Flummoxed - James' All In One dosing help

[Mr T]

Greetings folks,

I could do with a little help. I currently use EasyLife Pro-Fito as my main fertilizer. (Mainly because I managed to lay my hands on a couple of liters of it few a very cheap price.) Due to my work and just for shear convenience this is dosed automatically at 6ml per day (see this post for details http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=10198)
Additionally because ProFito doesn't contain any Nitrates or Phosphates I dose a solution containing 10g Potassium Nitrate, 1.2g Potassium Phosphate, 0.5g E300 Ascorbic Acid, 0.2g E202 Potassium Sorbate in 500ml of RO water at 20 ml per week.

Plants have been doing nicely on this although just recently I have noticed some algae starting to appear. Due to the fact that all ther plants have grown considerably since I started this dosing almost 8 months ago I guess this could be due to a slight nutrient defficiency.

I am now almost out of ProFito and I would like to go over to a DIY solution. I am looking at using James' All In One Solution (http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm). Looking at my current dosing rates, and doing some rough calculations, could I just use the recepie for the All In One solution on James' page and continue at my current dosing regime. Obviously with this solution I wouldn't need to add the additional 20ml per week Nitrate / Phosphate solution.

Any help greatfully recieved!

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Mr. T

Additionally because ProFito doesn't contain any Nitrates or Phosphates I dose a solution containing 10g Potassium Nitrate, 1.2g Potassium Phosphate, 0.5g E300 Ascorbic Acid, 0.2g E202 Potassium Sorbate in 500ml of RO water at 20 ml per week.

You would only need to add the Ascorbic Acid if you had Trace Elements in with your mix, as you haven't, you didn't need it. The Potassium Sorbate is a mould inhibitor which you shouldn't need If you are only mixing KNO3 and KH2PO4.

When you do switch over to James C's All In One, you will be adding Trace to the mix so you will need both E300 and the E202.
I have tried this on my low tech and it does work, however I found the dosing rate suggested by Tropica, 5ml per 50l, was way too low and I ended up with a tank full of algae to start with, until I upped the dosing by a fairly large margin. Maybe I had too many plants

Plants have been doing nicely on this although just recently I have noticed some algae starting to appear. Due to the fact that all ther plants have grown considerably since I started this dosing almost 8 months ago I guess this could be due to a slight nutrient defficiency.

You may have answered your own question there 😉

I would start slightly higher than your current dosing rate (because the algae said so) and keep an eye on the plants. Most changes take about 2-3 weeks to show up in the plants when things start to go wrong. Pick a dosing rate and stick with it. Observe the plants condition upon your return and adjust accordingly.
It is certainly better to overdose than underdose, that's for sure 😀

 

[Mr T]

Pretty much as I thought. Thanks for that though. I'll give it a go and we'll see what happens!

Tesco