# Fertilizing Plan



## alxnguyn (Oct 29, 2010)

Hello,
I've only been fertilizing my plants for about four months now and I'm still new to it.
Currently, I use the Seachem Flourish line of products (all of them) with no CO2 at all. The excel is a substitute.
The fertilizers are running low and it's going to be time to buy new ones, but the Seachem line is too expensive for me now. 
I plan on getting dry fertilizers using the EI dosing plan and for the Excel replacement, is it viable for me to get glutaraldehyde ( MetriCide 14 or Cidex 28 )? 
Are there any other fertilizers I would need?
Thanks in advance!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi alxnguyn,

I too started with Seachem and it worked great, but as the number of my aquariums grew the cost became painful.

I tried PPS-Pro but had problems with multiple deficiencies. I then tried the EI method with better growth and success but still had occasional deficiency problems. So now with the Macros and CSM+B for Micros I dose Seaschem Flourish Comprehensive. Minimal problems since I added Flourish. Here is a handy calculator from Quenton at The Barr Report for EI dosing.

I've used Glutaraldehyde for a couple of years now. Here is an excellent thread to learn about Glut.


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## alxnguyn (Oct 29, 2010)

Where do you get your fertilizers from and how often do you dose all your nutrients? Oh and about the Glut., I read through the thread but I also want to know your opinion on it. Is it just as good as Excel and is it really reliable?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi alxnguyn,

One of our LFS in Seattle stocks most of the Dry Ferts for EI dosing except CSM+B. I also buy from Aquariumfertilizer.com since I am on the West Coast. Green Leaf Aquariums in Florida is an alternative for the East Coast. I dose per the calculator I provided the link to in the post above.

Glut works just the same as Excel for me.


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## jho0101 (Oct 8, 2010)

my .02, i would also recommend dosing seachem iron as csm+b doesnt have a lot.


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## crf529 (Sep 22, 2010)

Or as a much cheaper alternative you can get a chelated iron mix to add to your micro's. I use Yates Chelated Iron, costs about $20AUS for 500gm.

In a 10G tank to add 3ppm of Fe per week you would need:

12mL of Seachem Flourish Iron

or 

0.95gm of Yates Chelated Iron

At that rate a $14AUS 250mL bottle of iron would last you just under 21 weeks. And the $20AUS 500gm of chelated iron would last about 10 years!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi jho0101,

Actually Plantex CSM+B is over 6% Iron.

CSM+B
Fe 6.53%
Mn 1.87%
Mg 1.40%
Zn 0.37%
Cu 0.09%
Mo 0.05%
B 1.18%

I do dose additional Iron as well, I us Grow More Organic Based Iron Chelate 10% which costs me about $7.00 for 8 ounces. I mix and dose it per Rex Grigg's instructions.


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## jho0101 (Oct 8, 2010)

i dosed before and then tested with my fe kit and i did not see my test kit increase in iron reading so i thought maybe there want any iron.


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## jerrybforl (Jul 22, 2008)

@ Seattle Aquarist. Where do you get Rex Griggs instructions? Im going to start experimenting with Miller Microplex and CSM+B in two different tanks. I will let you guys know how it goes.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi jerrybforl,

Glad to help; here are Rex Grigg's Basic Dosing Instructions.


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## Ben Belton (Mar 14, 2004)

HERE is a good thread on mixing your own trace. I'm going to try this when I run out of Flourish.


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## jerrybforl (Jul 22, 2008)

@ Ben. I've seen this and the man who posted it is Orlando from GLA. He was very helpful when I was emailing him last week or so. You can also just and the ferts right to the tank he told me.


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## Ben Belton (Mar 14, 2004)

Yeah, I dump mine right in. The only thing I get nervous about dumping in is CaCl2 which gets really hot when it reacts with the water. Doesn't seem to cause any problems though.


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## jerrybforl (Jul 22, 2008)

Seattle I installed the Calculator on my laptop but wondering how to use it lol?


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