Can I just hook it up to my sprinkler timer as another zone?

Thanks,

Steve


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