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Well, I have aquired a 29 gal. and am looking to start a planted aquarium which will probably have a DIY Co2, I was thinking of doing the jello formula. I have also just recieved my coralife 65 watt PC fixture to go over the tank. I seem to have confused myself w/ all this information on dosing ferts. First off, I was wondering why everyone uses distilled water to disolve them? Can regular tap water be used? Is it beneficial to dose them directly into the tank without dissolving them first? Will I be able to get enough K from dosing KNO3 and KH2P04, or will I still need to dose K2S04?

I was also trying to use Chuck's planted aquarium calculator to figure out how much of KN03, and KH2P04 I would need to dose, but sort of ended up crossed eyed and confused I figured if I dissolved 16 teaspoons of KN03 in 500 ML of water, I would be able to add 1 ppm of N for ever ML of solution I added to the tank, making it easier to dose for nitrates. Would this work, and is there something similar I could do for KH2P04?
Do I seem to have this all wrong?
Thnx for any help

P.S.- I almost forgot, I was also planning on using the Plantex trace mix + boron for my trace mix, but I have not found anything that would help me in knowing how much of it to dose to my tank, any help on that plz?
and the reason for all the questions at once is because I have been very ill w/ a bad flu bug, and am not sure if I will be back on anytime soon depending on if I start to get better...plus I've missed this whole week of school, and will have TONS of makeup work.

Last edited by lookin_around at 20-Oct-2005 13:50

lookin_around,

First of all, I hope you are feeling better soon - darn bugs.

The setup 29G and 65W light works also very well without CO2 injection, but I think you knew that already.

But if you want to add CO2 then go for it, it will certainly help you grow the plants .

I use Chuck’s calculator Windows version and I actually dissolve my ferts for one dose only. I do this by taking 2 cups of water from the tank, add the ferts (macros and micros on separate days) and pour it back into the tank. I calculated my needed values by using the “Add dry components directly to the tank” option on the calculator and then filled in my values in tsp measurements.

The use of distilled water is suggested to avoid that the solution would start some work on its own (based on chems in the tab water or algae from a tank, etc) while it ages.

If you would dissolve 16tsp of KH2P04 in 1000ml of water you would get approx. 0.5 ppm of Phosphates in the tank per ml added.

About the plantex, I had the help from trystianity to give me some initial value of how much to add. She based her data on the iron concentration within the plantex mix. I am at work so I don’t remember how much I add, I will update later from home. My plantex never dissolves completely though and I always add some small chunks directly into the tank. This means that I don’t know how large a solution would have to be to dissolve a stack of it.

About dosing K2S04 in addition to the other ferts – well, as usual, it depends. In my case, I add K2S04 because I do not add KH2P04 as my tab water contains too much Phosphate as it is. Each time I dose I add about a quarter of the K2S04 compared to the KNO3. I would say check your tab water first.

Do you know about Seachem Equilibrium and Baking Soda? If not, check my 125G log here in planted.

Hope this helps and that I got this all right,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thnx, I still need to get a phosphate, Kh, and Gh test kit. I have seen your 125 and it looks like its coming along very nicely The baking soda is to raise the carbonate hardness(Kh) isn't it? I do not know the Kh of my tap water yet, so I guess I will have to wait until I get the test kit. And from what I remember reading at Seachem's site, the seachem is for raising the general hardness(Gh). So what is the purpose of raising both your Kh, and Gh?

lookin_around

First, before I forget, I add 3/32tsp of Plantex to the tank.

Yes, Baking Soda is to raise the KH. When you add CO2 to the tank the ph drops. Depending on your KH values, you can store a certain amount of CO2 in the water, basically higher KH = higher CO2. For my tank and conditions (tab ph of 7 and KH of 2) I need to add the Baking Soda so that I have enought CO2 (around 30ppm) without having my ph fall to low (my tank to 6.6).

The Seachem raises the GH, that is right too. My GH is only about 2 and could become instable and I don't want to risk my tank to crash (losing the buffer). In addition, Seachem contains micro ferts that are not present in the Plantex mix (based on Bensaf or Trystianity).

Hope this helps, and go and find out what your tab water conditions are,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I just dump the powders straight into the tank. Just easier.

As LF said if you want to do this use Chuck Gadds downloadable calculator and choose the "add dry compound" option.

If you are adding KNO3 and KH2PO4 should be no need to add any other Potassium. At most a small bit just once after water change.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

ok, thnx...I might go to petsmart tommorow to see if I can get some test kits

ok, petsmart didn't have anything, but the lfs here in town had a lil kit thing. I thought it had a Po4 test, but it doesnt, so for now all I have are these:
GH-9
Kh-8
Ph- 7.5-8

is that high?

It is a Tetratec Laborett kit

Last edited by lookin_around at 21-Oct-2005 14:59

lookin_around,

So far, your values look pretty good. You would not need to add Baking Soda to raise your KH any further as you are somewhere on the edge between soft to medium (no, it is not high and neither is your GH). If you add CO2 to your tank then your ph will come down a little. If you manage to lower the ph to about 7 (not with a ph down solution but with CO2 injection alone) then you should have a CO2 concentration of about 24ppm. That would be very good.

If you can’t or don’t want to get a test kit for Phosphate then use your ferts without it for a while. If you can’t see any sufficient growth in your plants then add a little of it and observe if the growth accelerates. But remember not to add too much as it would for sure help your algae growth.

I am not sure if it would be advisable to add Equilibrium with a GH that is sufficient as it is. I would think that a small dosage could not harm, but maybe someone else (Bensaf, Trystianity) would know more about it.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I just got the phosphate kit and my Po4 is about .5-1(color matching).

Last edited by lookin_around at 23-Oct-2005 13:37

so...will I need to dose KH2P04?

Well thats' your PO4 reading now. Add plants and co2 and that will disappear quite quickly and will need to be replaced.....with KH2PO4.

Try to keep at that level all the time, don't let it drop.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Ok, thnx....whoo, I think I got this fertalizing thing under control finally. Thanx for all your help guys.

Now its time to start ordering and choosing plants