Nutrient Deficiency Water... Can Wait???

[AquariumFreak]

So I did another water test tonight with the follow results:

8 dKH
9 dGH
7.0 pH (set from the pH monitor as well as tested)
0 Nitrite
0 Nitrate
0 Phosphate
.25 Ammonia
CO2 24 ppm

So what I am getting from this is I have nutrient deficiency water. Problem is I ordered the whole line of Seachem products:

Seachem Flourish
Seachem Flourish Iron
Seachem Flourish Potassium
Seachem Flourish Trace
Seachem Flourish Excel

Wasn't really sure what I needed so I just used up my credit and got them all. The problem is I'm not sure when they will be in, so can I wait or should I go buy something tomorrow?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

 

[betowess]

I would wait. Every thing will be fine for a week or more.

Jeff, for such a big tank you might re-consider dry dosing your ferts the PMDD method described by Rex in his FAQ using my prefered provider, Gregg Watson, or Plant Geek to source the Plantex plus boron, NO3, PO4, possibly Epsom salts (or local drug store for Epsom.

And for sure potassium sulphate. Seachem's potassium supplement is really inefficient and will break the tank's budget, when you could get a year's supply from gregg watson for a couple bucks and dry dose your K at water changes. It is totally simple to do. I believe both Mojo and I have suggested this before. You can still use the stuff you bought or save a bundle, send it back and call Greg Watson. He is a good guy to boot... HTH Bob

 

[medge00]

I've got to agree with Bewotess on this one. You'll save yourself quite a bit of money in the long run.

 

[Mr Burns]

hehe...i told you this stuff last night jeff - seachem shmeachem! dry ferts are the way to go with a large tank, with the exception of iron supplementation. keep the iron if you can. the excel is a COMPLETE waste of money because you already have injected co2!

send it back! send it back!

 

[malkore]

trace is a huge waste of money too...if you have any water hardness. thier trace is just hard spring water....not a true Trace like Plantex CSM.

ditch the excel, ditch the trace. the iron is good stuff, and the plain flourish can work as a trace fert until you run out, then get plantex CSM +boron.

You'll use up that bottle of potassium in a month...after that get dry ferts. YOu can get all the dry ferts you need to last you a year for the price of a bottle of flourish

 

[AquariumFreak]

OK OK OK... I got the hint here guys

I cancled my order of the seachem stuff and ordered some plants for my 10gall instead.

Now this is what I will be getting:

CSM+B Plantex 1 lb
Potassium Nitrate 1 lb.
Mono Potassium Phosphate 1 lb.
Potassium Sulfate 1 lb.

Now after reading up on EVERYTHING out there I am guessing this is what I need to do when this stuff comes in:

KNO3: mix 140 grams with 250ml of water. Then add 1 ml of the solution for 5 days which should bring my Nitrate's up to around 5ppm

K2SO4: Dry dose 15 grams of Potassium Sulfate which should bring it too 19.75 ppm

KH2PO4: Dry dose .50 grams of Mono Potassium Phosphate which should bring it to 1 ppm

As for the CSM+B Plantex... I am at a total loss. Can someone help me out here?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[AquariumFreak]

OK OK OK... I got the hint here guys

I cancled my order of the seachem stuff and ordered some plants for my 10gall instead.

Now this is what I will be getting:

CSM+B Plantex 1 lb
Potassium Nitrate 1 lb.
Mono Potassium Phosphate 1 lb.
Potassium Sulfate 1 lb.

Now after reading up on EVERYTHING out there I am guessing this is what I need to do when this stuff comes in:

KNO3: mix 140 grams with 250ml of water. Then add 1 ml of the solution for 5 days which should bring my Nitrate's up to around 5ppm

K2SO4: Dry dose 15 grams of Potassium Sulfate which should bring it too 19.75 ppm

KH2PO4: Dry dose .50 grams of Mono Potassium Phosphate which should bring it to 1 ppm

As for the CSM+B Plantex... I am at a total loss. Can someone help me out here?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Well, after logging into the site and typing a 2 page reply. I was told I had to relog into the site when I tried to enter it. Therefore lossing the two pages I typed. Mind you, I'm a terribly slow typer.

Now the short and sweet version......

Order 1lb Plantex, 1lb Pot Nitrate, 1lb Pot Sulf, 4-6 OZ Mag Sulf (it's less than a buck and plants need it)

For now, cross Pot Phos off your list. Phos can get out of hand in a hurry if not closely monitored. Phos is the root of evil BGA and BBA if overdossed. Also keep in mind any other bottled ferts you use might have Phos. Read the ingrediants very carefully. If you have heavy root feeding plants such as Swords, that require fert tabs in the substrate, which will add Phos to your water. Whats your Phos reading out of the tap?

Reread Rex's website. All the answers are right there on his site.

I see your calculating dry ferts. I suspect your useing Chuck Gadd's calulator .
Go to his site and read it several times. Chuck has a wealth of knowledge that he has been kind enought to share. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/

And lastly.......www.gregwatson.com

Greg and his wife are great. They are truely passioante, not trying to make a million bucks. Great service!

I'll respond with a better explantion tomorrow. I gotta go do a WC and doss ferts before dinner is ready

If you have any questions, fell free to ask us, or your more than welcome to PM me. Catch up tomorrow on this topic.



If you feel you must order Pot Phos now. Only order 4-6 OZ. A pound would easily last well over three years for a 90g tank.

edit.....make that 2lbs of Pot Sulf. You'll use twice as much of it as any other nutrient. What can I say. I'm a terribly typer under preasure

 

[Mr Burns]

AA - it's a pressure cooker!

if your phosphates are @ 0ppm, you need to get them up. -- only by a little bit -- what are the PO4 reading from your tap? i know mine are about .25ppm, so i may never have to dose phosphates. i'll still order a little bit of the potassium phosphate just in case i start seeing PO4-related defficiency symptoms.

hopefully your impatience hasn't hindered you from reading the rex and gadd sites..it's worth the time to read those front to back, forwards and backwards, backwards and forwards...you get the idea

 

[betowess]

Dosing Phosphates is important. Lack of them can herald an algae invasion as well as too much. Its easy to dose in .25ppm increments. Just study the Gadd site like Burns suggested. And be careful to not over dose, especially on phosphates. The key is getting all the nutrients in balance. You can do it. Its really easy, if you study Rex's FAQ and Chuck Gadd's site like Eric, Mojo and I have suggested numerous times. Good luck.

 

[AquariumFreak]

Dang it... I already placed my order and I didn't get the Mag Sulf... I didn't see that on Rex's site, what is it for?

 

[Guest]

Do'nt sweat it. Mag Sulf is simply Epson salt. You can pick it up at a drug store for a few bucks It's used as a source of Magnesium in micro's.

Make sure your very careful when dossing KNO3. I can't recall for sure, but off the top of my head. I think your only suppost you raise your Nitra .1-.2 per day. Raising you Nitra from 0 to 10 in a single day can stress fish heavily. Check Gadd's site for the exact amount to raise per day.

Also, mix your KNO3 in a seperate bottle from the rest of your ferts. That way you can doss all your ferts at once, then doss KNO3 accordingly ,AFTER testing your Nitra.

Whats your Phos test in your tank as well as tap?

 

[betowess]

Jeff, you might already have enuf Magnesium sulphate in your hard water. I would check with your water dept. if you can. Epsom salts (Magnesium) is an important part of the tank's GH for both plant and fish health. You may not want to dose it. Check first. Of course any RO water doesn't have any in it, I believe. But I'm not totally sure on that. HTH. Bob

 

[AquariumFreak]

I'll run tests on my tap water again tonight to double check everything. I know right now I am having to mix RO water with my tap water because it's so hard