twin neck bottles: a tank's best friend

[hashbaz]

I was tired of using a medicine dropper to dose excel every single day. So I bought a twin neck bottle: http://www.gregwatson.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TwinNeck8

Adding excel (or any other fertilizer) is now easier than adding food: remove white lid, squeeze, and pour. This makes things a TON easier.

If you have not used a twin neck bottle:
A twin neck bottle is designed to measure and pour small amounts of liquid VERY easily. You simply fill the bottle through the black lid. Then when you want to add a dose, you remove the white lid and squeeze. Liquid will squeeze up into a little reservoir. This little reservoir is marked at 5mL and 10mL (1tsp and 2tsp). You simply squeeze until the right amount is in the little reservoir and dump it in the aquarium. Only the little reservoir will dump. SUPER easy!

This little hint helped me a ton, so I though I would share it.

 

[czcz]

That is cool. Kudos.

 

[malkore]

I have one of those, for my phosphate solution. I have so many leftover Flourish bottles, that I use those for mixing my plantex mix.

But you're right, those are really handy bottles. Well worth the couple bucks, and they are nice thick plastic...maybe not dishwasher safe, but they'll last years under normal wear n tear.

A few more Kudos for you, for such a good, and easily overlooked, tip.

 

[workfortheman]

I would warn against using these for a solution of KNO3 or K2SO4. I tried it, and since there was some undissolved clumps the tiny "riser" that fills up the dosing chamber got clogged . . . But thanks for the idea of using it for phosphates, malkore!! the kudos make the rounds . . .

 

[malkore]

I never suggest a solution for K2SO4. It can be hard to dissolve, as you note, and you need so much of it, so often, that you'd be mixing new solutions every couple weeks.

I never make solutions of KNO3 either.
What I did for both these ferts, and for my phosphate solution, was made a simple chart that tells me how much of a dose gives me what ppm in each tank.

Like my phosphate is .1ppm in the 75gal, and .37ppm in the 20gallon tanks per 1mL dosed. Same sorta thing for the dry dosed ferts, except I did the dosing based on what would give 10ppm of K or NO3, to make it easier to double or divide in half to meet a day's particular dosing needs.

Then I printed and laminated it so I don't have to reference Chuck's calculator every time I dose.

 

[TankGirl]

Tropica Master Grow comes in these twin neck bottles, too, and I re-use them for my Excel, also, since I dose that in several smaller tanks on a daily basis - really a huge time saver. Plus, you don't have a messy cap that you used to measure. More kudos for posting about a very handy tip.