Dry ferts: making stock solutions

[kaaikop]

Okay, I'm convinced this has been asked before...

I am using the Flourish line of ferts, now converting to dry ferts.
I want to use the same 500ml bottles for convenience, what amounts of
dry ferts do I need to "mix-in" with 500ml water, to make similar
concentration solutions such as Seachem?

I will use (separately): Iron, Nitrate, Potassium, Phosphate, CSM+B
I don't want to dump "powders" directly in the tank, the fish are so eager
to eat, they will jump on it, LOL

There is so much information on this, and different ways to do things,
that you can easily get totally confused, besides no two tanks are alike.
So now that I got used to my dosing method, would like to stick to it,
if possible

 

[bzbee]

I've been looking into this a little and it sounds like:
( http://www.gregwatson.com/HowToDosePlantex.htm )

To make your micro dosing solution equivalent to Flourish, mix in 1/2 litre of water:

1 tablespoon of Plantex CSM+B and
1 tablespoon of Magnesium Sulfate

To add macros,
( http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/pmdd-tim.html )
add to the 1/2 liter solution:
2 tablespoons K2SO4 (potassium)
1 tablespoon KNO3 (varies, depends on your nitrate)

I didn't see instructions for dosing phosphates, but my suspicion is that it varies depending on need, just like the nitrate. That's the advantage of rolling your own. There is no "one-size-fits-all" magic formula.

"Phosphate
PMDD has no P (phosphate). According to work by Sears and Conlin, having the P in N-P-K as your limiting major fertilizer factor helps reduce algae. Of course plants require some P (.02 mG/ltr a good target), but you'll no doubt have more than enough supplied by fish food and waste.

Most terrestrial plant fertilizer supplements have a lot of P. They may also have N in the form of NH3/NH4 (ammonia/ammonium) or CO(NH2)2 (urea), both quite toxic to fish unless dosed very very carefully. That's why the advice to not use otherwise fine products like Miracle Grow."

The advice I got was to mix the macros seperately, because the need varies over time, and it gives yu more control.

 

[kaaikop]

Looks like I left out the Magnesium Sulfate when I placed my order... What is this for?
My order consisted of: Iron chelate, Plantex CSM+B, KH2PO4, K2SO4 and KNO3...

 

[malkore]

Mg is for people with low general hardness. If you have a Gh over 5dGh you don't need to worry about magnesium as long as you're doing regular water changes.

Second, don't worry about matching Flourish's concentrations. Instead use Chuck's calculator and then you'll be able to customize your concentration so you know that 1mL of solution gives Xppm of nutrient to the tank.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

 

[kaaikop]

Oh okay, that explains it! yeah my water is around 6dGh...
Thanks Malkore! 8)