# Measuring doses



## beeky (19 Nov 2007)

Hi all,

I've been wondering this for some time, but felt a little silly asking it!

How do you measure 1/64 of a teaspoon? What's equivalent to a healthy pinch?

Also, do you think I should dose potassium in a tank with no CO2 but a decent amount of light? It's 36"lx15"wx18"h with two T5s. I've had the T5 on there for 2 or 3 months now and algae is starting to build on on my anubias and H. stricta.

Cheers,
Graham


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (19 Nov 2007)

beeky said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> 
> I've been wondering this for some time, but felt a little silly asking it!
> 
> ...




that amount of light with no co2 is going to cause you problems, especially if you start dosing.  Plants can only uptake nutrients if they have co2.  You need to decide whether your going to run a low light low tech tank OR a high tech high light tank.. you cant go half way between.  algae might only be small now, but soon or later your going to run into cyanobacteria (BGA) or worse.

T5 lights should only ever be used on high tech tanks. with full co2 and a full dosing regime such as the Estimative Index.

If you need more help on this just ask.


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## beeky (19 Nov 2007)

Why would dosing cause problems? I thought high nutrient levels didn't cause algae?

I was going to inject CO2 at the same time as increasing the light, but I got the T5 controller off ebay and then ran out of money for the CO2! I've been considering using DIY CO2 for the moment until I can afford the FE route. That reminds me...I've got a CO2 question too....


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## ceg4048 (19 Nov 2007)

beeky said:
			
		

> Why would dosing cause problems? I thought high nutrient levels didn't cause algae?
> 
> I was going to inject CO2 at the same time as increasing the light, but I got the T5 controller off ebay and then ran out of money for the CO2! I've been considering using DIY CO2 for the moment until I can afford the FE route. That reminds me...I've got a CO2 question too....



Hi beeky,
                 Correct, nutrients don't _cause_ algae, but now that you have algae if you start dosing without fixing the CO2 or lighting the algae will feed on the nutrients that you do add. Things can become very complicated quickly so the best strategy I can think of is to stop using the T5 and remove the existing algae until you have CO2 sorted.

Light should always be the final component that you upgrade since it drives the uptake of everything else. Adding light while waiting for the next items in the chain courts disaster.

If you are going to add yeast CO2 I would suggest that you do it without the added lights first. Learn how to keep it stable, when to change out bottles etc first without the extra light being present to exacerbate any mistakes. You can still get better growth just by adding CO2 and dosing while maintaining your current lighting.

As far as dosing small quantities, it's probably better to mix the powders in solution and dose the liquid form. I've forgotten the link for the mixing. Let me search for the link and get back to you.

Edit: OK here is a good strategy - You add the 4 week cumulative dry weights to a solution of water , then divide that by the number of days.

For a 10 USG  tank, the total macros for 4 weeks is:
1.5 tsp KNO3 + 1/4 tsp KH2PO4 + 500 milliliters of water / 28 days = 17mls per day. If you dose three times a week then a 10G would get (17ml/day)*(7day) / 3 = 40ml per dose.

A 5G tank  would get 1/2 of the above so either 8ml per day or 20ml three times per week.

A 20G would get 2X the above so either 34ml per day or 80ml per dose OR... add 2X the powder and dose 40ml per day so that your solution lasts a month. Does this make sense?  

Cheers,


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