# Please help me sort out my Macros



## fisherelli (Oct 22, 2005)

Hi, first post on this forum, been lurking for a while.

I need advice on what Macros to dose, as currently I am not dosing any at all. Here is some info about the tank and stuff :-

Running for roughly 3 months, but only planted up and inhabited for 1 month
29g, 24" x 15" x 21" high
Eco-complete
110w of Power Compact, 10 hours a day
Water at 25 Celcius
Pressurised CO2 on a pH controller 24hrs/day
JBL PhosEx Ultra in filter
30% water changes weekly
2.5 ml Flourish twice a week
Fairly heavily planted
2 ottos, 4 Amano shrimp, 8 small neons

Water in aquarium after last 30% change :-
NH4 0ppm
NO2 0.03ppm
NO3 13ppm
PO4 0.25ppm
KH 11d
GH 15d
pH 7.0

Water from Tap after 24 hrs of resting :-
NH4 0ppm
NO2 0.03ppm
NO3 25ppm
PO4 8.0ppm
KH 11d
GH 15d
pH 8.17


The plant growth has slowed down considerably and algae is taking over (Staghorn, some brown fluffy stuff, hair algae), which I am guessing is mostly down to lack of macros.

I am tempted to junk the PhosEx and just dose KNO3 to bring it to roughly 30-40 or more. What do you think? 8ppm PO4 too much?

Also, should I be adding more micros?

Hope someone can help, i'm a bit confused.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I would remove the PhosEx and add some KH2PO4 to the tank along with some KNO3. Your tank is a bit low on the PO4 but the NO3 looks good. Suggested ranges for NO3 are 10-20ppm and PO4 in the 1-2ppm range. I would increase the micros to 5ml and maybe even 7.5ml depending on plant growth. You have a good amount of light on the tank (almost 4wpg CF lighting) and the plants are probably using up the ferts fairly fast.

Your tap results seem pretty high on both NO3 and PO4. That can be a good thing since you won't have to fertilize as much assuming your test kit results are good...what type of test kits are you using and have you calibrated them? Here's a link to help you calibrate your test kits.

http://ca.geocities.com/[email protected]/01.01.Test.NO3.PO4.pdf

If your tap results are indeed correct, then your tank is using quite a bit of PO4 and NO3 per week and you will probably need to suppliment both of these in your tank. I would assume that since plant growth has slowed and the algae is on the rise, that you have gotten too low on something. and I wouls start by adding some PO4


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## fisherelli (Oct 22, 2005)

Hi, thanks for your quick reply 

I will remove the PhosEx and chuck some tap water in there - that should raise the phosphates! But unless the plants consume a LOT of PO4, I will be over the recommended 1-2ppm range.

I am using JBL tests - don't know if they're any good, they're all I've ever used. I have not calibrated them, so I have ordered some KNO3 and some KH2P04, so I'll be able to check the tests soon. 

I checked my NO3 this morning and they were down to 8ppm after only a few days, so I will be dosing that when it arrives in the post.

You said I could increase micros to 5 - 7.5 ml. Did you mean this amount twice a week? Or spread over the week?

Thanks again for your help!


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

The ranges I listed are just suggested ranges you can find by reviewing the EI and PPS dosing routines. I personally don't follow ranges or ratios in my tanks and I rarely test unless I find something amiss, algae increase, plant health decrease, lack of pearling, etc. About the only thing I regualrly test for is GH and KH after a water change and frequent CO2 tests. 

In my 75g I dose 15ml of traces 3x a week so my recommendation was to try the 5 - 7.5 ml in your tank 3x a week. You can start with twice a week if you prefer and see if you notice an increase in plant health over the 2.5 ml dose you normally add.


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## fisherelli (Oct 22, 2005)

I think I will start with 5ml 3x a week, and go up from there if that doesn't cut it. Macro ferts won't arrive until mid-week or maybe later with all the xmas posting rush, so for now I'm changing 15% water a day so the plants can feed on the liquid fertiliser I get through my tap!

When I get my ferts through I'll calibrate my tests and hassle you again, if that's ok?

Thanks a lot, much appreciated


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

fisherelli said:


> When I get my ferts through I'll calibrate my tests and hassle you again, if that's ok?


Sounds good


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## fisherelli (Oct 22, 2005)

Well, I got my macro ferts in the post. Slight snag with the calibration though : according the the pdf file above I need many litres of RO or cleanish water! So I guess I'm off to the LFS for that.

But how about this... Using a 10L container I test my tap water, then I add enough KNO3 to raise the 10L by 5ppm and test again. Then I add another 5ppm and test, etc... (And do the whole thing again for PO4). Can I infer the accuracy of the test kits from these results? Or is that insane? 

Anyway, I replanted everything and started dosing 5ppm of Nitrates twice a week and leaving phosphates as I assumed that my tap water would cover it. Wrong. My PO4 is down to almost zero and my Nitrates are at 14ppm, so I have upped my nitrates a smidge and started dosing PO4.

Seeya


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

There is a much easier way to make a "known" solution of both NO3 and PO4. First of all, make a 100 ml solution of 4000 ppm (1/8 tsp). You can use the fertilator to play around with diffrent ways of doing this. Using a scale to get an accurate mass of powder is much more acurate than the teaspoon method if you have access to a one. Then take 1 ml of that and add it to 400 ml of distilled water (not liters & liters, huh?). This will give you a 10 ppm solution. Add one more cc - this makes 20 ppm, etc, etc.

I bought a gallon of distilled water yesterday for $1.34. You won't need too much of the stuff if you do it this way.


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## fisherelli (Oct 22, 2005)

I'll give that a shot  thanks


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