More Questions on seachem Equlibrium

[ranmasatome]

Was thinking of dosing some seachem equlibrium to the tank since its been six months since any calcium has been added to the tank and my leaves are starting to looks nasty...so i bought some today...

After reading up on some past threads i'm kinda confused and hope someone can help...

it was stated on the bottle that the reccomended dosage is 16g per 80 litres and this would raise the K by 65mg/l??? on the bottle it says that K is only 19.5% of the ingredients...so assuming that this is true...

(0.195 x 16000)/80 = 39mg/l????

which should i use in my calculations for K in my tank?? it doesn't add up since there are 2 numbers...39ppm and 65ppm!! the difference is a lot!

i'm intending to add it to 185 litres of water...so if i were to use the 65ppm/80litres of water amount as stated on the bottle then in 185 litres of water it should give me 28ppm.

but if i use 39ppm/80litres of water the the amount is much less and i would have to supplement K for my tank thru other methods...

By the way...1 tablespoon isnt really 16grams anyway...its more like 15? is it not?

why are the instructions so confusing?? CAN someone help me?? i'm desperate...

if not i'll probably just return the bottle and get some flourish instead since it has calcium in it...and stop LGM totally and just add the macros...but i would really prefer some one help me out since going back to the shop is a real hassle... Thanks in advance guys.

[|squee|]

Use the 65mg/L reading. It says on the bottle: "This dose raises potassium by 65mg/L." This should be based on the dose stated. So it will raise potassium by 65mg/L for 1 tablespoon for every 80L.

If I'm not wrong, teaspoon is the medicine spoon that we get when we see the doctor, while tablespoon is the one we use to eat.

Also, the dose is based assuming you have RO water. If you aren't using RO water, I suggest you half the dosage or something, or just dose as you estimate it to be to compensate for the K you have in your water as well as the K added from kh2Po4 and kno3. There used to be a Equililbrium calculator at APC's Fertilator, but it's no longer there. It'll make life easier for you.

P.S. I read that having a excess of K compared to the rest of your nutrients doesn't affect algae growth.

[vinz]

Frankly, you do not need so much K (whether it's 39ppm or 65ppm). But it's ok to have them in excess. At one time, hobbyists were aiming for 20ppm, but after that some realised that dosing KNO3 to raise NO3 by 10ppm provides enough K (approx 7ppm). Anyway, use the number given by Seachem. The calculations are not as simple as what you wrote. (I did the calculations a long time ago... they are correct. Anyway, Seachem (and Seachems boss) has a good reputation amongst the US hobbyists, so personally I do trust their labelling.)

Tablespoons are 15ml (volume) not g (weight). It just happens that 15ml of Equilibrium is 16g. (Btw, the 2-ended medicine spoon is 2.5ml (half a teaspoon) and 5ml (1 teaspoon)).

I think you're confusing yourself... you just need to know (and trust) that 1 tablespoon of equilibrium added to 80 litres of water will raise 65ppm of K and 3dGH. As Singapore tap water already has some GH, I suggest you half the dose... try 1 tablespoon for your tank after each water change. Try this for 2 to 3 weeks and see if your plants respond favorably.

[ranmasatome]

Thanks Vinz...yeah..i read that thread where you were talking about this cos i was searching for something..lol..

Anyway...the idea now is to only dose a third of the reccomeded dosage into my tank..which is 1 TSP.

i am currently dosing LGA and LGM..but realised that LGA has everything LGM has in it so have stopped LGM. In order for SEAChem to work properly with my setup...LGA would have to be dramatically reduced in dosage because SEACHEM Equi. has so much K in it. Hence, i spent some time calculating and i don't know if i want to go this way cos i would be spending a lot of money on KNO3...since i would have to individually dose for the NO3. ITs like a big headace just to incoporate something new into the usual regime...

anyway...would using Seachem flourish be the same?? i heard its got cacl2 in it... that way i guess it would be easier dosing...and less of a hassle... i'll go look up Easy-life profito as well...

BY the way...on a side question... theres LGA and LGM just like there is Seachem flourish and Sechem flourish Trace...
are trace dosing bottles only for users that individually dose K,NO3,Mg andPo4?? i ask this because all the "trace" have no macro and just hold higher concentrations of the trace elements...whereas the "normal" bottles have everything in it but trace is in lower concentrations.

[vinz]

I'm not hot about the LGM and Seachem Flourish Trace... most of what they contain, their respective big "brothers" have too. I used LGM once, but not much effect. Trace I never used because the dosage was too expensive.

If it's not too late, return the bottle of Equilibrium and get yourself some coral chips. They'll provide the Ca and Mg that you plants need. You'll need to change water regularly though. You can PM Juggler and ask him to comment in this thread. He uses coral chips for Ca and Mg.

Then you can stick to LGA, or get Seachem Flourish, TMG or Profito. I've looked at a few of the brands and most do not contain Ca and even then only small amounts. Other then LGA, nothing else contains NO3. I find LGA inconvenient because of the NO3 content.

My suggestion will be to dose NO3, PO4 separately. If your KNO3 dose is high enough depend on that for K. Else you can use K2SO4 to supplement, unless your "macro" fert contains K too. For Ca and Mg, use coral chips.

[PeterGwee]

There isn't a need to be so critical about things. As long as there is enough of it, there shouldn't be any nutrient issues. I'll take a good look at your CO2 again.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[ranmasatome]

well..i'm quite sure its not my Co2 because i just measured it... the pH and the KH maybe screwed...its giving me a reading of 56ppm of co2...but on the safe side i increased it somemore 2 weeks ago...and still my plants are all weird!! i did a check again today to be on the safe side and yeah..its still the same.. i also know its somewhere high enough to choke the fishes to death cos last week during a thunder storm there was a black out and my fishes all went to the surface within 20-30mins...and lost all my R. kubotai

vinz : i'm actually using LGA for the specifically for the NO3...although i do have to agree that it is in quite high proportions... Where in the world do you guys get so much KNO3 in raw form?? the ones i get from Mallicks in those small bottles arent even enough to raise the no3 in my tank by 1ppm per ml when i make the stock solution in a 500ml bottle using the whole can/tin/bottle.
Also what is considered frequent water change? i do a 50% water change weekly...is that considered enough? i've also heard from some others that a 50% water change weekly should be able to replace the calcium when using singapore waters...is this true? if thats the case then i'll just return the equilibrium...haven't opened it yet cos i was wondering about this...

[vinz]

Mallick used to have the 1kg bottles. Try plant nurseries... in the fertiliser section.

I make a stock solution of KNO3 with 4 tablespoon of KNO3 to 1 litre of water. 1ml of this solution added to 40 litres of water will raise 1ppm of NO3. For my 600 litre tank, I need 150ml just to get 10ppm of NO3.

As for the calcium, our Sg waters do have some and Equilibrium isn't really necessary. You can always go with coral chips.

[kniveswood]

I've just posted this question regarding the 65ppm to Seachem a while ago.

Embarrasingly the math was off on previous labels. Our apologies for the confusion. The correct concentration/dosing information is as follows:

The regular recommended dose of 16 g per 80 L yields a concentration of 39 mg/L. You are correct.

The former labels had a reference to 65 mg/L and 50 mg/L. Both calculations were wrong. Our apologies for the confusion.

- Tech Support JR

Thread can be found here.

[ranmasatome]

Wow!!! thanks so much!!! just dosed it!!!! Luckily you came along and posted this..i'll go dose a bit more...

Much appreciated!!

[baruch mor]

because SEACHEM Equi. has so much K in it. .

hi ranmasatome
how do u know whats in equilibrium? what else does it have?

[|squee|]

Hi baruch,

Taken from here
Guaranteed Analysis (Amounts per 1 g)
Soluble Potassium (K20)
23.0%
Calcium (Ca)
8.06%
Magnesium (Mg)
2.41%
Soluble Iron (Fe)
0.11%
Soluble Manganese (Mn)
0.06%

[kniveswood]

Hi baruch,

Taken from here
Guaranteed Analysis (Amounts per 1 g)
Soluble Potassium (K20)
23.0%
Calcium (Ca)
8.06%
Magnesium (Mg)
2.41%
Soluble Iron (Fe)
0.11%
Soluble Manganese (Mn)
0.06%

Take note that on my bottle it states 19.5% Soluble Potassium. According to them(I asked on their forum), they are required to state 23% on their website due to some law issue. So use 19.5% for calculations.