Am I dosing correctly?

[exodus]

Just got my ferts from gregwatson.com, and after hours of reading I think I have it right. The only thing I have no idea how to dose is the chelated iron. This is all for my 55g tank, I really hope I'm right on these.

Here's my schedule, does it sound right?

Monday,Wed,Fri,Sun(50%PWC)-
1/2tsp(2.8g) of KNO3
1/8tsp(0.7g) of K2SO4

Tues, Thurs, Sat-
1/8tsp KH2PO4
17ml Plantex Stock Solution


Plantex CSM+B Stock Solution:
250mL water
1TBSP Plantex CSM+B


Feedback would be great

 

[7Enigma]

Well the most important thing is how heavily are you planted and what is your light setup? Without that info we are just guessing. Your levels look a bit weird for a general setup. I'd just be careful when dosing BOTH plantex CSM+B (about 7% iron) and the chelated iron as you could be tempting algae. I'd first start by dosing the CSM+B by itself, and then if you see iron deficiency symptoms, dose the chelated.

Also be careful with how much phosphate you are adding. My calculator says 2.0ppm at each dosing (you have 3 dosings per week). IMO that is WAY to much phosphate. Maybe once a week....

 

[rich311k]

I agree with 7. You may want to back those dosing amounts back a bit, maybe half the amounts every other day. You may find it easier to make a stock solution of the KH2PO4. Easier to dose that way. I would not use the iron unless your plants show a deficency. The Plantex will probably provide enough iron by itself.

 

[Zezmo]

I agree with the others about the Iron Chelate, just use the CSM+B and only use the iron if you get deficiency signs.

As for the Macros, it looks like you have the 50% weekly PWC down. For a 55g you might try these doses:

1/2 tsp KNO3 three times a week (approx 23ppm)
1/4 tsp K2SO4 three times a week (you will get about 26ppm Potassium from all sources)
Take 1/8 tsp of KH2PO4 and dissolve it in a cup of water. Use 1/3 of this cup 3x a week. Dose this on your macro days.

Use 1 tsp of your CSM+B solution on the days you don't dose micros. 1-3 tsp weekly total dependant on your water (e.g. hardness) and plants.

This assumes medium to high light and CO2 of some kind.

As a reference, 1/2 tsp per week of Iron Chelate 10% will give you about 1ppm of iron in a 55 gallon tank. That is more than recomended. Use that as a base to figure your actual dosing needs. Though as stated already, wait until you need it to use it.

 

[exodus]

well, my tank is moderately to heavily planted (at least, it will be heavily planted), CO2 regulator is on the way and I already have the bottle filled.

The reason for the higher doses is that I'm running 300w of metal halide on this tank, which works out to just under 5.5wpg.

I'll cut my dosing back to 3/4 of what I'm doing now, once CO2 arrives that should give me some insane growth.

Which ferts should you dose together? I read somewhere that some shouldnt be added together, and I think I got them right, but I'm not sure.

3TBSP of plantex into 250mL of water dosed @ 17mL every other day seemed VERY high to me.. am I right?

 

[rich311k]

Dose the macros together and the micros on seperate days. The iron in micros can bind with the macros so dose macros and micros on alternate days.

 

[czcz]

Specifically, you should avoid dosing KH2PO4 (or any fert containing phosphate) with the traces (or any fert containing iron). In applied practice you may be able to get away with dosing them the same day, but, as Rich said, best practice is to dose macros and micros on alternating days.

3TBSP of plantex into 250mL of water dosed @ 17mL every other day seemed VERY high to me.. am I right?

Yes, but this is a good mix because you could dose 5mL (or 1 tsp) every other day for a somewhat rich ~0.3ppm Fe. Your original plan of 1TBL CSM+B in 250mL with 17mL doses is also good. Here's a CSM+B calculator (1TBL = 3tsp).

Your planning excess nutrients given the light is good imo. I think the NO3 dosing is a little low: if you plan on using an excess of light, P, K, and micros, extend this to CO2 and NO3 as well. Like >30ppm CO2, starting with a target of 15-20ppm NO3 provides a nice saftey net.

Good luck! Great job in planning out your tank.

 

[exodus]

well thanks for the help guys. I did my 50% water change today, and I think I'm not going to dose any more ferts until I have CO2 up and running. I woke up this morning and the tank was all cloudy, and algae was much more noticible.

Oddly enough, with no ferts and no CO2, lights on 13hrs a day I had almost no algae whatsoever...

 

[Zezmo]

Running that light, and those ferts with no CO2 is courting an algae farm.