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Check your circulation around them. It wouldn't surprise me if you had some issues with that large flat piece of hardscape where it is, effectively shielding the plants from the flow. if you have circulation issues then CO2 won't be getting to them. Try moving your drop check around and see...

Hi folks. I have some ADA ferts (Step 1, 2 and 3) which have been in storage for some time, about 18months. I was using them before taking down the tank I was them on. I've noticed that they seem to have changed colour a little. I was wondering if they had a shelf life, and whether I could...

It's difficult, as they're white powders! From using powders in the past, potassium nitrate tends to be a finer powder I think. Look at the granule size...

I guess it depends if anyone's actually complained/told them :) I've used it for a number of years off and on and not had one leak thankfully. Also, Jen - I forgot to bring the spare caps to work :shifty: , so will post them Monday (or tomorrow if possible).

If it's of interest, Aqua Essentials actually sells the bottles. Obviously not very practical if you only want the bottles due to shipping costs, but worth throwing some into your shopping basket if you're doing an order :) http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/dry-fer ... 5_274.html

My understanding of these bottles is that if you screw them up tight enough they should be sealed. It's been a while since I've used TPN but I think they're safety caps which require you to push down to open them? Also, I think they have a disc of silver plastic or something similar in the...

Essentially, yes :) Making your own works out cheaper for definite. Overdosing isn't necessarily a good thing but if your tank maintenance is up to scratch then it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The EI method basically uses the idea of dosing more nutrients then are required to guarantee...

If you want a good all round off the shelf product, you can't really go wrong with Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus (also refered to as TPN+ ). It contains all the macro and micro nutrients required by plants. You could also, however, read up on different dosing regimes, such as Estimative Index...

TPN+ already contains phosphate and nitrate so I don't think it would be worth adding dry powders, when you could just up the dosage of TPN+. TPN provides the trace elements which includes iron JamesC has a great write up on making your own TPN+ with dry salts, but the information is useful as...

Hi J, and welcome to UKAPS :) Have you had a read about Estimative Index (EI)? EI is one of the dosing methods used by many (although there are alternatives) which uses dry powders. This method can be tailored to your particular tank and lighting/CO2 levels. Check out these two articles if...

Either/or! :) I use EC at the moment. No particular reason other than I bought it from a sponsor when buying a load of other stuff and they don't stock Flourish Excel. I also have the full Easy Life range, so it fits in with that too :) (though I'm not dosing them at the moment).

Hey all. I'm interested to know if you guys have any links to a comprehensive ADA fert writeup, regarding the purpose of each product, and the dosing. Now, the Steps are easy enough. Step 1 for 1 - 3 months after setup, Step 2 for up to a year etc, and one pump/5ml per 5 gal. I start to get...

Calling Clive/JamesC :lol:

Have a read through Paulo's thread on building an auto doser here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5024 Long read, but lot's of input from folks trying it :)

Fluid Sensor also sell dry ferts, which come in a good container (and are marginally cheaper): http://www.fluidsensoronline.com/zen/in ... h=93_65_69 I've used dry ferts from both and both are equally good quality. I do prefer the plastic screw capped tubs that FluidSensor sell their ferts in...

That sums it up very well Paul :)

I think you have to bare in mind that shops don't necessarily rely on plant sales, and often sell no-aquatic plants. I don't think it would be a big problem if people were better at keeping plants, as we often like to change our scapes and do new things, trying new plants out etc. I think...

I've only used Tropica capsule before. They work fine :) I've not used the ADA multi-bottom so can't really comment. I'm sure they'll work fine too, but not sure on how they both compare in terms of price.

It depends on your wallet really. Both will work fine. What substrate are you thinking of adding either of these too?

It's going to depend a lot on your setup, and whether you're starting from scratch, or with "live" filters from another setup. But yes, a 50% water change on a regular basis isn't a bad thing!

ADA Step 1 is essentially just trace nutrients, so if you wanted to follow this way of thinking (starting with trace for first 3 months) then you could either go with Step 1 or something like Tropica TPN (not TPN+) or EI trace mix. Many would say you're fine to just use a full on fertiliser...

What are your plants telling you? Any deficiencies showing in the colouration of the leaves etc?

The general consensus is that daily/staggered dosing means nutrients are available at all times for the plants. Dosing weekly might mean by the end of the week nutrients are running low.

Also account for spillage. I dropped my NO3 whilst dosing my tanks in a bleury eyed state this morning :lol: Thankfully I didn't loose too much, and I don't keep my entire supply in the pot I use day-to-day :)

CO2 system is best, to be honest :) You can buy the different dry powders from two of our sponsors (Fluid Sensor and Aqua Essentials) and other related bits like storage containers etc.

TPN+ covers all of the bases, with macro and micro nutrients. EasyLife Profito doesn't contain N or P I believe, but they do others in their range to cover these (Phospho/Nitro etc). I've never seen/used the Sera product, so can't comment. Personally, depending on the size of your aquarium...

It has thanks mate! I PM'd John earlier :) Not sure if it's what he's looking for, but you never know :)

Not sure on the content, but I've got several batches of AE trace which I've aquired from trades/buying from AE and all of them are different colours! Differing shades of brown/orange. Not sure what that says, but I'm still on my first batch so couldn't comment on if anything is missing from them.

My last batch went mouldy, but as my scales were really quite crap (seemed to be able to measure only in 2g increments!) I think I didn't have enough E202. Got some digi scales today so about to make another batch :)

Good to know. Dosed my first 4.5ml this morning... It seemed to have turned a tiny bit greener by this morning. I've read that you need to keep this in a dark place, is it fine to keep in the fridge?

I've just made my first batch :) My scales are very accurate it seems. Couldn't even weight out 1g so I've had to best guess the Ascorbic and stabiliser :? Fingers crossed eh? Ooh, is it supposed to go green? Mine seems a little brown/AE trace coloured. I'm wondering if I should add a...

I've had pest snails (common "pond" snails), different types of ramshorns, apple and nerite snails and I've never had them actually eating healthy leaves :)

You're looking at dry salts which are used when following the Estimative Index method of fertilising. Take a look in the Fertiliser section (Not dry powders) for all-in-one mixes such as Tropica Plant Nutrition+

TPN is basically trace only, so doesn't have NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium). TPN+ has trace and NPK so is an "all in one" fert.

Ordered it from the home brew shop, as it works out similar price to ebay, and I don't think I really need 250g when the mix is 0.4g per 500ml!

I'm having trouble sourcing Ascobic acid cheap. Brew shop has 50g which comes to over £5 with shipping. I guess it's not too much but it'd be nice if I could find it cheaper! :) Can't find any on eBay at the moment... Edit: Unless I search for Ascorbic acid! :roll:

I've found that my "abandoned" tank which had way too much moss blocking circulation and full of detritus, limited waterchanges and minimal to no dosing/CO2 and relatively low light (50w medium/old tubes over approx 150 litres) has produces some really lovely looking anubias with no algae on...

Cool! I'm hoping to mix my own soon. I just need Ascorbic Acid. Of course, I didn't realise this was just Vitamin C! I'm going to get some if I can from my local supermarket or chemists.

Re: easyvarbo affecting vallis nana Me too, I have some Nana comming soon for a smaller tank I intend to use Easy Carbo on. I've heard it can cause Blyxa leaves to get a red tinge though.

Reading the Nutrafin site, it says that PlantGrow contains: This to me suggests its more of a trace mix as N P and K are missing. You may want to consider replacing this with Tropica Plant Nutrition+ perhaps? Or maybe look at the EasyLife range. I believe there is one called Nitro for...

I missed out on that debate, but strangely enough I was wondering this myself today. To quote the gumph on the instructions: That suggests its a whole solution to me.

Easy Carbo Dosage: So, assuming heavily planted 1ml per 25 litres per day (I assume, it doesn't say daily/weekly). Excel dosage: So, basically 1ml per 40l per day, but 5x that after a water change. So in a week this would be ~ 11ml per 40 litres, and if my maths serves me, Easy carbo would...

I think Tropica's dosing says 5ml per 50litres, per week? Advice I've read on this forum and others suggests double the dose, but split it over several days, ie Mon-Weds-Fri. Going by this, you'd be looking at about 36ml a week for your tank, if my maths hasn't failed me? 5ml per 50litres =...

Take a look here at the dosing for my Rio180 :) Lighting might be different but I don't think that will matter: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1251#p12097

Out of interest, is there a test kit (sorry, dirty words :D) for testing the Mg in your tap water? I live in a hard water area, and I don't dose Mg as I didn't really think I needed too (not based on any scientific knowledge of course). With my new regime we were discussing the other day, do I...

Should do. TPN is basically your trace mix. Dosing the AE dry powder should be a perfectly good replacement.

The trace mix on AE's website has the following in it: Boron 1.06% Copper 0.23% Iron 8.2% Manganese 1.82% Molybdenum 0.15% Zinc 1.16% Fe is Iron right? (Been a while since I looked at a table of elements!)

Ok, after some head scratching, this is what I've come up with for my 47 gal, using the example day by day regime: Sunday – 50% or more Water Change then dose [1/2 teaspoon KNO3] + [3/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [1 1/4 teaspoon MgSO4] Monday – 3/16 teaspoon Trace Tuesday - [1/2 teaspoon KNO3] +...

Thanks for the rapid response Ceg :) I'll go read the thread you pointed me too (without looking I think it was the one I was reading earlier). I got my EI info from the EI sticky in the TFF planted section last year. The thread is getting on in years but I doubt too much has changed. To...

I've been dosing N and P for a while, but not in a very strict regime which is most likely what is causing my various small issues. I want to get back into the swing of things with this and wondered what is the best routine to suit my tank. Any advice would be most appreciated. Anyhow, tank...