# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Home Made Ferts



## Mike K (Mar 27, 2003)

Okay, I am running out of store bought products and I want to try "Home Made" fertz. I have been using TMG and all of the Seachem products except the trace and the carbon. I would like to know step by step (As if I was a five year old) how to make and where to get my own ferts. I would like to replace the TMG, my seachem Phosphours, Seachem Potassium, Seachem Iron, and Seachem Nitrgen. I know it is a topic that has been posted before, but every one that I looked at is in "Adult Language" and I do not know the first thing about chemicals, I am a Criminal Justice major. I have a 100 gal heavy planted high lighted, tank that has been doing well with the store bought products, but it is getting very expensive. Please help. Thanks alot.

Mike K.


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## Mike K (Mar 27, 2003)

Okay, I am running out of store bought products and I want to try "Home Made" fertz. I have been using TMG and all of the Seachem products except the trace and the carbon. I would like to know step by step (As if I was a five year old) how to make and where to get my own ferts. I would like to replace the TMG, my seachem Phosphours, Seachem Potassium, Seachem Iron, and Seachem Nitrgen. I know it is a topic that has been posted before, but every one that I looked at is in "Adult Language" and I do not know the first thing about chemicals, I am a Criminal Justice major. I have a 100 gal heavy planted high lighted, tank that has been doing well with the store bought products, but it is getting very expensive. Please help. Thanks alot.

Mike K.


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## Stevenl (Mar 31, 2004)

There's really a lot of posts here about PMDD ferts, but anyway I can explain a bit









The ferts you mentioned are usually available at your local hydroponic shop. You can also find close subsitutes at supermarkets.

To calculate the concentration of ferts you mentioned, you can go to this site
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

For phosphours, you can get use KH2PO4 or fleet enema which is available at drug store/pharmacy. 0.3ml of fleet enema would rasie phosphate level by 1 ppm for 10 gallon of water (the concentration might be different for different brands though)

For Potassium, you can use Potassium Chloride or Potassium Sulphate. You can also buy "Nu-Salt" at supermarket which is the same thing as potassium chloride

For Iron, I am not too sure coz I am using trace mix that I bought from hydroponic store. I found that the iron concentration contains in the mix is enough for me. One very popular trace mix people use here is the Plantex CSM. Do a search on that and you can find a lot of info about it.

For Nitrogen, you can use Potassium Nitrate. The green light's stump remover and later's stump remover is the same thing as potassium nitrate if you cannot find potassium nitrate. You can find that in gardening store.

The general recommended level of the ferts are:
Nitrate: 5-10ppm, Potassium: 20ppm, Phosphate: 0.5 - 1 ppm.

I am still in the process of learning. What I told you is what I was told here. So, you should really dig out some old posts and do some reading







You can do a search under "PMDD" or the chemical names mentioned above.

HTH,

Steven










66G tank with 3 wpg NO Fluroscent, DIY Co2 and 50/50 flourite substrate


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Mike,

DIY fertilizer isn't something that can be done at the level of a 5 year old. If you can't follow the initial descriptions then you need to follow up with more reading and specific questions until you can understand it at the necessary level -- say 8th grade or so.

Fertilizers can be divided into three groups. The first group provides nutrients that are used by plants in small quantities; iron and other trace elements. You are probably better off using commercial products than trying to formulate your own DIY trace mix.

The second group are fertilizers that provide nutrients used in large amounts; nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are provided by fish waste and sometimes in tap water. Because of that the need for nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers varies a lot from tank to tank and sometimes from time to time.

Nitrogen is best provided as nitrates. The alternatives are urea (which breaks down to ammonia) and ammonia, which is toxic to animals and is can cause algae problems. Potassium and sodium nitrate are both good sources of nitrate. Potassium nitrate is used more often because it is readily available in some stump removers and because it also provides potassium. In addition to stump removers, potassium and sodium nitrate can be bought as horticultural chemicals (see http://www.litemanu.com ).

The best source for detailed dosing instructions is Chuck Gadd's dosing calculator that StevenL linked for you.

Phosphorus is usually provided as phosphate. Potassium and sodium acid phosphates are both useful. Various calcium phosphates are common in agricultural and horticultural fertilizers. They aren't often used in aquariums, mostly because of their limited solubility. Sodium acid phosphate is often sold in aquarium stores as a buffer. Potassium acid phosphate is available as a horitcultural chemical and dosing instructions are available with Chuck's calculator. You can also use Fleet enema. Search the archives here for dosing experience.

Potassium is the one nutrient used in large amounts that almost always needs to be dosed. Fish food and tap water usually don't provide enough potassium for sustained plant growth. Potassium can be dosed with potassium nitrate, potassium chloride or potassium sulfate.

Potassium nitrate was desribed previously and can be dosed with instructions from Chuck Gadd's calculator. Potassium chloride is available as a salt substitute (e.g. Morton's No Salt), in large amounts as a water softener salt or as a horticultural chemical. Salt substitutes contain small amounts of a few ingredients other than potassium chloride, but "No Salt" is about 96% potassium chloride. Again, dosing instructions are available with Chuck Gadd's article. Potassium sulfate isn't used for any common consumer product that I'm aware of, but can be bought as a horticultural chemical. See Chuck Gadd's article for dosing levels.

The last group of fertilizers (actually not usually considered fertilizers) provide nutrients that plants need in moderate amounts and which usually are supplied in tap water. That includes calcium, magnesium (both provided by general hardness) and sulfate. The need to add these nutrients is highly variable. Magnesium is probably the nutrient that is mostly commonly short and it can be added with epson salt, which also takes care of sulfate. Again, check Chuck Gadds article and calculator.

Do a little more reading, then feel welcome to come back with specific questions.

Roger Miller

"The indispensible first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want" -- Ben Stein


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