How to dose liquid fert correctly

[plant talk]

Hi,
I dose 4 teaspoon of K2SO4 to get 20ppm,1 teaspoon of KNO3K to get 5ppm and 0.1teaspoon to get 0.1ppm KH2PO4.Is the dosage correct.I got 540L of water in my tank.

The Chunk Calculator mention mix stock solution and add dry compound directly to tank. What does it mean?

My plant is not doing well since beginning, now even the taiwan moss leave dry up. Red lotus stunt growth.

my tank spec is
5x2x2
PH7.2 (unable to bring it down,have try all matter.no coral chip in it)
4x36watt + 4x55watt PL light
27degree
7 pck of JBL base fert ( 6month old )

[Aeon]

What's your KH? too high and it's hard to bring down pH.

[kadios]

Are these the only nutrients you add into the water? What about your micros or traces? For a start, I did not even see any Fe being added into your tank. We usually add CO2 to bring the pH down. What do you use? Diffuser or reactor?

I suggest you provide more info like what the mods here preach constantly so that we can help you out.

Cheers!

[plant talk]

my KH is 3 and I use a reactor. I use Dr Marlick trace element (red in color)

[Aeon]

maybe reactor not efficient enough or bps too low. KH3 should be quite easy to hit 6.8 pH...

[vinz]

First of all, set your CO2 levels to 20 to 30ppm. If your pH won't come down then you're not adding enough CO2 or the reactor isn't working well... as Aeon pointed out. I don't know what type of reactor you're using, but I find that the internal reactors are not efficient enough for the high flow of a filter strong enough for a 5 foot tank. An external reactor will be better.

"Mix Stock Solution" means you mix the chemical with water to make a solution to keep Then the calculator will tell you that 1ml of that solution will raise how many ppm of whatever.

"Add dry compound directly to tank" means you add the chemical crystals/powder directly to the tank. In this case the calc tells you how manu ppm that dose will raise.

Your calculations are correct.

BUT, I understand some of Dr Mallick's ferts come with a medicine spoon. I.e. a small spoon (2.5ml) on one end and a big spoon (5ml) on the other end. Note that the small spoon is half a teaspoon and the big one is 1 teaspoon.

Suggestion: mix up stock solutions for KNO3 and KH2PO4.
- Mix 2 tablespoons (or 6 teaspoons) of KNO3 to 500ml of water. 1ml of this solution added to 40l of water will raise 1ppm of NO3.
- Mix 2 tablespoons (or 6 teaspoons) of KH2PO4 to 500ml of water. 1ml of this solution added to 40l of water will raise 1ppm of PO4.

For K2SO4, the dosage is too high to make a stock solution to keep. Just mix in a pail during water topup and pour in. Most ppl add the chems direct. I prefer to mix then pour in evenly over the whole tank.

Are you using LushGro Aqua or Micros? How much are you dosing? For my 6 foot tank, I'm dosing 30ml of TMG (very similar to LushGro Aqua) and 6ml of LushGro Micros 3 times a week.

[plant talk]

Hi,

I can only dose fert once a week as my tank is in my parent house.Isst suffient?

My taiwan moss is melting, I find it strange, as moss is trive even without fert n co2.

My 8-9bio ball reactor use to store 2/5 space co2 with 5-6bps after on the co2 system for about 1hour. Now it only have a storage of 1/6 co2. I remove the 1 way valve and solve the problem but when I bought in a new one way valve it goes back the same.So I remove the valve again still the storeage is only 1/6 of co2.What could be the problem?

When the storage of co2 in the take up 2/5 the space of the reactor,the PH is 7.2. How to bring the PH lower.If I increase the co2,the power head will have a buzzing noise due to excess co2 trap in it.

[PeterGwee]

Why not prepare the other dosages and ask your parents to dose it for you? It only takes seconds to dose...

Did you minimize the splashing in the external sump? Good circulation throughout the tank? 5-6bps sounds a bit high even for a tank of that size if things are done correctly. Minimize the splashing in the sump so that the shedding of CO2 is reduced. Consider placing your CO2 reactor in the sump where the return pump is and point the output to the suction side of the return pump. Hook up the return line to a spraybar and place it across the entire bottomback of your tank length. This will give you good overall circulation and ensure CO2 rich water gets to the plants.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[MikeKoh]

[quote:ca2d80387e="vinz"]
Are you using LushGro Aqua or Micros? How much are you dosing? For my 6 foot tank, I'm dosing 30ml of TMG (very similar to LushGro Aqua) and 6ml of LushGro Micros 3 times a week.[/quote:ca2d80387e]


Are you saying that you dose 120ML of TMG a week!

I dose only 30ML for the whole week. I realise also that if I add 1 drop of LushGro micro everyday, hair algae will appear. I now stop my micro.

[plant talk]

Hi,

Yesterday,I dose some fert n trace element.Today I found that my 20 full grown yamato left only 1-2..very sad very painful.What could have went wrong.Even moss is melting.

I got the K2SO4 from somebody n the rest of the fert from Dr Marlick.Can I use them together?

I stop dosing K2SO4 and Mg a few month ago when all my fish died the next day.Could the K2SO4 cause the problem?

[vinz]

[quote:a84272714d="MikeKoh"][quote:a84272714d="vinz"]
Are you using LushGro Aqua or Micros? How much are you dosing? For my 6 foot tank, I'm dosing 30ml of TMG (very similar to LushGro Aqua) and 6ml of LushGro Micros 3 times a week.[/quote:a84272714d]


Are you saying that you dose 120ML of TMG a week!

I dose only 30ML for the whole week. I realise also that if I add 1 drop of LushGro micro everyday, hair algae will appear. I now stop my micro.[/quote:a84272714d]

Errr... 90ml of TMG... but that still seems like a lot. About 1.8 times TMG's weekly recommended dosage. But I have a better hold on the algae situation now. The idea is high light + sufficient CO2, require more ferts.

How's your plants? If they are growing well and algae free. Leave your regime alone.

[superman]

[quote:3894c79e22="PeterGwee"]Why not prepare the other dosages and ask your parents to dose it for you? It only takes seconds to dose...

Did you minimize the splashing in the external sump? Good circulation throughout the tank? 5-6bps sounds a bit high even for a tank of that size if things are done correctly.

Minimize the splashing in the sump so that the shedding of CO2 is reduced.

Consider placing your CO2 reactor in the sump where the return pump is and point the output to the suction side of the return pump. Hook up the return line to a spraybar and place it across the entire bottomback of your tank length. This will give you good overall circulation and ensure CO2 rich water gets to the plants.

Regards
Peter Gwee [/quote:3894c79e22]

Pls explain what u mean by reducing the splashing in the sump. I have difficulty in reducing my PH too. I use a 3 ball internal reactor, surface skimmer and external canistor filter.
1. Everytime when i increase the C02 to 4-5bps, the reactor would store up to 1/3 of air inside within 1 hr. Any solution for that?
2. My GH is 10, KH is 6.5, PH is 7.1, is it all too high? Difficult for the PH to come down? What is the recommened KH? But i thought high KH will prevent PH swing?

[PeterGwee]

Do you have a sump for your tank? How big is your tank by the way? Do you have lots of splashing or surface movement? Good circulation patterns in the tank? Gas bubbles building up in the reactor usually means having too low a flow rate. You might want to get more flow in/out of the reactor. As long as the bubbles are not pushed out by the strong water flow, you are fine. More flow = more mixing and hence faster rate of dissolving. Try to pipe the output of the reactor to a rainbar and fix it across the bottom back of your entire tank length. Point the output to the front and the enriched CO2 water would flow through the plants and up slowly to be used by plants. Note that good circulation patterns like the one mentioned are critical in big tanks...small tanks are less likely to face such problems.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[MikeKoh]

My nitrate level shows high level but some of my plants seems weak and the hair algae still growing. I manage to kill all my BGA using blackout.

I dont know if I have too much fert dosage at 30ML of LGA or too little.

Peter seems to suggest that a lack of certian nutrient would promote algae. Well if we have excess of everything, wouldn't the algae enjoy the excess that is not use up by the plants fast enough?



[quote:a37660892f="vinz"][quote:a37660892f="MikeKoh"][quote:a37660892f="vinz"]
Are you using LushGro Aqua or Micros? How much are you dosing? For my 6 foot tank, I'm dosing 30ml of TMG (very similar to LushGro Aqua) and 6ml of LushGro Micros 3 times a week.[/quote:a37660892f]


Are you saying that you dose 120ML of TMG a week!

I dose only 30ML for the whole week. I realise also that if I add 1 drop of LushGro micro everyday, hair algae will appear. I now stop my micro.[/quote:a37660892f]

Errr... 90ml of TMG... but that still seems like a lot. About 1.8 times TMG's weekly recommended dosage. But I have a better hold on the algae situation now. The idea is high light + sufficient CO2, require more ferts.

How's your plants? If they are growing well and algae free. Leave your regime alone.[/quote:a37660892f]

[PeterGwee]

Mike, its too little in your case. I don't like all things mixed into one bottle...lacks flexibility in terms of dosing.

Why do you think you would have excess if the plants are eating well? Algae have much smaller biomass than plants and require trace amount of everything to grow whereas plants slow down or die if such case happens. It is near impossible to limit algae through nutrient limiting. Keep the plants well fed and don't starve them and they would do well for you. Focus on the plants and not the algae. Manual removal of algae is the way to go along with the help of a strong algae crew. Once the plants settles in and start growing well, algae takes a backseat.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[MikeKoh]

I triple my LGA dosage to 90ml per week. The green plants are now greener with more body...and red plants are redder and certainly looked more healthy. Hairgrass seems to grow faster (just trim them last weekend). I dose 12 drops of Lushgrow micro, and I see hair algae growing immediately.

hmmmm.... maybe I should cut the micro dosage by half.

[quote:64857ec1a1="PeterGwee"]Mike, its too little in your case. I don't like all things mixed into one bottle...lacks flexibility in terms of dosing.

Why do you think you would have excess if the plants are eating well? Algae have much smaller biomass than plants and require trace amount of everything to grow whereas plants slow down or die if such case happens. It is near impossible to limit algae through nutrient limiting. Keep the plants well fed and don't starve them and they would do well for you. Focus on the plants and not the algae. Manual removal of algae is the way to go along with the help of a strong algae crew. Once the plants settles in and start growing well, algae takes a backseat.

Regards
Peter Gwee [/quote:64857ec1a1]

[PeterGwee]

No, check your CO2. Make sure it is consistent and in good range when needed. Once you have that fixed and confirmed, do a large water change and dose back all the nutrients. Repeat the nutrients 1-2x more during the week for a relatively high light tank. Once a week for a low light tank should be enough. I don't like using fixed content in one bottle...in order to hit a certain level for that nutrient, you might end up with overdosing the other. I would recommend you go with separate stuff like KNO3, KH2PO4 and micros.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[MikeKoh]

[quote:1618864763="PeterGwee"]No, check your CO2. Make sure it is consistent and in good range when needed. Once you have that fixed and confirmed, do a large water change and dose back all the nutrients. Repeat the nutrients 1-2x more during the week for a relatively high light tank. Once a week for a low light tank should be enough. I don't like using fixed content in one bottle...in order to hit a certain level for that nutrient, you might end up with overdosing the other. I would recommend you go with separate stuff like KNO3, KH2PO4 and micros.

Regards
Peter Gwee [/quote:1618864763]


I am very sure my CO2 is within a good range of 20-30ppm. KH=4 PH=6.8

[Aeon]

The CO2 calculation may not be accurate if you have other pH reducing elements in the tank. like Soil, additives, etc...

[PeterGwee]

Mike, go for a pH of 6.6-6.7(max)...error on the higher side for the CO2. Please note that LushGro Aqua does not contain any form of PO4. You would need to supplement it.

Regards
Peter Gwee