Aspencer
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Are these amounts correct, I have an excel spreadsheet and for a 750 ml wine bottle, for example, CSM+B is 6.6 grams...
dry fert explanation
- Thread starter blizowman1
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Aspencer
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In that case, I have been dosing with water...my amounts are an order of 10 smaller...I guess my next batch will be different...
Just remember you don't need the magnesium MgSO4 if you have hard water with a GH of 4 or above. Most tap water contains plenty of magnesium.
Are you using a gram scale to weigh out your ferts?
Aspencer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yes I do.
Like a placebo...my tank looks good, 7 out of 19 plants show new growth...rethinking my ferts now...
Honestly if your mixing the macro's all together I suggest mixing the nitrates seperate in one bottle and the potassium and phosphates in another bottle. This allows you to adjust your macro ferts if you decide you need more of one or less of another. I run a high phosphate low nitrate tank so by my keeping my macros seperated I can add more phosphate daily and use less nitrate daily. It really can come in handy and all you need is an extra dosing bottle.
Aspencer
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Doing what you suggest...
If I have NitrAtes running around 10+, can I skip Potassium NitrAte?
Actually I keep my nitrates at 10ppm and often only dose nitates a couple times a week. You can skip dosing it as long as you don't let your nitrates fall below 10ppm.
Aspencer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Ok, solved the discrepancy in our doses..I dose in 50 ml increments....
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blizowman1
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I figured I'd throw a pic of my tank I've been talking about on here so y'all can see what I'm dosing in lol so if I mix some plantex CSM+b in a seperate bottle will it hurt to dose extra of it in my tank to add more iron to my plants
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blizowman1
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How do I know how much is to much
You could test for iron but it's only guessing when it comes to adding excess micro's into the tank. For my tank I should dose 22ml of micro mix daily but instead I've gotten up to between 30 and 35ml of micro mix a day and the plants are doing very well. So all I can suggest is start upping your dosage alittle daily then watch how your plants do over a couple week period. Then you can either add alittle more daily and again watch for a couple weeks or just leave it. All I watch off and on is to see that my iron doesn't go above .3. But I hardly even check it now since I know the plants are doing really well with the dosage I'm using now. This fertilizer issue isn't an exact science since every tank runs different and has different needs.
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blizowman1
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Ok so I dosed 10ml a day of the macro micro mix for 5 days straight and on the seventh day(Saturday) I did my water change before doing the change I tested my water.
So here's my results you can tell me what you think and what I might need to do.
Kh-3
Gh-2
Ph-6.4
Nitrate- 10-20
Phosphate- .25- .5
Iron- .02
So here's my results you can tell me what you think and what I might need to do.
Kh-3
Gh-2
Ph-6.4
Nitrate- 10-20
Phosphate- .25- .5
Iron- .02
Nitrates are fine but if your phosphates aren't at .5 at least I'd add an extra 1ml per 10 gallons of it everyother day along with your normal dosing. After a week of this see where your phosphates are at. You want to shoot for .5 to 1ppm.
You also look like you are going to have to use MgSO4 magnesium if your Gh tests at 2 or lower next week. Plants do well with a Gh of 4. You also might need to watch that your Kh doesn't drop any lower. Again 4 is a good number. I am assuming your ph is low due to your lower Gh and Kh. If Ph drops too much lower your BB will slow down or even stop working.
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blizowman1
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What would make the gh and kh drop like that from the last time I tested?
What was it last time and how often do you test it? There are a few reasons like the addition of certain DW or Bogwood. Not enough water changes with tap water that is hard to readd buffering minerals to the tank. Do a large WC of 50%, wait a day and retest. If the levels are still low I would suggest testing your tap water for gh, kh, and ph. Be sure to let tap water gas off for 24 hours in an areated cup before testing ph. Sometimes tap water levels can change. So you need to see what the tap water is compared to the tank water and go from there. If you have continual low readings the addition of some crushed coral to a filter or hung in a media bag under the outflow to keep levels constant. But first things first before getting into that.
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blizowman1
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It was right before I did the last wc I think. So I tested before my wc two weeks in a row and the last test was gh and kh were both at 5. But the time I tested and both were 5 I had gone two weeks before my wc instead of just a week. And ill test again tonight to see what my readings are, cause I did a 50% wc last night
