Plantex CSM+B Dose Question

[dinokath]

Hi all,

I have read 1000 threads (not really, but you know) and most point to justanothertank.com's Plantex calulator. Well, that calculator is not there, neither is the site. Almost all the other threads use the EI to dose, which I do not want to do.

Simple question:

I do not want to use the Estimative Index, so how much and how often should I dose a 55 gallon moderate to heavily planted tank with Plantex CSM+B? I have all the other ferts figured out, but Plantex is eluding me.

Thanks all!

Dean

 

[mgamer20o0]

how often are you going to add? how come you dont want to do EI?

Aquatic Plant Central

 

[timwag2001]

try this site Aquatic Plant Central

 

[timwag2001]

lol. mgamer told me about that site

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

If your not doing it on the "EI" method but you have your other ferts figured out. Personally I have been doing my own dosing schedule from EI but reduced.
It ends up having the same dose of CSM+B as the Phosphate, which in my tank is 1/16th teaspoon every 2-3 days(3x a week). This is for my 55G with moderate CO2 and less than 100w of light.

So my dosing is basically the EI dosing for 20-40G tanks. The reason I do it like this is so I do not have to do 50% WC's every week, instead I do ~15-30% WC's weekly.

 

[mgamer20o0]

If your not doing it on the "EI" method but you have your other ferts figured out. Personally I have been doing my own dosing schedule from EI but reduced.
It ends up having the same dose of CSM+B as the Phosphate, which in my tank is 1/16th teaspoon every 2-3 days(3x a week). This is for my 55G with moderate CO2 and less than 100w of light.

So my dosing is basically the EI dosing for 20-40G tanks. The reason I do it like this is so I do not have to do 50% WC's every week, instead I do ~15-30% WC's weekly.

thats just it. EI is great to start but as you learn your tank you can mold it to your own. i have also made my own liquid trace for some of my tanks i normally dont had ferts too. like everything its just a guide not the law.

 

[fort384]

I will echo the comments above -- it is all about what works for your tank. EI is a good start, but it is not necessary to strictly follow it. You will learn rather quickly what it takes to get the right balance in your tank and you will be off and running in no time.

 

[dinokath]

I plan on dosing as follows:

KH2PO4 - 2ml 3x week
K2SO4 - 15ml 3x week
KN03 - 3ml per day

That leaves me with Plantex to figure out how to dose. I understand it has iron and iron needs to be less than 1ppm but more than .5ppm and based on everything I have read, iron tests suck because they are not accurate to that degree, hence my question on how much PlantexCSM+B to dose.

Reason I don't want to do EI is because it seems to be the lazy way to manage a tank (no offense to anyone out there, honestly) and I am too lazy to do that many water changes (I know, weird to say it like that, but it is a REAL pain in the you know what to do water changes at my house), plus I have low KH in the tap water, which from what I understand is a major factor in CO2 injection and maintaining proper dissolved levels and I don't want to have to screw with my water any more than I need to.

I think this hobby is alot like the last hobby I mastered: brewing beer. There are 1000 different ways to brew it and depending on who you ask, there are 1000 different opinions on how to brew it the 1000 different ways. What I have learned is that what works for you may not work for someone else and what you like, others may not like and no matter how much you 'think' you know, there is always another way to do it that will yeild similar if not identical results. Brewing beer is chemistry mixed with cooking; kinda like this hobby, only more expensive and way tastier....

 

[Purrbox]

Generally the recommendation is to dose enough trace to get 0.1-0.2ppm. If you don't get a good answer on how much to dose, used czcz's calculator awhile back to figure out the dosing solution for my aquariums and recorded the amounts to target specific level. I could post that info so that you could back into the numbers that you need.

 

[dinokath]

Thanks Joy! That would be great. It would appear that czcz's calc is no longer available?

Yeah Tim, I love beer too. If you enjoy good imports but don't like the import price, you can get into beer making for about $300 to start (and that includes the ingredients for your first batch) and see how it goes. I brew about 4x per year and brew enough to last, well about three months. I get about 50 12oz bottles per batch and usually brew three or four batches at a shot. It takes a month or so to age after bottling (or you can keg them, but that is another show) but I promise, after you brew that first batch and wait the time it takes to age it, then ice it down and drink it, you will be hooked on brewing your own. It is the way to go. In the long run (a really long run if you get all the little do-dads to go along with it) it is way cheaper. You can brew a very high quality 'import' at home for about $1 a bottle.

 

[timwag2001]

you know you can adjust your kh with baking soda?

 

[timwag2001]

we're gonna need to talk about that! been thinking about brewing. especially with the amount of beer that i drink

 

[dinokath]

Yeah, I know, but that boosts pH too, and I hate adding chemicals to the tank. Chemical warfare is best left to the pros...

I have two filters running right now. One Magnum 350 that is holding crushed coral to keep KH in check and one Magnum HOT that is holding the ceramic biofilter media.

 

[timwag2001]

i forget that it is but i think 1 teaspoon boosts your kh by 1 degree and by .1 ph (which really isn't much if you dont do it all at once)

 

[dinokath]

For sure man! It took me ALOT of reading to figure it all out and in the end, my style is a mish-mosh of everything I learned.

Check out morebeer.com for supplies. They are pretty good. Austin Home Brew is good too. Check out Alton Brown's 'Good Eats' episode 'Amber Waves'. That is a very good introduction to the hobby and he hits all the major points but there are some 'no no's' he does, like dropping the temp of the boiled beer with ice. Not a great idea. It will work, sure, but you run the risk of contamination, and since you are essentially brewing 'sugar water' before you add the yeast, it is a microbe's paradise.

good eats amber waves - Google Video#

Give it a watch. Great show and a great episode. This is what got me going on the hobby. Be careful, you can easily drop over $1000 and not have everything you need to 'do it right'. If you stick with the extract method described in the Good Eats episode, you'll be good on budget but limited on variety but easy too. All grain is complicated (not really, but more so than extract) and more expensive in the way of equipment (but you can DIY alot of it, let's face it, your are DIY-ing your own beer!) but you get way more control over the finished product.

 

[Purrbox]

Thanks Joy! That would be great.

CSM+B (8.8g)
Dose ~ CSM+B
2 ~~~~ 0.061
3 ~~~~ 0.0915
4 ~~~~ 0.122
5 ~~~~ 0.1525
6 ~~~~ 0.183
7 ~~~~ 0.2135
8 ~~~~ 0.244

These calcs are based on mixing 8.8g of CSM+B with 250ml of water. The Doses are ml of the mixture. Hope it helps!