What to dose??

[yok]

Hi...I have been reading in this forum about so many different types of chemicals that one can add to the aquarium. As a newbie, I can't help but feel intimidated by all the technical and scientific knowledge one apparently needs in order to run a successful planted tank (I hope I am wrong about this).

Are additives absolutely necessary to bring about lush and healthy growth or can we get away with dosing just the general all-in-one type of liquid fert (trace elements)?

[juggler]

I guess it depends on how much you want to experiment. Most of us also started with off the shelf fertilisers. Then observing our plants for any deficiency syndromes and slowly learn from there.

[Nick]

Take it slowly, my boy. [] For a start, you just got to learn the basics. Dun worry too much about those scientific terms we throw at you. Basically, those liquid fertilizers found in LFS would contain macro nutrients required for the health of your plants. To cut things short, we would prefer to micro-manage as well. There are certain nutrients which would not be found in these types of fertilizers, such as NO3, PO4, Fe, etc. And algae sometimes thrive in a nutrient-limiting environment. Hence, the need to micro-manage as well.

Go search all the past threads, and start to read SLOWLY. Absorb as much as you can. You won't go wrong.

[Plantbrain]

While the chemical names might be flying, you really only need to deal with 4 things and CO2 and light.
CO2 is the most difficult for folks to understand.
Once they figure out that simply measure the KH and then follow the table down to get a CO2 elvel between 20-30ppm and add enough CO2 to the tank to get the pH range that will give them this, they have that licked.

The NO3, PO4, K and traces are easier.
You only add 4 things to your tank.

1)KNO3 for K and NO3
2) KH2PO4 mainly for P04
3)K2SO4 for K
4) traces for the micronutients

Think about it like feeding your fish 4 goodies 2-3x a week of a set amount.

Say you have an 80 liter tank, add 1/4 teaspoon of KNO3, a rice grain's worth ofKH2PO4, 5 mls of traces 2-3x a week. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of K2SO4 after the water change. Add the Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes.

That's it.

If you want to ask "why" etc, then it gets more complicated.

So if you can add 4 things 2-3x a week and you can set your CO2 up, that's all there is to this.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[yok]

Thanks folks...I hope I can finish all the reading up before my tank starts to have problems! I have just finished planting my 3-footer and running for a week. So far I have not measured any parameter nor added any other stuff except for CO2.