# 500 Litres, and need lots of help.



## lil-lynx (30 Dec 2010)

Hello

I have a 500 litre tank the dimensions are 5 foot long 2 foot high and 1.5 feet deep.

My problem is that the bogwood and plants are suffering form BBA.  Because it is a pretty large tank can anyone suggest liquid or dry fertilizer which we can does, was looking for a all in one (maybe a trace mix)  

Some tank specs

500 litres
lighting - 2 150w MH + 2 x 54w T5 + 2 x 30w T8 moonlights.
Have pressurised CO2 just need to get it set up, 
Flow and filtration - 2 x FX5 + 2 x Hydor koralia 2 + a single aquaclear 70

Please help 

Thanks


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## mdhardy01 (30 Dec 2010)

Hi lil lynx 
Your tank is about the same size as mine
I dose ei run co2 fe and only have 2x54watt t5's
To start of with I would drop your lighting down to maybe just the 2 t5's flow wise you have plenty but how is it arranged?
Instead of going for a ready mixed ferts why not look at mixing your own on that size tank it will work out a lot cheaper
Do you have any easy carbo?if so then what I do every now and then is remove hardscape put some ec in a spray bottle mix with some water spray hardscape with the mix and leave for about 10 mins then replace hardscape after a day or two the bba goes red and dies if you have any ottos the will then clean it up
If you get your co2 sorted and minimise flow dead spots the bba shouldn't come back
Matt


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## mdhardy01 (30 Dec 2010)

Sorry forgot to say good dry ferts from sponsors 
What you need is kno3 +  kh02po4 and a separate trace mix if you have a look on James planted tank site there are good ways to mix 
Matt


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## lil-lynx (30 Dec 2010)

in what quantity would i need these ferts ? 

First FX5 has the out let and inlet on both sides of the tank and same with the other. So i have a out let and inlet on each side. The hydors are on the same sides, one on each side and the aquaclear is on the left side. 

Please help and give me tips if this is a bad setup.


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (30 Dec 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> in what quantity would i need these ferts ? .



Lil -Lynx

Buy the bucket load 

KN03 = 40 tps				

KH2PO4 = 20 tps				

MGS04 = 120 tps				

All of the above mixed with 600 mls of warm tap water.				

50mls per dosage - 3 x per week (Alternative days IE. Mon - Wed - Fri)				


CSM-B = 10 tps - mixed with 200 mls of tap water				

25mls per dosage - 2 x per week (Between the NPK dosing IE. Tues - Thurs) 				

Regards
Paul


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## lil-lynx (30 Dec 2010)

ahh thanks you lot   you lot have saved my tank and lower my stress levels  stupid BBA . how long will the mixture above last ? 

Thanks


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (30 Dec 2010)

Lil

The above mixture is for one month.

Regards
Paul.


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## CeeJay (31 Dec 2010)

Hi Paul

Is it me, or is that a lot of powder to be trying to dissolve in 600ml water?
I seem to remember there are limits of solubility of our chemicals on James' site that were something like
KNO3 36g per 100ml. So for 600ml of water you could only cram in 216g of the stuff. As you recommend 40 teaspoons (at approx. 6g per teaspoon), that's 240g of the stuff.
Likewise the KH2PO4 is 22g per 100ml. So for 600ml it would be 132g. (You recommend 20 tsp which is about 120g, so this would be OK). 
MGSO4's solubility in water is 25.5g per 100ml, so for 600ml would only be 153g. And we're trying to cram in 720g of the stuff.
Personally, I would at least quadruple the amount of water and quadruple the the dosage accordingly.
Of course, an easier option on a tank that size, would be to dose dry. Solves all of those mixing/dissolving problems.
Hope you don't mind me mentioning it, as I just thought it may have been an oversight on your part.
I think you do a sterling job, working out everybody's dosing strategies   Keep up the good work


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## GHNelson (31 Dec 2010)

Hi Ceejay
Best using a 3 litre pop bottle and then decant it in to a smaller bottle.
You could probably knock off 25% of the Kno3/MgS04 as there could be a supplement in the tap water.
Use a litre bottle for the Trace elements.
I think its about 3 heaped tsps too 300ml before residue/saturation/insolubility...... happens with Trace.
Just my 2 pennies worth 
Regards
hoggie


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## mdhardy01 (31 Dec 2010)

Could always just add 2 x kno3 + 1 x kh02po4 3 x a week ( mon.wed.fri.) 
1 x trace 2x a week (tues.thurs.) straight into the tank?.
Matt


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## Arana (31 Dec 2010)

if you want to get rid of the bba your first job is get that Co2 up and running! get your flow and co2 right and the bba will dissapear


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (31 Dec 2010)

CeeJay said:
			
		

> Hi Paul
> 
> Is it me, or is that a lot of powder to be trying to dissolve in 600ml water?
> I seem to remember there are limits of solubility of our chemicals on James' site that were something like
> ...




Hi Chris 

Thx for pointing that out regarding the quantity of powder to be mixed with 600 mls of water, the question was asked by lil 



			
				lil-lynx said:
			
		

> in what quantity would i need these ferts ? .



so I just did the sums, in hindsight I would have been better stating to mix the powders individual making three seperate solutions which would required 3 dosing bottles and dose the three solution seperately.

Regards
Paul.


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## Arana (31 Dec 2010)

Flyfisherman said:
			
		

> CeeJay said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



None of this will matter unless he actually sets up and starts his Co2, it's no good to anyone sitting in the box


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (31 Dec 2010)

Thanks[/quote]



			
				Arana said:
			
		

> None of this will matter unless he actually sets up and starts his Co2, it's no good to anyone sitting in the box



Arena

if i'm not mistaken the issue regarding the co2 has been covered in previous thread replies;



			
				lil-lynx said:
			
		

> Have pressurised CO2 just need to get it set up





			
				mdhardy01 said:
			
		

> If you get your co2 sorted and minimise flow dead spots the bba shouldn't come back Matt





			
				Arana said:
			
		

> if you want to get rid of the bba your first job is get that Co2 up and running! get your flow and co2 right and the bba will dissapear



and Lil has admitted that the co2 injection needs to be set up  



			
				lil-lynx said:
			
		

> Have pressurised CO2 just need to get it set up,




Then the question was asked out Fertz regime - which several members have had an input into the requirements:
mdhardy01 (Matt), CeeJay (Chris), hogan53 (Graeme) and myself (Paul) so I think we are all sitting "outside" the box rather than inside the box (inside the tank would be a better quotation) trying to get this tank to work before a disasters appears.

Regards
Paul.


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## Arana (31 Dec 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> My problem is that the bogwood and plants are suffering form BBA.  Because it is a pretty large tank can anyone suggest liquid or dry fertilizer which we can does, was looking for a all in one (maybe a trace mix)



I thought the question read (above) "My problem is that the bogwood and plants are suffering form BBA" he then asked about ferts which suggests to me he thought the BBA was a fert related issue, i was trying to make it clear no amount of discussion on ferts will cure the problem he was asking about and i thought you all had missed the point that his co2 had not been set up.


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## bazz (31 Dec 2010)

hi,
after keeping various large aquaria for well over 3 decades and then reading through the original post something didn't quite add up in my head,


> I have a 500 litre tank the dimensions are 5 foot long 2 foot high and 1.5 feet deep


according to my calculations, 150cm x 60 x 45 = 405 litres,
also i've been 'ei' dosing a 300 litre aquarium for the last 20 months and those advised dosages 


> Buy the bucket load
> KN03 = 40 tps
> KH2PO4 = 20 tps
> MGS04 = 120 tps
> ...


appeared a little high to me, according to clives 'ei' mixture for a stock solution, for a 20 us gallon tank, for 1 month,
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1211
1 month = 4 Weeks
3 doses of NPK per week
Therefore there are 12 doses of NPK per month.
Multiply a single dose teaspoon value by 12 => [3/16 tsp KNO3]*12 = 2 Â¼ tsp KNO3
[1/16 tsp KH2PO4]*12 = Â¾ tsp KH2PO4
[1/2 tsp MgSO4]*12 = 6 tsp MgSO4
Add these to 600ml of tap or distilled water
therefore roughly speaking, 405l = 105 us gall, which is 5 x the above
11tsp kno3
4 tsp kh2po4
30 tsp mgso4,
or maybe i've been doing it wrong, i never was the brightest bulb in maths!
cheers and thanx,
bazz!


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## lil-lynx (31 Dec 2010)

:O sorry BAZZ !!! you are correct the tank is not 500 litres its more 300 - 400, god knows what made me think it was 500 litres . So sorry to every one


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (31 Dec 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> :O sorry BAZZ !!! you are correct the tank is not 500 litres its more 300 - 400, god knows what made me think it was 500 litres . So sorry to every one




No worries - i'm the same, i've read the title as 500 gallons assumed these were US gallons and done the sum accordingly - sorry guys / gals - what is the actual size of this tank.

Regards
Paul.


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## mdhardy01 (31 Dec 2010)

Ok so let's think inside the tank
1.  Remove all or as many infected leaves as possible 
2.  Remove as much bba from hardscape as possible ( see spray method in earlier post)
3.  Do 50% water change 
4.  Get co2 up and running asap
5.  Start dozing ferts as described above whichever method you find best
 Hope this works for you
Matt


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