Fertilizer Dosing Amounts... Am I on the right track???

[AquariumFreak]

Hey Gang,

Well I have been doing my homework and this is what I have come up with for my 90gal tank. My last water test results were the following:

Here are the results:
Ammonia: .50
Phosphate: .05
pH: 7.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
dKH: 8
dGH: 10
CO2: 24ppm

Based on this I have figured I need to dose the following:

Fertilizers
CSM+B Plantex
Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4)
Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4)

Mixing Solutions
PMDD Solution – 500 ml of water
CSM+B Plantex - 1 tablespoon
Magnesium Sulfate – 1 tablespoon
Potassium Sulfate – 2 tablespoons

Mono Potassium Phosphate Solution – 250 ml of water
Mono Potassium Phosphate – ½ teaspoon

Potassium Nitrate – 500 ml of water
Potassium Nitrate – 1 cup


Dosing Amounts
36 drops (1 ½ ml) of PMDD solution per day
24 drops (1 ml) of Mono Potassium Phosphate for 5 days
24 drops (1ml) of Potassium Nitrate for 5 days

So am I on the right track here or am I way off base?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

 

[Mr Burns]

do you have all of the calculations for how many ppm are added per ml? for example, each ml of your KH2PO4 solution should add .1ppm of phosphate to your 90 gal, etc. etc.... as long as you have those calculations and keep up on your testing, you should be right on the money.

patience....

 

[AquariumFreak]

Ok... had to adjust my mixes a bit (shouldn't figure this stuff out without your morning coffee). Here is what I have now and I have included the ppm:

Mixing Solutions
PMDD Solution – 500 ml of water
CSM+B Plantex - 1 tablespoon
Magnesium Sulfate – 1 tablespoon
Potassium Sulfate – 2 tablespoons

Mono Potassium Phosphate Solution – 250 ml of water
Mono Potassium Phosphate – 5 teaspoons

Potassium Nitrate – 500 ml of water
Potassium Nitrate – 1 cup


Dosing Amounts
36 drops (1 ½ ml = 1.50 ppm) of PMDD solution per day
24 drops (1 ml = 0.2 ppm Phosphate) of Mono Potassium Phosphate for 5 days
24 drops (1ml = 1.01 ppm Nitrate) of Potassium Nitrate for 5 days

 

[Mr Burns]

are those rounded or leveled tsp/tbsp measurements?

 

[AquariumFreak]

Good question... I am assuming leveled tsp/tbsp measurements.

 

[Guest]

You might want to recalc your KNO3. 1 cup mixed in 500ml of water dossed 24 drops a day would kill your intire tank in no time. Try calculating 2 tbls of KNO3 in 500ML and see if thats better (you should get .12 ppm per ML) Now go read this on Gadds site about raising Nitrates.....

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

Now for Phos. Whats your tap water reading on Phos after standing 24hrs? I know your GH is really high, generally if you have a high GH. Your going to have higher Phos in the tap water. You might not even need to doss Phos. (hopefully)

250ML x 5 tbls Phos = .23 ppm per ML (drop). Now if your dropping 24 ML per day this = 5.52 ppm per day. YIKES! Over a five day period your dossing 27.6 ppm Phos 8O . This will kill everything in your tank as well. Remember, you want to run Phos. at .5-1. The nitrate to Phos ratio is 10:1. If Phos is running .5, you want Nitra to be 5. If Phos is 1, you want Nitra to be 10. This helps keep everthing balanced and keep algae to a minimum.

As for your PMDD solution, it looks like the stock mix, but I thought it was mixed with 250ML of water? I'm not sure on this one. Right now I'm pressed for time. I'll have to check into the PMDD mix and get back with you.

Make sure you keep your basic water chemistry in mind (Phos .5-1, Nitra 5-10). Be very VERY carefull with the dry ferts till you get your calcs right. Had you dossed your figures. Everything in your tank would have died quickly. Now go crunch those numbers

 

[AquariumFreak]

Well it looks like I suck at math

I've tested my water a few times now and twice my Phos was 0 and once it barely read .05

The PMDD solution with 500ml of water was advised by Greg Watson.

I'm going to try crunching those numbers again and I'll post them soon.

Thanks for looking over my numbers.

Jeff

 

[AquariumFreak]

OK... I think where I got lost was trying to figure out how many drops were in a ml... went to the store and got a baby medicine dropper which has ml marking

So now I think I have got it, please tell me what you think:
Fertilizers
PMDD -
CSM+B Plantex
Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4)
Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4)

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) – Tank Target Level 5 ppm
Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4) – Tank Target Level 1 ppm


Mixing Solutions
PMDD Solution – 500 ml of water
CSM+B Plantex - 1 tablespoon
Magnesium Sulfate – 1 tablespoon
Potassium Sulfate – 2 tablespoons

Mono Potassium Phosphate Solution – 250 ml of water
Mono Potassium Phosphate – 3 1/2 teaspoons

Potassium Nitrate – 500 ml of water
Potassium Nitrate – .87cup


Dosing Amounts
PMDD solution - 1 ½ ml per day for 7 days (1 ½ ml = 1.50ppm) Target in Tank
Mono Potassium Phosphate - 1 ml per day for 7 days (1 ml = 0.14 ppm Phosphate)
Potassium Nitrate - 1ml per day for 7 days (1ml = 0.71 ppm Nitrate)

I think that should be it and I'll start dosing tonight if these numbers look right to you guys.

The blue/green slime algae got really bad today, will this help? What do I do?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Jeff,

Your calcs were correct. You failed to keep basic water para's in mind Remember Phos in the tank should be .5-1, Nitra 5-10 (10:1 ratio).

NEVER doss Phos or Nitra without testing first. After testing your tank doss accordingly. Remember to read Gadd's site I refrenced earlier. You do'nt want to raise Nitra to quickly or you'll stress fish.

I think you might be a little confussed. Heres an example (keep in mind this is only an example) dossing KNO3......

90g tank ... 1tbls KNO3 in 250ML water = a raise of .12ppm per ML (drop)

Now if you recall (read Gadds link I listed above as well as Rex's FAQ again!), you do'nt want to raise your Nitra very fast or it will stress/kill fish (recall how ICh developed after you drastically lowered your KH/GH with RO? hint hint). If you were to drop 2 or 4 drops (.24-.48 ppm) per day. You would slowly and safely raise your Nitra to 5-10ppm over the course of a couple of weeks.

You do Phos the same way. Take a test, then doss a couple of drops if needed. I can't stress this enough. Be EXTREMELY careful when dossing Phos. If your tank runs more than 1 Phos for very long, you will get dreaded BGA and BBA blooms like something ferce. I got them twice. The first time was when I overdossed liquid ferts when starting my first planted tank. The second time was when I switched to dry ferts and miss calculated 8O

This can be a little confussing and overwhelming. Hang in there. After you get an understanding, it's really quiet simple.

 

[AquariumFreak]

Well I tested my water again today and they are as follows:

Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0

So I am basicly starting with 0 on everything and that's where I figured out the above calculations. I guess where I am confused on the Nitra is on Gadds site it says:

So, I suggest starting with a dose that will add 5ppm over a week.

That is why I figured to dose Potassium Nitrate - 1ml per day for 7 days (1ml = 0.71 ppm Nitrate)

.71 ppm x 7 days = 4.97 ppm after a week

Of course I will test my water either every day or every other day but with my prams the way they are am I on the right track now?

 

[AquariumFreak]

Well I am going to start mixing the PMDD right now...

Any comments on the other mixes?

Jeff

 

[betowess]

Jeff, I would dose each fert separately. I have plantex mixed up I wet dose. I have PO4 I very rarely wet dose. I dry dose potassium and magnesium at water changes. I add nitrates only if the fish aren't supplying enough, which they always do on my tanks. For phosphates add 2.5 tablespoons per 500 ml distilled water. For Plantex + B use Two tablespoons per 500ml. from Rex's FAQ: "I dose KNO3 and K2SO4 dry. I make up a stock solution of KH2PO4 for dosing phosphates when needed. I also make up a solution of Plantex CSM using two tablespoons of Plantex mixed into 500 ml of water. Using this solution one should dose .5 ml three times a week in 20 gallons of water on a medium light tank."

Now on dry dosing, for Potassium sulphate, 1/2 teaspoon dry powder added to 25 gallons of change water will give you approximately 14.18 ppm in that change water. This is not in the tank as a whole but just the change water. You'll need to dose enuf to cover the whole tank. But test first. And check your water dept. if possible for potassium and magnesium. Target around 12 to 15 ppm Potassium according to Rex.

Now on Magnesium, add 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons, if you have near zero GH, which you don't. So find out what you do have before you dose. Mojo set you up on Nitrates and PO4 so do that and your cool. But find out what you have in the tank and dose to the prescibed targets and everything is cool. Over dose and algae bigtime. I wouldn't dose any till you get the cyanos killed. Just study this stuff. It will make sense. Goodluck, Betowess