LGA - Normal dosing regime

[rocketshrimp]

I am aware that there is no fixed regime as it pretty much depends on the conditions of the tank. However, I wonder if there is a certain standard, given a standard medium planted tank that we can adhere to and make adjustments as necessary.

For example:
Monday - dose LGA 10ml to 100L
Tuesday - dose S04
Wednesday - dose NO3 etc...
Thursday - dose SO4, dose micros
Friday - dose NO3
Saturday - rest
Sunday - WC?
Start from Monday again....

Anyone has any regular regime that you can share? It will be useful for a newbie trying out PMDD.

[vinz]

Why are you dosing for SO4? Or do you mean K from K2SO4?

The usual prescription is NO3 and PO4 2 or 3 times a week. Same for traces/micros but with a day difference from the PO4 (Italics part is new. Apparently PO4 causes Fe to precipitate or vice versa).

E.g.
Sunday WC + NO3, PO4 + Maybe Seachem Equilibrium for Ca, Mg and K
Monday Traces/Micros
Tuesday rest
Wednesday NO3, PO4
Thursday Traces/Micros
Friday rest
Saturday NO3, PO4

or

Sunday WC + NO3, PO4 + Maybe Seachem Equilibrium for Ca, Mg and K
Monday Traces/Micros
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday NO3, PO4
Friday Traces/Micros
Saturday

[rocketshrimp]

Vinz,
Thanks, that was most helpful.

I read somewhere that people also dose K2SO4 for the sulphate (sulphur) that is needed by plants. I am going to try out PMDD once my current JBL runs out (too expensive to keep using this). Particulary, would appreciate those that uses LGA that would share their dosing regime. I had used LGA before previously, hence I have a half bottle of it left in my stock+ various others tubs of chemicals. The last time I tried, all my little critters died. And that was just dropping 5 drops of micros. I think the instructions on the bottle is wrong....I will be working with very little margin for error (got CRS in my tank ). Having an idea as to what the "normal" dosage is will give me an idea how to start.

Thanks for sharing.

[vinz]

Oh darn, I forgot... LGA has NO3. So you should not be dosing NO3. Or at least you need to adjust your KNO3 doses to account for that which comes with LGA.

I've not heard nor read of people dosing K2SO4 for SO4. Only of people dosing K2SO4 for K. In fact, many people were worried of the accumulation of SO4 due to the large dose required to maintain 20 to 30ppm of K that was prescribed a few years ago.

If LGA and micros/traces has Fe, dose LGA. micros/traces and NO3 together. PO4 the day after. Assess your requirements for Ca and Mg. If you need those, Equlibrium will cover those and K. If not, dose K via K2SO4 after water change and as needed through the week.

The dosage depends also on your tank setup... specifically, bioload, plant load, tank size, amount of light, period of lighting and CO2 levels. Can you post those values?

[rocketshrimp]

Bioload: 10 rasboras, 30-50 shrimps..lost count. 2 otos. thats about it. I would think the bioload is low as the critters are all very small.

Plant load: fairly heavy. Has all sorts of moss, pelia, downoi, mm, some stem plants, ferns.

Tank size: 2ftx2ftx2ft (cube tank)

Light: MH 150W (yellowish tint). Photo period 7.30am - 9.30am, 4.30pm - 11.30pm

co2 level...can't determine (I have ph 6.6/7, kh 160ppm, co2 = according to the chart, impossible value. But my shrimps are ok. bps is 2 using a glass diffuser. Not sure if my cattappa leaves are affecting the measurement).

A view of my tank
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...t=WEEPING+MOSS

I have been using JBL ferropol all this while. Seems to work for me, but the results are only so so..nothing spectacular. Wanting to change to PMDD to see if I can improve on the dosing.

Is there any ill effects if I overdose? What are the symptoms? Of course, if really too much, all my shrimps would die. So far ok. Sometimes I am not sure if I am giving too little or too much for the plants.

[rocketshrimp]

Vinz,
Regarding the dosing of k2so4..for k. If that is so, wouldn't dosing of kno3 be enough? why the need to bother with k2so4? Unless we want to get the k without the n. Just wondering about this...

[vinz]

Your CO2 should be around 54ppm to 68ppm. Be sure not to confuse measuring KH in dKH or ppm. Use Chuck Gadd's article here.

I used to practice something similar to your lighting schedule, probably for the same reasons. Later I read that it was not healthy for the plants. I also realised I have no time in the morning to look at the tank anyway. They also need a proper day/night schedule. If your tank does not get too much ambient light, try to set your lights to come on around 10 to 11am, then off around 11pm. Try not to exceed 12 hours of lighting. Alternatively, give your plants a good continuous 10 hours of light sometime in the day, and then switch to a single or double FL for viewing in the night.

Depends on how much KNO3 you are dosing... IIRC, for every 10ppm of NO3 raised (using KNO3), you get 7ppm of K, which according to some sources is enough. Personally, I've stopped dosing K a long time ago, but started on Equilibrium again recently.

[rocketshrimp]

I read somewhere that > 30 ppm for co2, my shrimps should be 6 feet under already...hence I am quite sure my measurement is not accurate. (due to the leaves). I know the diff between ppm and dkh is to divide by 16.<something>
Correct? I feel that my kh can't be right...normal should be 4 dkh.

[vinz]

Looking at your tank, I'll suggest you look up the Tom Barr's (Plantbrain) Estimative Index. PeterGwee can help on that too, he's usually quite upated on Tom's stuff. If he does not comment, PM him to have a look in this thread. AQ has some postings on EI, so do a search for it (Estimative Index).

I'm not updated, so I can give you a rough idea. It involves dosing 10ppm NO3, 1ppm PO4 each time, 2 or 3 times a week. Traces (usually commercial products like Seachem Flourish, TMG, Profito) on the day after. Some K, Ca, Mg depending on tank needs. Try for 2 weeks for results, then adjust, observe for 2 weeks, tweak again, etc, until you get the balance you need.

As for your CO2, 2bps seems quite low to achieve CO2 of that level for you size tank. You might want to push it up a little.

[vinz]

What are you using to maintain your KH? Out of the tap, SG water is about 1 to 3 dKH. I usually raise about 2dKH after a 50% water change. If you do that every water change, you can be sure you'll never go below 2 dKH. If you change 25%, raise 1dKH, and so on.

I'll try to look up a thread about an alternative way of measuring your CO2 when you are unsure of your tank pH and KH accuracy.

[vinz]

Here you go... see my first reply in this thread about measuring CO2.

[rocketshrimp]

Vinz,
Thanks...but tough read. Think I have to re-read it to understand

I don't do anything to maintain KH, it is wisiwig...I also quite limited in the option of major water change...my resident shrimps are paying rent and I can't afford to kill them.. can only do it gradually. But that is a good target to work towards.