Dry Fertz Help

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LiQuiD

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 16, 2014
Messages
189
Location
Orange County, CA
So I am finally ready to jump into the world of Dry ferts, and stop spending insane money on liquid ferts. Everyone says that dry ferts are the way to go, so Im hoping someone very knowledgeable on the subject, can point me in the right direction. I have always used Flourish Excel, Flourish, Seachem Iron, and Easy Green from Aquarium Co-Op along with Co2. I am setting up my 125gal very soon, and would like to use dry ferts moving forward.

  1. Where is the best place to buy dry ferts?
  2. What exactly do I buy? (Im a total beginner that learns very fast)
  3. How often am I dosing?

I have a digital scale, and can weigh out the ferts and create mixing bottles. Im looking to make something like a micro and macro solution that I dose often, but I dont know what Im doing here.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!! :thanks:

LiQ~
 
Welcome to the dark side!
Have you decided on doing PPS-Pro or Estimative Index? I like the former because it is a leaner mix and not dependent on 50% weekly water changes (nothing wrong with that).
Two sources come to mind: Green Leaf Aquariums (GLA) and NilocG Aquatics. I’ve used GLA so I can only comment on that one. GLA has a PPS-Pro kit. Comes with the dry ferts and mixing/dosing containers. The macros come with 4 separate baggies/vials of salts/powders. Just a suggestion: mix and dose the KNO3 (nitrates) separately because you may find that the inhabitant’s bioload may be contributing a sufficient amount of nitrates.
Your digital scale should be able to measure in grams. Allow the solution to sit overnight before dosing. Dosing is daily and 1 mL per 10 gallons.
 
I agree with fresh, I’ve used both pps and EI and I prefer pps pro, I have had much better results with pps pro.

Best to start with a kit like fresh said. From nilcog or gla.

One thing to remember is not all tanks are the same so u may need to play with the mixes a little to get it perfect. For example if your getting really bad GSA you might want to mix in abit of extra phosphate or if u want extra iron for really intense reds u can up the dosage abit.

Here’s the link for pps pro, https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro

Don’t worry about the tds readings etc, I just do 50% weekly but u can stretch it to 2 weeks if u get lazy one week haha [emoji16]

The dry salts can be brought by the pound and will last you years.

Best way of dosing in my opinion [emoji106]
 
Welcome to the dark side!
Have you decided on doing PPS-Pro or Estimative Index? I like the former because it is a leaner mix and not dependent on 50% weekly water changes (nothing wrong with that).
Two sources come to mind: Green Leaf Aquariums (GLA) and NilocG Aquatics. I’ve used GLA so I can only comment on that one. GLA has a PPS-Pro kit. Comes with the dry ferts and mixing/dosing containers. The macros come with 4 separate baggies/vials of salts/powders. Just a suggestion: mix and dose the KNO3 (nitrates) separately because you may find that the inhabitant’s bioload may be contributing a sufficient amount of nitrates.
Your digital scale should be able to measure in grams. Allow the solution to sit overnight before dosing. Dosing is daily and 1 mL per 10 gallons.


I agree with fresh, I’ve used both pps and EI and I prefer pps pro, I have had much better results with pps pro.

Best to start with a kit like fresh said. From nilcog or gla.

One thing to remember is not all tanks are the same so u may need to play with the mixes a little to get it perfect. For example if your getting really bad GSA you might want to mix in abit of extra phosphate or if u want extra iron for really intense reds u can up the dosage abit.

Here’s the link for pps pro, https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro

Don’t worry about the tds readings etc, I just do 50% weekly but u can stretch it to 2 weeks if u get lazy one week haha [emoji16]

The dry salts can be brought by the pound and will last you years.

Best way of dosing in my opinion [emoji106]



The dark side has always called to me, and now I chose to listen...:vader:

Thank you both for the responses and great info!:thanks:

I have heard about both techniques, but am unfamiliar with their proper administration to a tank, since I have never done this. After reading both of your replies, I will go with the PPS-Pro method to start. I already do 50% weekly water changes on my tanks, so this will not be an issue. In my adventures of looking into dry ferts for a while, I have found both of the sites you guys listed, and also one more HERE. Have either of you shopped or seen this page before? I have had it saved for a while for just this occasion. I would imagine the substances are all relatively the same as for their potency, so its just a matter of finding the better deal in cost? (Please let me know if Im wrong here). Ill spend some time and compare who has the best bang for the buck and report back.

Thank you for the tip on the KNO3. I have saved old 500ml seachem bottles for this exact purpose. ;) Ill just label them with a sharpie. So for my 125 gallon, I will roughly be dosing 12-13ml. daily, correct? And this amount will go for all solutions I dose?

Great tips Bert, thanks. Im not seeing Iron as one of the 5 that comes in the kit, do I purchase that separately? I still have 2 2L jugs of Seachem iron I need to go though.

Thank you both again!
 
I’ve not seen that site (aquarium fertilizers) before.
Yes, 12-13 mL daily for the macros sound fine. The micro dosage might be less; a few years back the recipe for the micros changed (at least for the GLA mix). Specific dosage should be included at the site or with the order.
It is very economical (if this has not already been mentioned). Almost 4 years ago I purchased a PPS-Pro kit from GLA. I am at the point of ordering more micros but still have plenty of macros left. Yes, I have a smaller tank but this is still a great value.
 
I’ve not seen that site (aquarium fertilizers) before.
Yes, 12-13 mL daily for the macros sound fine. The micro dosage might be less; a few years back the recipe for the micros changed (at least for the GLA mix). Specific dosage should be included at the site or with the order.
It is very economical (if this has not already been mentioned). Almost 4 years ago I purchased a PPS-Pro kit from GLA. I am at the point of ordering more micros but still have plenty of macros left. Yes, I have a smaller tank but this is still a great value.


Thats awesome! That is exactly what I am hoping for as far as usage over time.

As for comparing the 3 sites, GLA looks like the best bang for your buck. The aquariumferts site I showed you looks like they do a pre-mixed of the macros and have you add drops vs ml, do to potency differences. NilocG gives you the same as GLA, but charges $3 more it seems.
 
Someone just showed me this calculator on plantedtank.net forums. Just wanted to share it. Rotala Butterfly | Planted Aquarium Nutrient Dosing Calculator



I used rotala for all my fert calcs [emoji16]

As for your question about iron it’s in your micro nutrient mix, think it’s called csbm+ or something like that? It’s in the chelated nutrient mix. (Micro)

I’ve never found the need to dose more iron that what is in the mix u dose with pps pro anyway. I don’t like going to far off track with nutrients as it can cause problems. If u want the deep reds I’d just increase the lighting [emoji16]

In saying that tho people do dose extra iron and say it helps but meh.
 
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