# Dosing Plantex CSM+B



## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

On Greg Watson's page he states to make your Micro solution:

To make your dosing solution, mix in 1/2 litre of water:

1 tablespoon of Plantex CSM+B and 
1 tablespoon of Magnesium Sulfate in 1/2 litre of water.

Does anyone do this? Do you add MgSo4? What is the benifit of this? What is the downside? Does it affect you KH/GH?

Just noticed after dosing it that way my CO2 drop checker no longer works the same way. Although the CO2 is at the same bubble rate and time, it is stating that my CO2 level is very very low. On a 50 G tank I have the bubble rate of 5+ bubbles per second and it still states CO2 level low. Where as before adding this mixture bubble rate was at about 1~2 bubbles per second.

Is it related?

Thomas


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## Tonka (Mar 20, 2004)

This is the PMDD formula. I use the same concentration of CSM+B, but leave out the MgSO4. Of couse, your GH will be increased with the latter, but not by very much since the amount of mix you use is so little (about 5 ml per day?). I'm sure there is a very good reason MgSO4 is in the PMDD formula, but I don't know what it is. (Solution stability?). PMDD should have no effect on KH.

Sorry, but you maybe need to confirm to us that you used distilled or RO water to make up your drop checker solution. If not, you need to do this. If you have, the quick (but maybe wrong) answer to your dilema is that your plants are now able to use the extra CO2.

OTOH, are your fish OK? Not gasping at the surface? If not, the extra CO2 doesn't cost much and is singularly (under high light conditions) the most important thing you can do to promote plant growth to outcompete algae.

Has your pH changed from the time before you used the PMDD formula? If not, then the only answer is that the CO2 is being used and you can add more (but increase slowly with several days between tweeks). If so, then the CO2 is staying in your water column and you'll have its benefit. 

Finally, what is your KH anyway?


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

No, my fish aren't gasping. It justs seems fun that after years of adding other fertilizers to the tank, the CO2 rate has been the same, but after adding this, I had to increase the co2 bubble rate a great deal.

Yes the Ph has changed after adding the Plantex and MGSo4. The Ph is higher.
No I do not use RO or distilled water in the drop checker, just regular tank water, as I have always done.


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## gregwatson (May 24, 2004)

Tonka said:


> This is the PMDD formula.


No ... this is a formula to create a micro nutrient solution ... it has nothing to do with the PMDD dosing strategy ...



Tonka said:


> I'm sure there is a very good reason MgSO4 is in the PMDD formula, but I don't know what it is.


Again (nothing to do with PMDD) ... when you create a micro nutrient solution, most people need to add Magnesium when using Plantex CSM+B ...

Magnesium is also a micro nutrient and Plantex CSM+B does not have enough magnesium in it by itself for most people ... or perhaps a better way to put it is that most people can benefit from the additional magnesium that we are dosing in such small trace amounts ...

Thanks,
Greg


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## teacherthomas (Jul 14, 2006)

Thanks greg. That clears it up. I will keep it the way it is. Plants doing better anyway and that is what counts.

Only problem is the added CO2 is making my shrimp very unhappy and they are stay at the corners and sides of wood and not moving, when Co2 was lower they were moving all around the tank. Fish don't seem to mind by shrimp do.


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