# Tropica + amount to dose daily?



## Gary Nelson (20 Apr 2011)

Hi

Can anyone give me a rough idea as to how many ml of tropica + I should be dosing in my 180lts?

Is it best to dose daily or every other day?

My tank is not heavily planted, but has a lawn growing and a HUGE narrow java fern - I change about 35% water every week and I have injected co2 with 3x 24w T5's on 7hrs a day.


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## Tom (20 Apr 2011)

I would say divide the recommended weekly dose by 7 and start there, dosing every day. Then, you can increase if you see the need to. 

Tom


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## bigmatt (20 Apr 2011)

Sorry - i can't give you exact numbers as it's a while since i used TPN+ but i do know that when i dosed it i needed far above the stated dose for my plants to really take off.  I'd maybe think about increasing the dose by maybe 10% every couple of weeks until you really start to see amazing growth - i was amazed at just how "visual" it was when i got the dosing right.  It's one reason i moved to EI as it is so much cheaper than buying TPN+!
Hope this helps
Matt


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## Gary Nelson (20 Apr 2011)

Thanks for the info guys, I was chatting to JIM at TGM and he said something about dosing TPN+ and TPN on alternate days? but I do keep reading lots of folk dose allot more than Tropica recommend.


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## LondonDragon (20 Apr 2011)

viper3770 said:
			
		

> I was chatting to JIM at TGM and he said something about dosing TPN+ and TPN on alternate days? but I do keep reading lots of folk dose allot more than Tropica recommend.


One contains nutrients that the other doesn't so it will be a good idea to dose both on alternate days, a tank this size you will need to start in the region of at least 7-8ml per day, but you might need to increase this higher to around 10-12ml, don't change the dosing regime often, use it for 2-3 weeks and then adjust accordingly. Could be expensive in the long run for such a large tank, hence most people use dry salts.


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## ceg4048 (21 Apr 2011)

Hi,
    Just a minor clarification to what Paulo mentioned TPN contains only micronutrients, while TPN+ contains micronutrients + NPK. I see no point whatsoever in buying both, because TPN+ is an all in one product.

Regarding the original question, it is not possible to say with any certainty what the dosing should be for any commercial nutrient product. The reason is that all name brand products, including TPN/TPN+, are very weak and the bottle dosing recommendations are only valid for low light, non-CO2 tanks. When you step up the high light, CO2 injected tanks then you need to start multiplying the bottle recommendation by factors of 2 or 3. What may work for someone living in an agricultural zone will not work for someone using RO water. Commercial nutrient products are so weak that success in using them is highly influenced by the level of nutrients in the water supply. That's because tap water from different areas of the country will have different levels of nutrients in the water supply. The hobbyist in an agricultural zone may not realize that he/she is lucky from that perspective and that it may require much less TPN/TPN+ to achieve good growth performance. This hobbyist will then recommend his/her dosing to someone whose water supply is low in nutrients and that hobbyist will not have as much success.

As Paulo mentions, this is why dosing with dry powders is not only vastly cheaper, but gives you ultimate control and provides for a better success rate because you can make a nutrient mix of any strength desired, independently of the nutrient levels in the water supply.

Cheers,


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## LondonDragon (21 Apr 2011)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Just a minor clarification to what Paulo mentioned TPN contains only micronutrients, while TPN+ contains micronutrients + NPK. I see no point whatsoever in buying both, because TPN+ is an all in one product.


From what I have been told the micro nutrients in both are slightly different hence why both should be used. I could be wrong but that came from Lars Green himself.


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## Gary Nelson (21 Apr 2011)

Thanks you very much everyone for sharing your knowledge - very helpful indeed...


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## vauxhallmark (21 Apr 2011)

When I used TPN+I was pleased with the results from 1ml per 20l of tank volume per day. You could use this a sa starting point and see how it goes.

Mark


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## Stu Worrall (21 Apr 2011)

i put 15ml per day into my 182l but its fully planted.  Your dose will depend on the amount of plants and how much light and co2 you're putting into the tank.  Ill try dry powders one day but ive been saying that for the last two years


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