# What to test



## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

Hello

are there any water tests I can use to see if I’m over/under dosing my ferts using the calculator for tnc complete its telling me to dose 25mil for my 200litre tank, but when iv done an iron test with a JBL kits it’s showing off the scale on the high side is this right?


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## hypnogogia (4 Sep 2020)

Hello, what is the actual reading?  How many times per week are you dosing the 25ml TNC complete?  How often do you carry out water changes and how heavily planted are you?  That would be useful info so that people here can try to help you.


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## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

Sorry I’m new to all this it was reading at 1.0, dosing daily with p1 auto dosing pump, water changes are done weekly approx 75% and I’d say medium planted?


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## dw1305 (4 Sep 2020)

Hi all, 





Wayne23uk said:


> when iv done an iron test with a JBL kits it’s showing off the scale on the high side is this right?


Unfortunately it could mean absolutely anything. Whether it is right or not, I definitely <"wouldn't worry about it">. 

I'm not usually an advocate of  test kits, but in the case of iron (Fe) it is quite easy to get an accurate reading for your tank water, mainly because nearly all iron compounds are both coloured and insoluble. 

It is not a kit I've used, but if it goes red? It probably uses this method 





> Iron(III) iron must be reduced to the iron(II) state using hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The determination depends upon the intense red complex which the iron(II) ion forms with 1,10-phenanthroline.


  In which case one of the bottles will be an acetate buffer (sodium or ammonium acetate?) and the other hydroxylamine.

The problem comes because nearly all the iron in the aquarium isn't plant available, so even though there might potentially be a lot of it, in plant terms there isn't any, if that makes sense? Have a look at <"Why add fertilisers.....">

If your water is very soft? You probably will have some <"plant available iron"> and your plants don't appear to show any iron deficiency symptoms. 

cheers Darrel


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## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Unfortunately it could mean absolutely anything. Whether it is right or not, I definitely /www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/from-reef-to-nature-aquarium-a-journey.60195/page-3#post-608056']wouldn't worry about it[/URL]">.
> 
> I'm not usually an advocate of test kits, but in the case of iron (Fe) it is quite easy to get an accurate reading for your tank water, mainly because nearly all iron compounds are both coloured and insoluble.
> 
> ...



Thanks I’m in a very soft water area KH 2/3 out of the tap. The JBL kit turns a purple colour before upping the ferts it was around the 0.02 mark were I was dosing 5ml now gone up to 1.0 now I’m up to 25ml 


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## dw1305 (4 Sep 2020)

Hi all, 





Wayne23uk said:


> Thanks I’m in a very soft water area KH 2/3 out of the tap. The JBL kit turns a purple colour before upping the ferts it was around the 0.02 mark were I was dosing 5ml now gone up to 1.0 now I’m up to 25ml


I'm not sure what to suggest with the "TNC complete" as your nutrient source, you almost certainly have sufficient iron and micro-elements, but you can't stop doing them without stopping dosing N, P, K, Mg etc. as well.

How do you feel about using dry salt fertilisers, rather than an "all in one" mix?

cheers Darrel


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## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, I'm not sure what to suggest with the "TNC complete" as your nutrient source, you almost certainly have sufficient iron and micro-elements, but you can't stop doing them without stopping dosing N, P, K, Mg etc. as well.
> 
> How do you feel about using dry salt fertilisers, rather than an "all in one" mix?
> 
> cheers Darrel



I have been looking into using the JBL proscaper range as my LFS sells them all 


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## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, I'm not sure what to suggest with the "TNC complete" as your nutrient source, you almost certainly have sufficient iron and micro-elements, but you can't stop doing them without stopping dosing N, P, K, Mg etc. as well.
> 
> How do you feel about using dry salt fertilisers, rather than an "all in one" mix?
> 
> cheers Darrel



could you tell me more about dry salts or where I can get the info from please


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## dw1305 (4 Sep 2020)

Hi all, 





Wayne23uk said:


> could you tell me more about dry salts or where I can get the info from please


Yes, you can buy <"individual nutrients">, and then use a nutrient calculator like <"Rotala Butterfly"> to make your own mixes.

We also have our own <"UKAPS nutrient calculator under development">,  which should soon become available as a fully tested version. 

The sellers of various fertilisers make all sorts of claims for their products, but plants can only take up nutrients as ions from solution, and this applies to all plants and is just the same for cacti as it does to aquatic plants. "All in one" mixes offer ease of use, but <"they are an expensive option">, particularly for <"larger tanks">. 

When a compound (a "salt"), like potassium nitrate (KNO3)  is added to water, it becomes ions, a K+ and an NO3-. If we add potassium chloride (KCl) we get a K+ and a Cl- ion, there is no difference between the K+ ion from the KNO3 and the KCl, they are <"exactly the same">. Because of this we can use different salts to <"create fertilisers with differing nutrient content">.

cheers Darrel


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## Wayne23uk (4 Sep 2020)

Could be better as I get high phosphate out of the tap as well so don’t really need to dose them so If I get a potassium and magnesium test kit I could work out the uptake of these nutrients to make my own ferts from salts? I lowered my tnc to 10ml on tues and today fe test is at 0.4 doing my water change tomorrow.


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## dw1305 (6 Sep 2020)

Hi all, 





Wayne23uk said:


> Could be better as I get high phosphate out of the tap as well so don’t really need to dose them so If I get a potassium and magnesium test kit I could work out the uptake of these nutrients to make my own ferts from salts?


I'm not a great fan of making decisions based on test kits. It isn't that I'm not interested in the water parameters,  <"I'm very interested">, but to actually test all the parameters we are interested in <"is a mammoth job">.





dw1305 said:


> ........ Rather than the regular addition of nutrients, I use <"a different approach">. I have a floating plant (usually <"_Limnobium laevigatum">_) and ,<"heavy planting"> of <"easy" plants"> in the tanks. I just watch the <"growth and leaf colour of the floating plant"> (so not CO2, or light, limited), all the time the leaves are green and the plant growing (how ever slowly) I don't add any nutrients (other than whatever arrives via water changes).


I'd probably go for that, keep on adding a small amount of TNC complete at the moment, but add some magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (MgSO4.7H2O)  and potassium chloride (KCl).

You can buy these cheaply as "Epsom Salts" and "Sodium free salt", respectively.

cheers Darrel


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## Mr.Shenanagins (6 Sep 2020)

+1 on the use of individual salts. There’s an unnecessary thought that this is too technical and scientific which is so far from the truth. For around $30 you can have all the ferts you’ll need for a very long time, and tailor your dosing to your needs. It’s not hard at all! Not to say the premades are bad, but your paying for water and shipping, not so much the nutrients inside.


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