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At work marketing, sales and web site have been using ChatGPT to elevate to a new level of complete and utter bollards. :rolleyes:. I have been passed stuff for techinical review, most start OK with a good starter paragraph and occasionally good ending paragraph but stuff in between is a load of...

In my experience you do actually need both a preservative and acidifying agent, or else, in my experience, either the iron un-chelates and liquid goes "rusty" and a precipitate forms, or the solution just goes mouldy. The acidifying agent, ascorbic acid normally, is needed usually potassium...

Westlab Pure Mineral Bathing Epsom Salt 1KG - Boots Just check it is only Magnesium Sulphate, Some "soaking products", from chemist have oils and perfumes added. I just get mine from some dodgy auction site type place, 2Kg at a time in a poly bag. Apparently my fish and plants won't get...

Why do you want low nitrate ?

Generally non aquatic fertilizers user ammonia based salts, doubt will be ammonium nitrate (as this is strictly controlled) but things like urea, calcium ammonium nitrate, ammonium citrate and other ammonium compounds. These ammonium based compounds are toxic to aquatic life, which is why they...

Try using mono potassium phosphate, as I have heard people having issues with the dipotassium phosphate when mixed with other salts. Not sure what the insoluble precipitate would be, but a quick Google and Wikipedia reveals may be solid precipitate of dimagnesium phosphate. I suspect this is...

Of course front loading macros precludes any dosing of micros as micros, especially the iron, will react with the phosphate in the macro and precipitate out of solution and become unavailable to the plants. Also the chelates in the micro generally have a short (24 hours ?) lifetime once in the...

Ta. I have used 1.5Kg of Aquarium Plant Food chelated traces in the last 10 years of ordering. Here is to the next 10 years supply !

Any thoughts on micro suppliers ? Managed to get an order in of macro's to Aquarium Plant Food before they closed, but no micro's in stock.

But then you are dosing two solutions, so why not do as EI was developed for, in KISS, Keep It Simple St*pid, and just dose micro and macro on alternate days, then no issues of interactions. Job done.

To save time and messing around with tea spoons etc every day, pre measure EI dry powder doses (using tea spoons) into small plastic containers, labelled for each day of the week. I mixed up a large quantity of EI MIX, many weeks worth, then placed in labelled containers for easy dosing. My...

Or make your own dosing pump system like I did. DIY Project - DIY dual peristaltic dosing pump with alternate switching. Originally I used two timers, one for each pump. Then updated with alternate switching circuit so only one timer could be used. Finally updated to be controlled via my PLC...

No. To reduce the hardness, as if water is extremely hard you can suffer precipitates of calcium phosphate. "nasties" will not be able to live in the macro solution, and the micro solution contains preservative.

Boiled & cooled tap water is the usual and most convenient, unless you have easy access to RO water. Fantastic, plants will love it, so use this boiled and cooled.

Here is the link to UK government website where it shows potassium nitrate is a "reportable substance". Supplying explosives precursors and poisons Interesting it is available from some internet auction tat site, sold for meat preserving, but sold as saltpetre. Also, so is aluminum powder, for...

A naughty way to determine if it is potassium nitrate is to verify it oxidising properties. Make a small amount of concentrated of potassium nitrate solution, drip this solution on to some filter paper (eg coffee filter paper, works well) and dry in the sun outside. Once dry apply a lit match...

It is to reduce the hardness of tap water used for mixing EI macro. If you have soft tap water no need to bother, but quite a lot of people have had "issues" using straight out the tap hard water with EI macro and the phosphate precipitating out as possibly calcium and/or magnesium phosphate. No...

Why so frequent water changes ? Most people 50% once a week is absolutely fine. If keeping frequent water changes you will possibly need to increase your dose amounts to the 50% you will be throwing away in the 50% water change... :confused:

1. Ignore your water report, almost everyone that deviates from EI dosing as thought they were "saving chemicals" by using their water report values, end up with issues. Usually magnesium deficiency. Just dose EI, any excess due to being present in your water doesn't matter. 2. Not sure why you...

You need to tell my plants that low nitrogen makes them red. This is with 2x EI dosing levels, due to large plant mass, and they seem to have no problem with deep reds. Maybe excess nitrogen makes plants red ?

Solufeed Sodium Free TEC™ The technical data sheet matches the TNC trace 100%, looks like there is a typo on the web page for iron %. It cost £13 per Kg, which would last years in a tank.

I empty 90litres odd onto my front lawn each water change. The grass is definitely a lot greener where the waste water hose reaches and grows taller than the rest of the grass. Being doing this for years, front lawn is still there, just need a longer hose so I can reach the rest of the...

Holes in leaves can also be caused by potassium shortage. Wonder if due to dosing di-potassium and tri-potassium phosphate the potassium falls out of solution and become not available for plant use ?

Potassium phosphate crystal... You could always use the phosphate to grow a crystal...

Right'o stretching my memory way back when investigating EI dosing years ago (2011 ?), why us fish peeps don't use tri-potassium and di-potassium phosphate, but stick to mono-potassium phosphate. Basically the tri & di potassium phosphate have an issue to do with polymerisation under certain...

For all in one solutions an acid is added, normally ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to lower the pH. At low pH the chelates (ie micros) stay chelated and won't react with the macros, normally potassium phosphate. Normal worst case reaction is the iron chelate unchelates and the iron reacts to form...

I have often contemplated this, I even contacted Union Carbide (who make Gluteraldehyde, similar to Excel) and they replied that they didn't really know, but stated that gluteraldehyde does react with "other chemicals" ie algae and carbon source bits in plants, so would not recommend mixing it...

This is a plc. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-plc-to-control-your-fish-tank.42993/

This is mine. Dosing Excel from a smaller old EasyCarbo bottle. Dosed using a 1.8ml/min peristaltic pump controlled from my controller. Before using my plc controller I had a couple of issues with timer jamming on and emptying the container out, killing fish and plants. So after that never...

My mate has a 120l tank with a single T5 tube with 1/3 the tube blocked off by foil, to reduce light levels and he doses less than 1/4 EI dose levels maybe twice a week, if he remembers. Plants grow, algae free, but slowly.

Solufeed Tec is replacement for Solufeed B which is the micro most people used, at least from AquariumPlantFood. Difference is TEC uses potassium (and ammonium) based EDTA rather than sodium based EDTA to reduce the sodium load in the fertiliser. As for use in fish tank, probably makes no...

https://shopfront.solufeed.co.uk/solufeed-sodium-free-tec-118-p.asp

Not convinced chloride salts/ions really have a place in aquatics. Why do you think the sea is full of chloride ? (sodium chloride) as there are no major biological consumers of chloride ions, so they all accumulate in the sea. Potassium carbonate would be a better more plant & fish friendly...

I think you will find though, the actual levels of CO2 produced from metabolism on a liquid carbon are still way below the levels one can achieve by injecting gaseous CO2 in to the water. To achieve equivalent gaseous levels of CO2 from a liquid carbon would require liquid carbon levels that...

The reason you daily alternate dose macro and micro, as opposed to weekly, is that the macro's and micros if dosed together react and become plant unavailable. The potassium phosphate in the macro reacts with the iron chelate in the micro and precipitates out as plant unavailable iron phosphate...

https://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/dry-salts/chelated-iron-13-2-50g.html

You ought to really add at least ascorbic acid as that keeps the pH low (as well as helping the anti-fungicide of potassium sorbate work correctly) and keeps the chelates chelated. See graph below of how chelation changes with pH. Most micros, commonly used as aquatic ferts are EDTA...

No you should never use dehumidifier for anything other than pouring away, as usually stated in instructions, as it will be heavily contaminated with bacteria, mould, spores, volatiles and all manor of crap filtered out from the atmosphere.

Just use cooled boiled water from kettle. I have very very hard water and very furry kettles. When doing a weekly water change I boil the kettle, make cup of coffee and pour rest of water a 1 litre plastic jug. By the time I have done the tank, the water is cooled enough to be poured into...

KNO3 is very very very soluble in water, about 250gr will dissolve in 1 litre of water at 20'C (a huge amount, as per most nitrates) and the solution will be colourless and completely unaffected by light. All macro EI mixes I have ever mixed up have been colourless, as expected and totally...

Doesn't matter, an unreliable test kit and old water company test from 2018 from their test point on a particular day, not your tap water today. Just dose full EI, no guess work, no getting it wrong. Job done. Virtually all of the people here that change their dosing, because of flawed...

Changing your dosing to reflect your guaranteed to be different test results is quickest way to miss fertilise your plants and turn them to algae. EI was invented so your don't need to rely on unreliable test results. Just dose full EI and do not invent your own flawed dosing scheme. Change...

If you are using "cheaper" peristaltic pumps with only three rollers or even worse two rollers, you WILL need a one way valve to stop the liquid running back down the tube each time the pump stops. If you leave the end of the tube in the tank water it will start syphoning the tank back into your...

Here is a good start for mixing micros. https://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/starter-kits/ei-starter-kit.html

Magnesium sulphate the is cheapest EI ingredient, about £15 for 25kg so just add it and stop being tight a*rse. o_O This means no plant worries. See here about the usefulness of hobby grade test kits. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-about-test-kits.52487/ Magnesium, when not as...

The EI amount was derived at, by determining the maximum amount of ferts plants could/would ever use under mega lighting and optimal conditions. It was found adding more light and ferts beyond these maximal levels produced no further plant growth. Thus for a normal persons tank with sensible...

Dosing macro and micro on same day is not recommended and WILL lead to (eventually) iron deficiency. Making your own dosing scheme that is not EI and will, as been seen many times here, lead to plant nutrient deficiency. The alternate day dosing of EI is to prevent the micro iron chelate...

You can also dose automatically via peristaltic pumps, one more less thing to worry about. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-dual-peristaltic-dosing-pump-with-alternate-switching.22332/ Commercial dosing systems can also be bought, many members use those. Or dose and control everything...

https://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/starter-kits/ei-starter-kit.html I use this. Easy peasy mix up, shake, add to tank daily. Done.

You mustn't dose micros and macros on same day as the iron chelate in micro reacts with potassium phosphate in the macro forming insoluble iron phosphate which is unavailable for plants to use.

My controller doses EI macro Mon, Wed and Sat and micro Sun, Tues and Thu, supposedly Friday being the rest day. Well water changes get done Sat or Sun and this week bank holiday Monday and plants don't really care. Dosing is at 3pm so hopefully well clear of water changes occurring in the...

Quite easy to make your own dosing pumps, as many members have here. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-dual-peristaltic-dosing-pump-with-alternate-switching.22332/ My original dosing pump setup used circuitry to alternately activate each peristaltic pump every 24hours (micros and macros...

Doubt it is nitric acid, as this is a really strong acid and a controlled substance in UK. Probably a nitrate,a salt of nitric acid.

Doesn't explicitly state the nitrogen source, so highly unlikely to be fish safe. Majority of terrestrial plant fertiliser is not fish safe as contains ammonia based compounds as they are cheap compared to fish safe fertilisers.

Yes the iron in the micro "unchelates" and reacts with the potassium phosphate in the macro and precipitates out of solution as insoluble iron phosphate, thus becoming unavailable to plants. Thus you would normally dose, assuming EI mixture, 10ml per 50l tank water of macro on Mon, Wed & Fri and...

Won't work, been tried here before, couple of issues if I remember correct. - Virtually impossible to get low enough drop rate - End of drip tube salts up blocking tube. So peristaltic dosing pump is really the only way to go.

How to do CO2 properly with an FX6. Easy. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/olympus-is-calling-red-mist-feeddha.43046/#post-461575

High inorganic nitrate levels (from EI dosing) are generally not an issue for fish, as fish can encounter varying nitrates levels naturally in their environment. I have accidentally run at 350ppm NO3 with no fish issues. You will need in the 1000ppm NO3 before levels become toxic. EU tap water...

You can of course, just do a slightly lower light version of a "high tech" dosing, which extends the time between water changes. My tank is currently 5 weeks since last water change, as been away, BUT I am dosing 1/3 EI levels, and lower lighting strength, only 2 T5 tubes as opposed to 4 tubes...

The majority of UK sourced micro's come from Solufeed. https://uk.solufeed.com/home Some companies mix various Solufeed powders to make their own micro's as well as adding extra pH reducers and preservatives, so the %'s you give doesn't really help.

Of course the ferts are contain protons which are reckoned to have a finite lifetime, probably greater than years, so yes the ferts will degrade over time. You may be OK though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton

1. If you don't use boiled and cooled water and use straight tape water some people report precipitate forming in the macro solution due to the calcium in hard water forming insoluble calcium phosphate (or sulphate ?). Some people use RO water to mix their EI mix, either make your own...

Be careful about diluting commercial ferts, especially micros. They generally have an anti-mould agent (sodium/potassium sorbate) and diluting this allow mould to grow.

Inorganic sourced nitrates only start causing issue in the 1500ppm region or higher, so operating below 50ppm NO3 isn't an issue. This was debated recently on this forum with links to scientific research with high nitrate levels, Ammonia/ammonium is absolutely fine for plants, even in...

No idea, this is your mixture, I very much doubt anyone else has scientifically used or tested your mixture in your tank with your light level and your CO2 levels. So you are on your own unfortunately. Even so, you haven't told us your tank size, filtration flow rate, CO2 injection, light...

Without knowing the contents I would not mix them. They may react and no longer be available to the plants. I would just stick with the three bottles.

Due to a failed pump I ran 80ppm PO4 for a week, no fish issues, no change to plants either.

https://rotalabutterfly.com/nutrient-calculator.php

Sodium metabisulphite is used as an anti-oxidant, to stop the potassium sorbate mould/fungal inhibitor oxidising in storage. Will probably be fine, but as sodium compounds have no place in aquatic tanks, probably steer clear.

You can find citric acid in the home baking section of most supermarkets as well as places like Boots.

You must dose separately on different days as as the iron chelate in the micro will react with the macro phosphate and precipitate out as insoluble iron phosphate and be no longer available to plants.

No extra water. The pre-mix would have been mixed to a suitable strength to inhibit mould growth, adding more water could lead to trouble. Why can't you just dose the correct amount on undiluted mix ? Doesn't need to be accurate within give or take +-5ml will be fine.

Could have started going mouldy as you have diluted it and thus diluted any mould inhibiter. This has been seen a couple of times before with people over diluting the EI micro mix powder. You could add some potassium sorbate as mould inhibitor if you are diluting it. Also micro mixes (usually...

Because EI was designed to not need test kits or need accurate weights to get nutrient dosing sufficient for plants under maximum lighting, the teaspoon is the approved measuring device. Not grams. Just plonk teaspoons of salts into RO/boiled water, maybe even maximally heaped teaspoons, if you...

For planted tanks Urea is not really very helpful, in fact very toxic to fish, so not really considered useful for fish tanks, unless you really know what you are doing. Urea is very a good supply of nitrogen for terrestrial plants, which is why it is present in "standard" plant fertilisers...

No. See my post here as to why micronutrients are chelated. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/dosing-a-low-tech-tank-on-a-thames-water-supply-with-an-allinone-solution.52972/page-2#post-539809 Can't see any reason to DTPA the micronutrients other than iron, which is the main "fussy one".

I dose about 1 1/2 EI dosing levels as my tank is rather full of plants. I dose automatically (3pm) macro and micro on alternate days. I wouldn't worry about DPTA etc, just wasting worries as far as I am concerned. Never seen any reports of lack of iron when dosing DPTA. Though if it will cure...

Not a stupid question. I doubt the test kit is reading correctly as 5ppm sounds way way way too high. Please see this this link on test kits, and put your test kit away, it serves no purpose other than to start you down the path of plant deficiencies...

This is the definitive page for making your own all in one ferts. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm All ingredients are required they are not optional, many people have nutrient issues because they skimp on distilled (or RO) water or decide to leave out the ascorbic acid and/or...

https://shopfront.solufeed.co.uk/solufeed-fe-11-dtpa-221-p.asp I think the micro from AquariumPlantFood is Solufeed B. https://uk.solufeed.com/products/chelates/solufeed-b-mix

I am in South of England (22' Clark rock/water) and not had any issues with the micros in last 6 years. You would of thought lack of iron would show with my plants by now. Below is the "standard" chelating vs pH. I know the mixed micro solution is acidic, I pH tested a mixed micro solution and...

Not convinced about this as easily available on-line as plant fertiliser and I have seen recently in a "health food shop" for curing meats. I think you are confusing ammonium nitrate which is controlled.

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm According to drinking water inspectorate Thames water is average 20ppm nitrate, a low of 7ppm and maximum recorded of 41ppm depending on your area. The EU maximum is 50ppm. Nitrates are good anyway for plants, though you should always ignore your water...

Yes, it can degrade in light, which is why EasyCarbo is in dark bottles, Excel in opaque bottles and other makes say keep out of bright light.

The UV will degrade micros, probably all in one ferts as well as liquid carbon, so you can't run it near any times you are dosing.

All very nice, but you need to keep your micro's in a light proof container as micro's are degraded by light leading to it going mouldy. Something like this would do. (tops or ordered separately)...

http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/starter-kits/ei-starter-kit.html

Keep in a bottle with child proof lid in a locked cupboard. Job done. More fish are killed on this forum by kids getting access to fish food and dumping it all in the tank. So even food should be locked away.

You can make your own GH booster far more easily so you can control exactly what is in it. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/RO.htm

Ask them for the material safety data sheet (MSDS) that must be supplied with all chemicals. This will contain a basic analysis of its contents.

No. Most people who roll their own dosing schemes based on some theory, some questionable test kit result, some YouTube video or water test result end up with plant issues. There is no downside to having excess Mg and K beyond the EI dose. These need to be in the 1000's ppm before you might...

According to Wikipedia (Hard Water) you water is definitely soft. You 8.8mg/l corresponds to about 0.5dGH. So it is recommended to buffer it up to 4-8 dKH, especially important if using CO2, so you can set and hold CO2 levels easily. Below 4dGH you will certainly encounter pH swinging issues...

Mix your own macro and micro from this kit. This is by far the cheapest way, as your are not paying for expensive water supplied in premixed solutions. http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/starter-kits/ei-starter-kit.html If you don't want two bottles and can't be a*sed...

Yes, no need to dose anything else. EI gives everything a plant needs, in excess so there will be no plant nutrient deficiencies and no need to use test kits, as you know you have enough fertiliser for your plants. Yes you must dose KNO3 as this is part of the EI requirements. If you are not...

I assume you are dosing on alternate days macro & micro. You mustn't dose at the same time as they will react. The phosphate will react with the micro iron and precipitate out of solution and become non available for the plants. Low phosphate may cause algae, low iron cause yellowing plants. If...

You haven't stated what tank size, so we cant answer your question. Where is your magnesium dosing? Issues look like too much light for your carbon sources. If you are using CO2 then it is a CO2 distribution flow issue. If not using CO2 you should be for the light levels you have.

Fertlisers don't cause algae, so your need to look elsewhere for any algae inducing things. Brown algae, that is dusty and can be brushed usually appears in "new tanks" with too much light. I got brown diatoms as I was impatient with my blocked out no reflectors T8 tubes lighting and removed...

My mate has a 120l tank with a partially covered T5 tube and doses EI solution about 1/3-1/4 EI daily dose once a week. Tank is algae free and plants do grow, albeit slowly. He originally had a T8 tube, but starter failed so replaced with a single T5 tube, in fact Juwel length so full width of...

Only one way to find out....make some up and see if it goes mouldy and plants suffer a deficiency :p Or just buy some ascorbic acid, as Zeus says, will last a long time. Some of the micro powders include ascorbic acid and potassium sorbate as supplied.

Symptoms of too much light for a not quite matured tank. Reduce lighting levels for a while, or get some Otto's to scoff it. :)