Discusapisto
Aquarium Advice Freak
aqua_chem said:I just drop my ferts in dry. I've seen fish come up and take a chunk of ferts, and then they spit it back out, because it tastes horrible. No damage done. They would have to swallow it first, in which case the fish would go the way Darwin intended him to go...
When you say premixing, do you mean making your own pseudo-Flourish solution or do you mean mixing the day's ferts into a portion of tank water and then dumping that?
Test kits? .... I would get a nitrate test kit for sure, but otherwise that should be it. They make a phsophate test kit, but I would wager that it's mostly a waste in FW.
As far as actual dosing goes, that would really depend on the tank's demands. That's something that you will need to get a feel for yourself. Many of the fert dosing regimens that you'll see (ie EI) depend heavily on carbon, relying on it to be in excess in many cases. It will probably be the limiting factor in your tank.
I've never heard of stressing fish out from dosing ferts, but I suppose you would see something like that in tanks with really nitrate sensitive fish *cough* Discus *cough*
Now Chem I never said dosing ferts stresses fish no need to pick on discus lol! I'm just saying it's a really good debate I honestly don't know why this happens but I've seen/ and heard of it happening. If your asking me about mixing ferts I mix my dry into a lil tank water in a separate container before I add it in to mix it up evenly.