# [Wet Thumb Forum]-need help with fertilization ritual



## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

ok i just bought some new ferts. i need help with weekly/daily dosing. 

tank: 30gal long
lighting - 2 watts per gal. maybe going to 3w/g later on next week.
co2- diy 20ppm
plants - green cabomba, aponogeton, water lilly, dwarf hairgrass, purple waffle, other junk.

the ferts i have are:
-seachem flourish comprehensive plant suppliment
-nutrafin plant gro with iron (nitrogen, boron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc)
-seachem flourish potassium
-seachem flourish nitrogen
-seachem flourish phosphorus

i need to know how much to dose and how often to dose them. i also need to know how often and how much to change my water. 

i know that any numbers you will give will be a guess.

thanks 
russell


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

ok i just bought some new ferts. i need help with weekly/daily dosing. 

tank: 30gal long
lighting - 2 watts per gal. maybe going to 3w/g later on next week.
co2- diy 20ppm
plants - green cabomba, aponogeton, water lilly, dwarf hairgrass, purple waffle, other junk.

the ferts i have are:
-seachem flourish comprehensive plant suppliment
-nutrafin plant gro with iron (nitrogen, boron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc)
-seachem flourish potassium
-seachem flourish nitrogen
-seachem flourish phosphorus

i need to know how much to dose and how often to dose them. i also need to know how often and how much to change my water. 

i know that any numbers you will give will be a guess.

thanks 
russell


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

I think you will need to see the conc for the macros on the bottle (I dont have the seachem line, i roll my own). I religiously follow Chuck Gadd's dosage calculator, i know the conc of my solutions and how much each ml of the solution will raise the fert level in the tank. I started dosing PO4 and I am very happy wth the results, the plants have definitely perked up (or so I like to believe). The way I do it is, initially I dose to reach half the target value, then measure the level over a few days without additional dosing. In the case of PO4, I noticed I go from 0.5-1ppm to zero in 2 days, therefore I dose to 0.5 ppm every 2 days (that way I am safely below algae causing levels). I dose nitrates to maintain 10ppm. I use K2SO4 for dosing K, I asked a question earlier on the effect of dissociated SO4, some leaves wilted when I dosed 10ml of the solution at once, so i cut back, I dose 5ml twice a week, 3ml for MgSo4 (once a week though, my GH is quite high so I assume I have Mg in tap water). Oh, I have a heavily planted 18g tall, pics are in "my tank photos (rescaped blah blah...)". Anyway, my advice is to take little steps at a time, lots of monitoring and lots of paience initially and you can avoid algae disasters.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

how do you make your own ferts?

what brand of testing do you use to test for fertilizers?


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

I consider Chuck Gadd's website to be an invaluable resource. Please go through this link for the details on rolling the mixes and where to obtain them , be sure to go through his other articles as well. This, Rex Grigg's website and the aquabotanic articles helped me a lot and I always refer back to them.
I have test kits from Nutrafin, Red Sea and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.

OOPS, I must add to be clear that by ferts I meant Macros and Mg.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

it is much cheaper to buy all the ferts in powder from gregwatson.com.


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

Thanks shalu, I was trying really hard to get that out from my head, I had forgotten the name.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

ok, which ones do i need to buy? pretend like i have nothing. which ones should i get?


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

PO4: Mono Potassium Phosphate KH2PO4

NO3, some K: Potassium Nitrate KNO3 

Trace: CSM+B Plantex 

K: Potassium Sulfate K2SO4, some people only need the amount of K in KNO3. 

Optional: Iron Chelate 10%. Some people say not enough % iron in CSM+B so you can dose Iron separately without overdosing other trace.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

k, i ordered all of the above. i will give the flurish to my brother. thanks for the advice. i really appreciate it. any suggestions on the mixing? bottles, ect.?


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

Try and obtain some DeIonised/ RO water to mix the powders in, that way you know your solution contains only the macro and nothing else. Follow Chuch Gadd's calculator for mixing. For instance, if the target for NO3 is 10ppm, you may want to make a solution such that adding 1ml of that solution will raise NO3 in your tank by say 2ppm, so enter those values into his calculator and you will know for a give quantity of stock (say 200ml), you will need to mix #g of the macro. I use regular plastic bottles to store the ferts, but others use dark colored bottles (the chemicals are pretty stable so dont go overboard in storing them, make small batches, ie dont mix all 300 pounds of your ferts at one time







)


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Store the powder ferts in cool dark place. For trace, I use 1tbs Plantex in 500ml bottle. It should last a while. You can start with a dosage similar to Flourish and adjust if needed. Don't sweat RO/DI water, tap water is fine for mixing ferts.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

k just waiting on it to arrive. might have more questions later though.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

k, i cant figure the dosage calculator out. i have 100ml bottles, and a 30 gallon tank. how much do i mix, and how much do i dose?


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

russell, its really easy. I have the calc open so I'll walk you through with an example. Lets go with nitrates.
1) First determine what the optimum levels should be, for nitrates suggested levels are 5-10ppm, lets go with 5ppm.
2) Now think about how you will want to dose, ie how much will 1ml of your fert increase the conc of the fert in your tank? Lets say that with each ml you want to increase the conc in the tank by 1ppm.
3) Now in the calc choose "nitrate in potassium nitrate"
4) Go to tank size and enter your tank size, you may or may not account for the actual volume of water(less than the volume of the tank). Lets go with 25gallon just for giggles.
5) Now change "amount of water to mix with" to 100ml
5) in Amount to add, enter 30grams., when you say recaluculate you will see that each ml of this solution will raise kno3 by 1.94ppm, but you want your solution to increase kno3 by 1ppm
6) go back to "amount to add" and enter 15grams, now you will see that 1ml will increase conc by .97ppm ~ 1ppm.
7) Mix 15grams of kno3 in 100ml of water, now if you add 1 ml of this solution the kno3 conc in your tank will go up by 1ppm from its previous concentration, so dosing 5ml in a nitrate free tank gives your target value.
Therefore, it is imortant to test for nitrates before you add nitrate (as with any other fert). On testing if you find that nitrates are 2ppm then you will need to add 3ml of your fert to bring it to the target value and so on.
Also I think its better to err on the side of caution ie it is better to add a little less than a whole lot more.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

ok, i think i got it. i mixed and dosed. thanks for the help baj.


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## imported_baj (Aug 5, 2004)

glad I could help.


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