Dosing Ferts for Planted Tank

[ricardo48]

Am I the only person getting confused about dosing fertilizers for a planted tank.

I am dosing Tetra Plantamin and Seachem Flourish Excel for my plants.

I constantly read forums saying you need to dose

P04
KN03
etc
etc


I was under the impression the liquid fertiliser bottles contain all your plants needs. I have laterite substrate, diy co2 at 30ppm and 3.5wpg on my 14 gallon tank.

Can anyone shed any light on what exactly I need to fertilise your tank.

 

[mgamer20o0]

well i looked and couldnt find whats all in Tetra Plantamin. maybe get the bottle and see what it says. excel is just a liquid carbon source.

KNO3 K2SO4 Plantex CSM+B KH2PO4

 

[ricardo48]

It contains lots of macro nutrients but contains ZERO nitrates and phosphate.

I was under impression people are buying liquid bottles of just P04 and KN03 etc. This is what confused me... all these differents nutrients, why doesnt just 1 liquid fertiliser contain everything in the correct ratio?

 

[mgamer20o0]

some people buy liquid ferts but you pay a lot of money for water. buying the dry ones and mixing your own saves up to 44X rex claims. since every tank is different some tanks need more of one fert then the other.

PMDD Pre-Mix

Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Dry Fertilizers, Dry Fertilizers, Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - PMDD Pre-Mix, PMDD Pre-Mix,

 

[JustOneMore20]

I agree, you pay more for liquid fertilizers. Dry fertilizers aren't hard to dose and they are cheaper in the long run.

The reason you don't see bottled all in one ferts is that some aren't compatible with others when you mix them. Really, you might see some bottled (almost all in one) fertilizers, but usually you need more of some nutrients than the bottle provides, so its better to dose them separately.

I'm thinking your Tetra Platinum is probably micro nutrients. Macro nutrients are potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. You could still use your Tetra Platinum along with dry fertilizers.

Or if you feel better using liquid fertilizers, Seachem makes potassium, nitrogen (if you nitrates are lower) and phosphorus. I would check your phosphate levels first before dosing it. You may have an adequate amount. Potassium is a good thing to get though.

Some places to order dry fertilizers:
Fertilizers For The Planted Tank | Ferts
http://www.greenleafaquariums.com

 

[mgamer20o0]

link dont work lol
Planted Aquarium Products | CO2 Regulator | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[ricardo48]

All seems to be tad expensive and complicated... one thing after another.

Needing

substrate
root tabs
co2
lighting
fertilisers
etc
etc


Just seems to get more and more expensive. Will just carry on with co2 and liquid fert for now.

 

[mgamer20o0]

it becomes less complicated the longer you do it. as for cost you can ramp up or down the price it just depends on what you want to do. you dont need special substrate but it can help... not all plants need root tabs but you can also make your own... co2 depending on your lighting you may not even need co2. lighting you can spend 100s on light but there are cheaper options out there too.... ferts prob by far the cheapest thing out there when you are using dry ferts.

dry ferts will last years depending on how much you are adding.

Bulk Nutrients Uncovered

Why would you want to use bulk nutrients. Well here are some numbers.

• If you are dosing 60gallons of water with Flourish Potassium you would need 100 ml to get to 20 ppm.
• If you are dosing 60 gallons of water with Flourish Phosphorus you would need to dose 48 ml to get to 1 ppm.
• If you are dosing 60 gallons of water with Flourish Nitrogen you would need to dose 30 ml to get to 10 ppm.
• Flourish Potassium is $6 mail order for 500 ml. So if you dose once a week that bottle will last you 5 weeks. Cost would $1.25 a week to dose potassium.
• Flourish Phosphorus is $7.50 mail order for 500 ml. So if you dose once a week that bottle would last you 10 weeks. Cost would be 75¢ a week to dose Phosphorus.
• Seachem Nitrogen is $7.50 mail order for 500 ml. So if you dose once a week that bottle will last you 16 weeks. Cost would be 47¢ a week to dose nitrates.
• Total cost for one dose a week with Seachem $~2.75. Note there is no shipping factored in here and there are some rounding errors.

To dose the same tank with bulk nutrients.

• Nitrates 2¢ a dose.
• Phosphates .2¢ a dose. Note that is 5 doses for a penny.
• Total cost for one dose a week with dry nutrients 6.2¢

Seachem products cost 44X as much per week. Note these prices do not include shipping charges and there are some rounding errors. So that pretty much settles that one.

Fertilizing the Planted Tank | Nutrients | Rex's Guide to Planted Tanks

 

[ricardo48]

Well im based in UK so not exactly sure what im looking for to make my own dry ferts at home..

Any help?

 

[mgamer20o0]

contact the 3 links and see if they will ship to you.


KNO3 K2SO4 KH2PO4 should be easy to find. Plantex CSM+B might be a little harder.

 

[krap101]

In UK/Europe, I hear it's tough to get kno3, as it is used in bombs (err... it is.. nobody get any ideas, and that's why it's so regulated).

The "scientific" reason is that if you add everything together, there's some things that will react and create precipitates (I believe the k2po4 and the iron something in the pmdd mix create Fepo4 or something, which is insoluble in water=plants can't use it) I'm sure there are other things you can't mix, but I spent around 25$, used a couple tablespoons of the stuff, (they give you like 1/2 a liter bag full) and I bought them at the beginning of the summer. Both ketchup bottles are at like 80%, although I'm only dosing my 29 gallon. I think it'll last me a lifetime, assuming I don't expand drastically.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Sorry about not realizing you were in the UK. If your nitrates are above 5ppm consistently, you can do without the KNO3.

If you can find Seachem flourish fertilizers there, pick up some potassium.