# fertilizing for a beginer



## lee (23 Dec 2008)

i have just brought all the equipment to start a planted tank,i planted my tank about a week ago,i am useing flourish and flourish iron,on the packet it says use 10m of flourish and 5m of iron a week i used 5 m of each, and thought i would use 5m of flourish few days later the recommended dosage when i did my iron test 2 days later all the iron was gone,this would mean i would have to use 20m of iron a week 4 times the dosage ........im a total beginer                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              240l tank
4x 39 watt t5 bulbs
eco complete substate
co2 1 bubble a second
ph 7.3
tank is fully planted
useing ro water as well 1/4 tap w 3/4 ro water for discuss fish


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## Superman (23 Dec 2008)

For me working out a dosing regime was a bit of trial and error.

I set a routine off based on the packet's instructions (if I were using the easy life ferts or TPN+ etc) and then if plants started showing signs of deficiency, work out whats up and then add ferts or up CO2.

I'm not sure how you tested for iron in the water and how the iron is held in the water column for the plants to take up, but it could mean that the iron is in a different form and that the plants are still ok - but on your test will show no iron.

Overdosing is not really a problem but underdosing is as you'll get algae and plants will suffer as a result.


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## Themuleous (20 Jan 2009)

Hi and welcome to the forum 

Right, first thing to say is you have 80% of the things you need for a planted tank.  The second thing to say is that you have a lot of light over the tank, roughly 3 wpg (watts per gallon).

So you have the equipment, and co2 which is great, the issue I can see with your tank is that with the amount of light you have, the fertilisers you are adding wont be proving enough phosphate and nitrogen and the plants will so get starved.

I nabbed this from TFF as I think its a clear and simple explanation of what is known as the Estimative Index fertilisation principle.



> Estimative Index Explained
> 
> 
> What is it?
> ...



All this will probably jsut confuse you, but have a few reads and we can take it from there as this shoudl give you a good idea of whats involved.  

The last thing to say is, please dont get overwhelmed by this, once you've got the hang of it Estimative Index dosing is really simple, trust me and I/we can talk you through it, but we need you to have the basics before we can do that 

Sam


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