# Trying out PPS - PRO...questions...



## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

OK, I will be starting this on my 10 gal starting tomorrow. I have made the macro solution. Questions: 

---the K2SO4 is the 'dirtiest' chemical giving the whole mixture a light brown color. The solution is opaque overall. I assume this is normal?
---is there a table posted somewhere which shows how much of each given macro you're adding per ml?
---my plan is to do a large water change tonight and start dosing tomorrow morning. Should I add a larger doseage tomorrow for the start or just the recommended 1.0ml?
---I have lots of Flourish and will be using that as my TE, I just have to figure out what the equivalent dose is.

TIA. 

I'm looking forward to trying this out and I'll keep up with the post as time goes by to report my experiences. If all goes well, I will consider switching my 50's over as well.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

K2SO4 is some seriously dirty stuff. This is normal....although i feel it shouldnt be. I measure out my nutrients with a triple beam balance.....so im pretty sure my amounts are correct and i still get that nasty dirt.

I dont see any reason to add more or less no matter your WC. I believe the idea here is to give the plants what they need before the lights come on so they are good through the light period. I could be wrong here, but i believe that is the case.

jB


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Just dose the 1ml. The goal is to provide the plants with what they can use in a day, and not build up excess nutrients in the water.


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## aloha (Jun 2, 2005)

Hi Bert H.
How about giving us some more specs for your 10 gal? Lightning, plants, substrate and fish stock. Do you use tap water? Have your measured Ca in tap water? I'm also interested in starting the new PPS method but i am not sure if it can fit different setups. So long, i'll follow your postings. As far as i understood from Edward's previous posts you'd better start with 1 ml and keep on this schedule daily. 

Thanks!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> Lightning, plants, substrate and fish stock. Do you use tap water? Have your measured Ca in tap water?


Lighting: 36W ahs kit
Substrate: Eco
Stocking: moderate, Endler's, shrimp.
Water source: personal well; hard water - kh 9.5; gh 12 - heavy Ca, minimal Mg.

Except for some gd on the glass every 10 days or so, tank has been running fine with my modified EI. I just wanted to try something different to hopefully learn. You never know if something works better until you try it.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Bert H said:


> ---the K2SO4 is the 'dirtiest' chemical giving the whole mixture a light brown color. The solution is opaque overall. I assume this is normal?


 Not really. I would be asking the supplier. The K2SO4 we use here dissolves into clear solution and comes from Plant Product greenhouse supplier. 



> ---is there a table posted somewhere which shows how much of each given macro you're adding per ml?


 One dose adds 1ppm NO3, 0.1 ppm PO4, 1.33 ppm K, 0.1 ppm Mg, 0.1 ppm Fe(TE). Recommended dose 1 ml / 10 gallon aquarium before lights go on. 



> ---my plan is to do a large water change tonight and start dosing tomorrow morning. Should I add a larger doseage tomorrow for the start or just the recommended 1.0ml?


 Just the recommended dose. 



> ---I have lots of Flourish and will be using that as my TE, I just have to figure out what the equivalent dose is.


 The product's recommended dose or what works for you.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

aloha said:


> I'm also interested in starting the new PPS method but i am not sure if it can fit different setups.


 What kind of setup?


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Bert H said:


> Substrate: Eco


 You know you have to keep an eye on water deterioration due to your substrate instability.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

Agricultural grade K2SO4 is typically mined and sieved with no other purification done. Often the sieves are rusty.

For a purer chemical look for ACS, USP, or FCC grade. There are lots of different brands and prices available. They are much more expensive but they should last a long time. I personally use ACS, because I can. 

If you are interested, I recommend going to Chemsavers and sending them an e-mail saying you want to buy either 500 grams or 2.5 kg (big jar) of ACS grade K2SO4, CAS # 7778-80-5. Tell them you want whatever brand is cheapest. You could also ask them to check to see if they have a USP or FCC grade that's cheaper.

(There's a lot of big lab suppliers but I have found that they are often times extremely rude and even belligerent toward individuals trying to purchase chemicals... most only deal with businesses. Chemsavers are different and a class act.)


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## aloha (Jun 2, 2005)

Edward said:


> What kind of setup?


Sorry Bert for hijacking your thread.

Hi Edward. Its about a 2 months setup tank, with ada aquasoil. Weekly water changes with r/o water reconstituted with seachem equilibrium and daily dosing with K2SO4 and flourish (2ml daily). I haven't started macros yet.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> Agricultural grade K2SO4 is typically mined and sieved with no other purification done. Often the sieves are rusty.


That explains the brown discoloration and the gunk that settles out of the mixture.  I guess I'm adding a little oxidized iron with every doseage.

Thanks for the link, Salt. I will try getting some from them next time.

Edward, thanks for the breakdown info. :thumbsup:


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

[hijack]
Edward - I have dry ferts but I got KCl instead of KSO4. I also got K2HPO4 instead of KH2PO4. (I made these selections so I would have to add less supplemental K and thought a little Cl would be less of a problem than a bit more SO4).

Have you ever adapted your system for these changes?[/hijack]


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

punt for Edward...


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

aloha said:


> Hi Edward. Its about a 2 months setup tank, with ada aquasoil. Weekly water changes with r/o water reconstituted with seachem equilibrium and daily dosing with K2SO4 and flourish (2ml daily). I haven't started macros yet.


 Hi
I would dose PPS-Pro daily, no extra K2SO4. Then discontinue the Equilibrium because the substrate has Ca. The trace element mix should work fine.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Squawkbert said:


> Edward - I have dry ferts but I got KCl instead of KSO4. I also got K2HPO4 instead of KH2PO4. (I made these selections so I would have to add less supplemental K and thought a little Cl would be less of a problem than a bit more SO4).
> 
> Have you ever adapted your system for these changes?


 No sorry, I haven't. Though we have tried KCl before and it did not work well. Most likely because of the amount of Cl.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

OK - nice to know. I'll have to run the numbers myself...


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Salt said:


> ...If you are interested, I recommend going to Chemsavers...


I was looking at ChemSaver's site for pricing of the different chemicals that we use in our aquariums. I found an interesting typo for Potassium Nitrite 7758-09-0 Grade: ACS Purity min. 96 %. The price for 500g is $8.50 and the price for 250g is $45.84. I put the 500g size in my cart and it charged me $8.50 for it. I wish that there were more typos!
http://www.chemsavers.com/Leeat/Cat...itrite&CAS=7758-09-0&Grade=ACS&Purity=min. 96


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Hey Edward,

Perhaps i missed it but what are you recommending for other forms of trace?

TMG?

Flourish?

Still 1ml per 10 gallons?

Thanks

jB


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Left C said:


> I was looking at ChemSaver's site for pricing of the different chemicals that we use in our aquariums. I found an interesting typo for Potassium Nitrite 7758-09-0 ... I put the 500g size in my cart ...











Potassium nitrite KNO2 will kill everything in your aquarium.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Jason Baliban said:


> Hey Edward,
> Perhaps i missed it but what are you recommending for other forms of trace?


 Sorry I haven't had time to experiment with lfs TE. I think dosing by manufacturer recommendation is the way to start.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Have you seen any adverse effects of dosing too much TE?

Thank Edward

jB


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Jason Baliban said:


> Have you seen any adverse effects of dosing too much TE?


 The most I dosed was 0.1 ppm Fe-TE a day and this showed to be already 10x more then we usually dosed. So there was never any need to experiment with more because plants looked good. This is with CSM. The lfs products can be different. If you decide to test it, think about your fish, trace elements are toxic chemicals.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Edward said:


> Potassium nitrite KNO2 will kill everything in your aquarium.


I thought that I made a typo and typed nitrite for nitrate, but I didn't.

I would have sworn that I was looking at potassium nitrate. 

Oh well, good catch Edward! Thanks!!


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