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Hey Everyone!
Hope everyone had a good holiday season! I have some food for thought on a new product i came across in my hydroponic store. They sell most if not all the seperate components to create a mixture for Plants. not aquarium but regular plants. They have a list of seperate compontents in what they call a "six pack" they are as follows:

#1 CAN03 Calcium Nitrate
#2 K2S04 Potassium Sulphate
#3 KN03 Potassium nitrate
#4 KN2P04 Mono Pot. Phosphate
#5 MGS04 Magesium Sulphate
#6 Trace Elements Which Break down to:

iron (FE) 7%
Manganese (MN) 2%
zinc (ZN) .4%
Copper (CU) .10%
Boron (B) 1.30%
Molybdenum (MO) 0.06%

I ran out of my CSM+B a week ago and i bought th #6 trace elements and want to use it in lue of the CSM+B, now how much should i use? I used to use 1 1/2 Teaspons three times a week in conjunction with 1 1/2 teaspoons of KNO3 and 1 teaspoon of K204 every other day.

My tank details are 110gal Medium - high light environment running 25 ppm of Co2 with 3.84Watts/Gal And also Do i need to add any other items from the list of the "6pack"

My Plants are your typical Local fishstore, Hydros, Ferns, Swords, And a few others i dont know the names of, but stem plants never the less... Any comments?

Shawn

alot of those ferts dont seem like they would be useful for an aquarium because of all the phosphates and nitrates. I think this would cause algae problems. Also, some of those trace elements seem to be in high amounts(zinc, copper) compare your list to the compesition of seachems Fluorish and you will see right away. http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Flourish.html The plants only needs small amounts of these trace elements and the fish will die if they are present in high amounts.

Yeah I thought abuot it, hence why i was wondering what would people recommend to dose my tank. Start of with 1/2 a teaspoon?

I'd get

KNO3
KH2PO4
Traces

Mg is nothing more than epsom salt, about 97 cents at the local grocery will last many years.

You have lighting, CO2 etc, so the tank is going to use a lot more than you think. 10X faster than a non CO2 planted tank.

I'd add the following to your specific tank:

1 teaspoon KNO3-2-3x a week
1/4 teaspoon KH2PO4
Traces: 20mls (dilute 1 table spoon in 500mls of water).

50-60% weekly water change, dose after refilling.

Make sure the CO2 is in good shape throughout the light peroid.

If the tap's GH is 3 degrees of higher, you likely just need a little MgSO4, the epsom salt, add about 1/2 teaspoon 2x a week.

That's about it.
Pretty simple and becomes routine rather quickly.

I like Tropica master grow for a trace the best though, I'd suggest that personally, but this stuff should be okay.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanks for the advice Tom! I have a routine pretty much set, just wondering about this stuff. I got 100g for $5 of the trace. Ill mix up 500ml and add 5ml 4 times a week. I normally do 50% water change every week anyhow so we should be good. Another thing you have said Tom is to use KH2PO4 i have listed Kn2p04 is that the same stuff? or did and or you mis spell it? are you talking about adding Mono Potassium Phosphate? I also do add Epson salt once and awhile as well... Thanks again

Shawn,

Try this ~ It seems to work well for me. I think a lot of the other plant geeks here are using this too.

100 - 125 Gallon Aquarium
+/- 1 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp K2S04 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp (30ml) Trace 3x a week
50% weekly water change

From; http://www.barrreport.com/articles/42-ei-light-those-less-techy-folks.html

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Yes, same stuff for the most part, you likely do not need any GH booster, www.gregwatson.com sells most everything you might need.

I really like Tropica Master grow for a Trace.
Greg does not carry this, but as I work here at UCD, I will come out with a new gnaly and cheap product that's better than anything on the market today.
Might take a awhile, but it should be reasonable and about 1/4 the price and in the dry form of the TMG.
It'll only be available through Greg's site.


Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanks Everyone for your input. I have no idea why but i have completely forgotten about Mono potassium Phosphate to add to my mix. No wonder my plants havent been doing as good as they should. Thanks Again!

Btw Thanks Wing for that artical!