Dry ferts help

[PerfectDepth]

Dry ferts are just salts.. they're all the same thing. I ordered mine from GLA (green leaf aquariums). If you want containers, I recommend the nifty jars from GLA. They're fairly cheap. Just don't get the lids mixed up! I labeled the bottom of the jars with permanent marker just in case.

Do you plan on dry dosing, or mixing your own liquids? I gave up on weighing salts and pre-mixing liquids. Now I just use measuring spoons and dissolve the salts in a cup of tank water then pour it in.

Edit- just saw your post, Brookster. Yes, I should mention that my method is not as exact. "Close enough" is good for me since I'm target dosing based on nitrate test results. I still have not added KNO3 whatsoever- tap water has about 8 to 9 ppm nitrates.. which reminds me, you might want to order an extra dosing bottle so you can mix your KNO3 separately.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Pps pro on the way.

Next question: do you always dose the same amount or do you base it off the levels currently in the tank?

Like if my iron was let's say 5.0 and it needs to be 15.0. 15g of iron takes me from 0.0 iron to 15.0 iron. By adding 10g of iron I would achieve 15.0 correct? Or do you dose the same amount anyway?

Do I need another list kit for all these little levels?


Caleb

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[ImACoolguy]

Dry ferts are just salts.. they're all the same thing. I ordered mine from GLA (green leaf aquariums). If you want containers, I recommend the nifty jars from GLA. They're fairly cheap. Just don't get the lids mixed up! I labeled the bottom of the jars with permanent marker just in case.

Do you plan on dry dosing, or mixing your own liquids? I gave up on weighing salts and pre-mixing liquids. Now I just use measuring spoons and dissolve the salts in a cup of tank water then pour it in.

I'm doing the premixed wet package from GLA. Pps pro.

So you I just get a cup of tank water, mix it up, then dump it in or can I add it straight to the water column?


Caleb

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[PerfectDepth]

I'm doing the premixed wet package from GLA. Pps pro.

So you I just get a cup of tank water, mix it up, then dump it in or can I add it straight to the water column?


Caleb

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If you're pre-mixing you'll use distilled water, not tank water.

If you're dry-dosing, I've heard of doing it either way- mixing with a bit of tank water or just adding salts directly to the tank. Personally, I'm afraid my fish would think it was feeding time and try to eat the grains, so I've never added it that way.

 

[Brookster123]

I'm doing the premixed wet package from GLA. Pps pro.

So you I just get a cup of tank water, mix it up, then dump it in or can I add it straight to the water column?


Caleb

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You'll have the option of mixing with distilled water in the 2 provided dosing bottles provided or any other way really. I just figured it'd be a nice introductory method into low tech dosing for you. As mentioned above you'll probably want to mix kno3 (nitrates) separately as in.most cases the fish provide quite enough. I use empty seachem or any light block bottle will do.. when the package arives we'll be ready for the questions you'll undoubtedly have for us

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[ImACoolguy]

If you're pre-mixing you'll use distilled water, not tank water.

If you're dry-dosing, I've heard of doing it either way- mixing with a bit of tank water or just adding salts directly to the tank. Personally, I'm afraid my fish would think it was feeding time and try to eat the grains, so I've never added it that way.

Well lucky for me my house has a small RO/DI unit for drink purposes. Sadly not enough for water changes. I'll use this to mix them.

May I ask why for this you use distilled when the other is fine with tank water?


Caleb

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[Brookster123]

Well lucky for me my house has a small RO/DI unit for drink purposes. Sadly not enough for water changes. I'll use this to mix them.

May I ask why for this you use distilled when the other is fine with tank water?


Caleb

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You'll be storing the bottles for more than a day or two. I use distilled water and 10 mL of glut to hinder mold growth. When dry dosing you're only introducing moisture a moment before dosing the tank.

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[ImACoolguy]

You'll be storing the bottles for more than a day or two. I use distilled water and 10 mL of glut to hinder mold growth. When dry dosing you're only introducing moisture a moment before dosing the tank.

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Okay so your saying let the water age for 24-48 hours then add solution OR mix my solution and let sit for 24-48 hours.

May sound dumb but I want to make sure everything runs smoothly and no question is unanswered so without a doubt I'll do it correctly. I'm prone to messing things up


Caleb

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[fish wrangler]

May sound dumb but I want to make sure everything runs smoothly and no question is unanswered so without a doubt I'll do it correctly. I'm prone to messing things up


Caleb

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Thanks for asking all these questions! I'm following so I can find answers to questions I'm bound to have. Also no such thing as a dumb question, just trying to get answers to something you don't know.

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[PerfectDepth]

Okay so your saying let the water age for 24-48 hours then add solution OR mix my solution and let sit for 24-48 hours.

May sound dumb but I want to make sure everything runs smoothly and no question is unanswered so without a doubt I'll do it correctly. I'm prone to messing things up


Caleb

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Definitely ask questions if you're unsure. The only stupid question is one you never ask!

No, Brookster is not saying anything about aging water. Just use distilled or ro water for making your liquids, not tank water. I use tank water because it immediately gets poured back in. You'll be storing liquids in bottles, so don't use tank water, and sterilize your bottles before mixing. Do this to avoid mold growing in the bottles.

 

[PerfectDepth]

Also read this if you haven't:
Introduction to Fertilizing the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice

...and here's a handy calculator:
Yet Another Nutrient Calculator

 

[ImACoolguy]

Also read this if you haven't:
Introduction to Fertilizing the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice

...and here's a handy calculator:
Yet Another Nutrient Calculator

Thanks for sharing this it definitely helped clarify some things. If I can find the time I might try the DIY auto doser.


Caleb

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[DaleV87]

Thanks for making a great thread. There is so much to learn and I am following and reading it all.
I'm going down the same road and seeing if I can get better results from my plants so please keep us all updated as you progress and if I encounter anything or come up with any questions I'll share as well.
Just ordered my dry ferts tonight.
Hope Ya don't mind me hopping on the train with Ya.


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[NigelK8485]

One thing when mixing your own solutions, adding 5mL of Excel to each 250 mL of micro/macro solution will help prevent any growth in the solution.

And to respond to an earlier comment about dry dosing, I dry dose because to mess with liquid solutions on my tank just takes too long. I've had fish come up and eat some free floating particles that didn't dissolve completely and have had no issues. Other people just throw the dry ferts straight in the water and let them dissolve in the tank.


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[ImACoolguy]

Thanks for making a great thread. There is so much to learn and I am following and reading it all.
I'm going down the same road and seeing if I can get better results from my plants so please keep us all updated as you progress and if I encounter anything or come up with any questions I'll share as well.
Just ordered my dry ferts tonight.
Hope Ya don't mind me hopping on the train with Ya.


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Not at all. Any questions just ask away. I'm sure I would be asking them one day anyway.


Caleb

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[ImACoolguy]

One thing when mixing your own solutions, adding 5mL of Excel to each 250 mL of micro/macro solution will help prevent any growth in the solution.

And to respond to an earlier comment about dry dosing, I dry dose because to mess with liquid solutions on my tank just takes too long. I've had fish come up and eat some free floating particles that didn't dissolve completely and have had no issues. Other people just throw the dry ferts straight in the water and let them dissolve in the tank.


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Thanks Nigel good to know I don't need to worry about that.


Caleb

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[Fresh2o]

If you do go with the GLA PPS-Pro Kit, order an extra dosing bottle. You can mix the nitrate (KNO3) up separately from the macro mix. This way you can reduce or skip dosing nitrates in the event your bioload is producing a sufficient amount of nitrate.
Edit: I pretty much only measure nitrate and phosphate now.

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[aqua_chem]

You people make my head hurt with your calculations and sophistication.

I always just recommend EI. There's no fussing with calculations, mixing solutions, or anything of that sort. It's literally just dumping the salts into the tank with measuring spoons; can't really get any simpler. There's really no advantage to PPS other than satisfying some inner OCD demon with test numbers. If you don't want to do water changes or do CO2, you can just half the dosages or fiddle with it as much or as little as you want, but it's all really untechnical, which appeals to some people.

 

[Brookster123]

You people make my head hurt with your calculations and sophistication.

I always just recommend EI. There's no fussing with calculations, mixing solutions, or anything of that sort. It's literally just dumping the salts into the tank with measuring spoons; can't really get any simpler. There's really no advantage to PPS other than satisfying some inner OCD demon with test numbers. If you don't want to do water changes or do CO2, you can just half the dosages or fiddle with it as much or as little as you want, but it's all really untechnical, which appeals to some people.

Haha, no way.. you're all over the sophisticated calculation train! What's so difficult about mixing said salts in distilled water?? Really couldn't be any simpler. It also simplifies dosing 3 tanks of difernet volume in the morning. Ei has its place.. don't get me wrong.. so does pps pro..

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[ImACoolguy]

Here they are guys and gals.

Pps pro package.

And brookster here is the wave of questions.

1. I have them in Tupperware containers is this sufficient storage? The only animal in my house is a cat and she doesn't bother them.

2. I posted a thread this morning about how my green algae isn't getting any better. I cleaned the whole tank this morning and it looks like a real DT now it's fabulous. But I know the algae will come back. I want to fix my problem first before jumping into something new for the tank.

3. I would like to finish using up my liquid ferts. Is this okay or would my tank greatly benefit by switching now.

3a. When I switch... How will my tank handle it? Can things go south switching ferts like this?



4. Will things go bad if I miss a water change? Like if I don't do one every 7 days will I have an algae explosion. I'm pretty strict about my PWC but I'm known to do one maybe every 10 or so days depending on my schedule.


Caleb

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