# Can't get fertilisers right



## zoon (25 Jul 2014)

I have recently stripped my tank right down as had major algae issues and plants just not growing. Was dosing plenty of liquid co2 to try and combat algae but it didn't work. Algae was soft grey stuff growing on wood and green spots and haze on glass. Plants went faded green and stunted and just did nothing.

Tank is juwel lido with tetratec ex1200 and t5 lights that came with tank. Have improved flow with spray bar on filter and massive air pump with two outlets. Still dosing liquid co2 (2.5ml daily - was dosing more previously, but this is amount recommended on bottle so thought I'd start with that)

So seems just fertilisers to sort?

I have dry salts - potassium phosphate and potassium nitrate, Epsom salts and micronutrients, but not sure what I am doing with them! Have read stickies (and now worrying my potassium nitrate is not what it says - it's clumpy but doesn't smell of cheese!) but they are all confusing.  

So can someone please give me some instructions for idiots? Trying hard to get an easy to keep, attractive tank, but struggling to put it all together! If you need to know, I have easy plants like mini java fern, java moss, crypts and looking for something bushy and tall like hygrohilia to go in the background (have another post about that!)


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## Edvet (25 Jul 2014)

As in the EI tutorial post 

A Typical Tank
A typical routine for a high light tank with low fish load:
Volume 80 liters (20 gal high standard tank)
5.5 watts/ gal. - two 55watt 5000K/8800K lamps
CO2-25-30ppm (I turn my CO2 off at night)
Canister filter
Fluorite (any porous iron rich material will do) about 7-10cm depth

A Typical Dosing Routine
1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 3-4x a week (every other day)
1/16th-1/32nd teaspoon of KH2PO4 3-4x a week (every other day)
Traces added on off days as the macro nutrients, so 3x a week, 5mls each time.\

For larger tanks multiply.


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## zoon (25 Jul 2014)

My tank is 120 litres with 2 x 24w t5s. How does that work out with the lighting you say above? No idea how to work in gallons! (Crazy English still working imperial!)

It's lido so tall rather than long - no idea if that makes a difference!

 I have sand and gravel mix, so not a specific plant growing substrate.

And I'm using liquid co2 rather than gas. Is that ok?


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## Edvet (25 Jul 2014)

ballpark figure: larger tank with less lights and liquid CO2, i'd say start with the numbers as mentioned so: mon-wed-fri; 1/4 teaspoon KNO3 +1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4 + 1/16 teaspoon epsom Salts; tue-thur"1/32 teaspoon micro


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## Julian (25 Jul 2014)

Sounds like you need to turn the lights down. Too much light and not enough CO2.


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## Andy Thurston (25 Jul 2014)

Forget what it says on the bottle, dose ei as edvet describes, Add 2x dose of liquid carbon daily and if you still grow algae, i would think about getting a fe and reg. use a syringe to apply your daily dose of lc directly to the bba this will kill whats in the tank.


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## EnderUK (25 Jul 2014)

As a bit of a reference I'm currently dosing my 125L the following weekly.
KNO3 3 x 1/4tsp
KH2PO4 3 x 1/16tsp
MgSO4 3x1/2tsp

Trace 3x1/16tsp.
75% water change

Now I'm using about 2x14w t5NO with no reflectors about 16" off the substrate. I'm also ejecting gas CO2.

If you're having algae issues I would dose full EI levels then look at increasing the flow around the tank and maybe dimming the lights. Can you take out the reflectors on those t5s? That will dim it down a lot. Maybe wrap sections of the tubes with black electrical tape. 

I would start off dosing full EI this will cut out plant nutrients from the equation then you can work on the light and flow. Once that's sorted maybe cut back a little each month on dosage until you find a critical point, then up the dosage back to a month before.

other good sites for info....
http://www.barrreport.com/ There's a huge hub of information here.
http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/planted-aquarium/guide-low-tech-excel-planted-tank/ (A good refence but I would start with full EI dosage an maybe work back to his levels.
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/EI.htm good reference on algae and dosing.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=105774 all you need to know about your t5 lighting.


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## zoon (25 Jul 2014)

Thanks. No reflectors on lights. No way of reducing lighting without buying new ones which I won't do - don't have the money. Will putting black tape on really help? 

Definately not going down the gas co2 route. Again cost, but trying to keep it as simple as possible and it all seems a bit complicated just to grow a few ferns!

No algae at all at the moment as stripped whole tank down and started again. 

Maybe a stupid question, but how do you measure 1/16 of a teaspoon?!


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## EnderUK (25 Jul 2014)

don't know about the hood on the juwel lido but can you get in easily to see what the t5 driver is? If it's a multiple voltage driver you can probably just pick up some t5NO lights for like £3 each + p&p. Again depending on the hood and your electrical skills you can probably get a replacement driver for like £15. This is just the geek in me and I really shouldn't recommend destroying your £300 tank 

Black tape electrical tape would work yes but if you're not having issues you might be okay.

Measuring Spoons. Very very easy

Dosage bottles. you can work out how much dosage you need for the full bottle, roughly add the amount of teaspoons and then go from there.

Measuring Scales. Go drug dealer really not needed but I have some that I don't actually use.

all these you can get from china cheaper off ebay if you're willing to wait.

Also forgot one more important link....

Yet Another Nutrient Calculator


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## Edvet (25 Jul 2014)

1 spoon in 16 times the volume? It's never ment to be dead acurate, just make a solution of 100 mil or so add the ferts and give a part of it every other day (1 teaspoon in 100 mil, give 5 mil each dosis) (in my large tank i gave 5 big teaspoon, or 3 tablespoons, it's not critical, just give enoug and do the water changes, now it's low tech  (lesser need) i give 3 teaspoons.


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## James Flexton (12 Aug 2014)

EnderUK said:


> As a bit of a reference I'm currently dosing my 125L the following weekly.
> KNO3 3 x 1/4tsp
> KH2PO4 3 x 1/16tsp
> MgSO4 3x1/2tsp



im about to set up a new tank 120L "shallow" with high light and co2 injection. i wasnt going to go the EI route which i did on my last tanks years ago making up liquid mixes etc but ive changed my mind.

i will be dry dosing and have ordered KNO3, KH2PO4 and trace mix.

i havent used MgSO4 before. is that a worthwhile addition? im not sure why i didnt use it previously but i had very good results without it. can someone advise as to the relevance of it and if i should be getting that as well.

also regarding dosing is the qualtity in the quoted figures above standard amounts and should i use that as a starting quantity to dose?

i cant find chucks planted calculator anymore which i used to use to calculate ferts so am a bit in the dark as to how much to chuck in each day.


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## Andy Thurston (12 Aug 2014)

Will this do
http://blog.fluidsensoronline.com/calculators/estimative-index/


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## James Flexton (12 Aug 2014)

yeah thats great, thanks


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## Andy Thurston (12 Aug 2014)

And if you had good results without MgSO4 theres a good chance your water is fairly hard and contains enough Mg for your plants, so you might not need to add anymore but its always worth experimenting and adding it for a few weeks to see if it makes any difference


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## James Flexton (12 Aug 2014)

Ok cheers, water here is very hard so that's probably the reason I didn't do it last time. I haven't run a proper planted tank for 8 years or so and have forgotten most of the detail behind ei etc..


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