# What is your fertilisation schedule?



## kadoxu (14 Oct 2017)

Hi,

I'm currently starting a Low Tech project, but coming from a High Tech setup, I'm having some difficulties keeping things simple... 

So I'd like you guys to give me an idea on your fertilisation schedule and amounts, or what to look for to know when it's time to add some ferts.


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## Konsa (14 Oct 2017)

Hi
Dose away it does no harm.
I do 1/2 EI on my heavy planted tanks and I dont use carbon suplement at all.Dosing 3 macro and 3 micro days with one day off   and weekly large wc.All plants and lifestock sound.
U will have carbon suplementing with Excel so not very low tech in my opinion 
Regards Konsa


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## kadoxu (15 Oct 2017)

I try to dose Excel, but end up using it just after water changes... it's just to say I add some!


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## zozo (15 Oct 2017)

I use some clay cones to put in the substrate for the big crypts and the Nymphaea.. (110 litre tank + 15 litre sump) Averagely once every 7 to 10 days a water change about 40%, could be a tad much for a low tech but my reference is water color. Got a lot of wood that still leaches, looking through the side panels i see a white wall and the frontpanel from the inside, the color of this wall through the tank and the biofilm or algae on the front panel is my cleaning sessions and water chance reference.

After water change once a week i add potassiumsulphate >20ppm and potassiumfosfate <2ppm fosfate makes >20ppm potassium and magnesium, day after 3ml Micro solution 3 days later 3ml micro's again. Also add 25ml Rhizotonic weekly, with this i experience mosses growing like a rocket compaired to the tank i do not dose it. Especialy Fissidens fontanus, which is flagged as an advanced moss to grow, grows like a charm in my low tech.

Regarding testkit i know i have Nitrate from the tap. Regarding the water companies report > 40ppm. So i do not dose any Nitrates, i look at my floaters as fert indicators till now they tell me i do not need t add nitrates. 

This tank gets a lot of daylight from a roof window above it, in the summer months i'm forced to dose liquid carbon. Against my wishes, but till now i have no other means to prevent spot algae on all the anubias.


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## ian_m (15 Oct 2017)

Really need to dose some time before lights on to give a chance to circulate round before plants wake up. Probably doesn't matter if in the morning or 2hours before lights on just as long as dosed.

Dosing Excel once a week is a waste as Excel doesn't last long in the water due to it breaking down (it is also light sensitive) so to have any useful effect must be dosed daily.

Dosing Excel really makes the tank high tech with associated higher levels of fertilisation requirements and frequent water changes.


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## zozo (15 Oct 2017)

ian_m said:


> Dosing Excel really makes the tank high tech



Having multiple tanks and one had co2 for the first 2 years i realy can't say plants grow equaly well on glut.. But definitively more advanced as without.
If i dose glut (indeed daily) i can grow Pogostemon, without it stops growing and starts sheding and melting and is gone within weeks.


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## kadoxu (15 Oct 2017)

zozo said:


> Regarding testkit i know i have Nitrate from the tap. Regarding the water companies report > 40ppm


Same here... I had to come up with an almost Nitrate Free EI recipe for my High Tech tanks.



ian_m said:


> Dosing Excel once a week is a waste as Excel doesn't last long in the water due to it breaking down (it is also light sensitive) so to have any useful effect must be dosed daily.


I am aware of that... I'm just too lazy to do it every day! Hence trying to go a bit more low tech


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## techfool (15 Oct 2017)

zozo said:


> I use some clay cones to put in the substrate for the big crypts and the Nymphaea.. (110 litre tank + 15 litre sump) Averagely once every 7 to 10 days a water change about 40%, could be a tad much for a low tech but my reference is water color. Got a lot of wood that still leaches, looking through the side panels i see a white wall and the frontpanel from the inside, the color of this wall through the tank and the biofilm or algae on the front panel is my cleaning sessions and water chance reference.
> 
> After water change once a week i add potassiumsulphate >20ppm and potassiumfosfate <2ppm fosfate makes >20ppm potassium and magnesium, day after 3ml Micro solution 3 days later 3ml micro's again. Also add 25ml Rhizotonic weekly, with this i experience mosses growing like a rocket compaired to the tank i do not dose it. Especialy Fissidens fontanus, which is flagged as an advanced moss to grow, grows like a charm in my low tech.
> 
> ...



x 2 horned nerites ate all the algae off my anubias, bless 'em. They are smaller than other nerties so I barely notice them, These little fellas will even clean the hairgrass.

As for dosing, I dose aquascaper complete in my lightly stocked aquariums every day. Profito in the heavily stocked one, everyday. I feel it's less work as it's a routine that's easy to remember. Just do it every day. And if I do it twice in one day or forget a day it doesn't really matter. Takes a couple of minutes. hobbycraft sell plastic pipettes. 20 drops = 1ml.  I put a sticky label on the bottle saying how much to put in each tank. . My tanks are small so a bottle of ferts will last about a year.
I don't worry about redosing after water changes.


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## dw1305 (15 Oct 2017)

Hi all, 





kadoxu said:


> So I'd like you guys to give me an idea on your fertilisation schedule and amounts, or what to look for to know when it's time to add some ferts


Just the <"duckweed index">.

cheers Darrel


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## kadoxu (16 Oct 2017)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Just the <"duckweed index">.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Unfortunately, the tank and lights I'm working with doesn't allow me to have floaters. I'm using a 46L Fluval Edge Tank with the original light fixture.


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## ceg4048 (16 Oct 2017)

When running a low tech tank it is not necessary to use Excel and may actually be counterproductive. 
Use of Excel pushes the tank into the high tech domain.

For low tech, delete the Excel and reduce the dosing to the following typical numbers:
Add about 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3 and 1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4 per 20 USG once a week or two.
Add about 1/16 teaspoon per 20 USG once a week or two.

Cheers,


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## roadmaster (16 Oct 2017)

80 US gal low tech with daily 15 ml of Metricde 14 gets..
1/2 to 3/4 tsp KNO3
1/2 tsp KH2PO4
1/2 tsp K2SO4
dose these once a week after weekly 50% water change.
Next day I dose 1/4 tsp CSM+B
1/8 tsp Fe from DTPA
Have actually dosed these level's twice a week, but saw no improvement after a few weeks so I only dose once a week.
Lighting is three t8 bulbs and Fluval planted 2.0 LED fixture for spread from front to back.
Two eheim 2217's for filtration.
Plants are Anubia hostefolia (sp), Crypt balansae,crypt parva,crypt blassi,bucephalandra.and assorted anubia attached to wood and water sprite +duckweed.


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## Edvet (16 Oct 2017)

3 tsp KNO3, 1 tsp KH2PO4 1,5 tsp Mg 3 times a week
1/4 tsp CSM B twice a week
It's for my 400 gallon.


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## kadoxu (17 Oct 2017)

Thanks for all your input guys. I'm ditching the Excel then... 

The recipe I have adapted for my high techs was from Nuno M's Journal. I had to adapt it, because, like zozo, I get about 40ppm Nitrates from the tap.
I did daily dosing of both Micro and Macro and it is working great on my Chi, which has CO2 injection (a very small amount, but it does have it).

I'm thinking about dosing the same, but instead of 7 days a week, I'll do it just a couple of times a week.



 


Plantwise, I'm basically grabbing every single plant I can that gets classed as "Easy" and putting them in the tank to see how they cope.


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## dan4x4 (5 Nov 2017)

I have westland aquatic compost covered by a gravel cap.

I'm dosing a complete fert everyday. API & Seachem root tabs. I also have quite a few leaves in there approx 24 beech and oak. I also boil a few leaves and add the stained water to the aquarium (not sure if this is a fert but it affects nutrients).


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