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IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

blairgerman said:
I need to update my tank journal, but tap is gh 12, kh 2. Must assume about 35ppm Ca then, using the math...?
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At 12 dGH in the suspected Ca:Mg ratio 10:1 your Calcium content would be around 74 ppm and Magnesium would be around 7.4 ppm.

palcente said:
Worth noting, if you already have ION exchange system installed - obviously it's not suitable for fish, but that soft water is excellent to be fed to RO system. The RO membrane will last for years.
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I wish that would be the case, however with the ion exchange you're essentially replacing the Ca/Mg with Sodium (Na) - or Potassium (K) if you're using KCl as is the case in our household softener - which in turn will have to be held back by the RO membrane. Whether it is "easier" for the RO system to deal with Na or K vs. Ca/Mg I do not know, but I doubt it, as I haven't noticed any further longevity from my membrane by feeding my RO system softened water.

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
Whether it is "easier" for the RO system to deal with Na or K vs. Ca/Mg
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It would be great to have this straightened out by someone with the appropriate chemistry knowledge, because now I dont know what to think 🤔
Are some ions easier/kinder on the membrane?
Is it related to size or something else?
Ill tag the half blood prince @X3NiTH 🙏
 
Hufsa said:
It would be great to have this straightened out by someone with the appropriate chemistry knowledge, because now I dont know what to think 🤔
Are some ions easier/kinder on the membrane?
Is it related to size or something else?
Ill tag the half blood prince @X3NiTH 🙏
Click to expand...
As far as I am aware it’s mostly related to the atom size / ionic radius. The bigger the size the faster the membrane gets clogged. One could argue that in fact not softening the water would clog the membrane slower than softening it since the Na and K atoms are bigger and would restrict the pores of the membrane faster.

1685883570259.jpeg
 
Hufsa said:
It would be great to have this straightened out by someone with the appropriate chemistry knowledge, because now I dont know what to think 🤔
Are some ions easier/kinder on the membrane?
Is it related to size or something else?
Ill tag the half blood prince @X3NiTH 🙏
Click to expand...
After giving this a bit of thought… the atomic mass (essentially the number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus ie size/weight) of Ca is 40 u the atomic mass of Na is 23... However, I believe for each Ca ions exchanged you get two Na ions. So it might be a wash or just slightly “easier” on the membrane… with potassium on the other hand (39 u) I definitely would think it’s a wash. But I’ll take the word of the half blooded prince when he makes an appearance🙂

Cheers,
Michael.
 
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Hi all,
MichaelJ said:
Whether it is "easier" for the RO system to deal with Na or K vs. Ca/Mg I do not know, but I doubt it, as I haven't noticed any further longevity from my membrane by feeding my RO system softened water.
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I think the difference is that the salts of group 1 metals (sodium (Na), potassium (K) etc)) <"are soluble"> and this means that you don't get any "scale" formation and this preserves the life of the RO membrane.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

I think the difference is that the salts of group 1 metals (sodium (Na), potassium (K) etc)) <"are soluble"> and this means that you don't get any "scale" formation and this preserves the life of the RO membrane.

cheers Darrel
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Hi Darrel, I am trying to understand this a little better... Then what happens to the Na and K when they pass through the membrane. as I assume they are still removed (ie. the permeate water comes out near zero TDS) ? Perhaps they just get flushed out "easier" on the rejection/waste stream instead of building up in membrane like Ca would ? I can see that happening easier for Na ions, but perhaps not for K ions as they have roughly the same size/mass as the Ca ions.

Cheers,
Michael
 
Hi all,
MichaelJ said:
Then what happens to the Na and K when they pass through the membrane. as I assume they are still removed (ie. the permeate water comes out near zero TDS) ? Perhaps they just get flushed out "easier" on the rejection/waste stream instead of building up in membrane like Ca would ?
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I think it is mainly that multivalent ions (like calcium (Ca++), iron Fe(+)++) form a lot of insoluble salts <"Avista">
....... In most applications, reverse osmosis membranes and their flow passages will foul without some means of upstream scale inhibition due to precipitation of sparingly soluble salts. Common examples of scale are calcium carbonate (CaCO3), calcium sulfate (CaSO4), barium sulfate (BaSO4), and strontium sulfate (SrSO4). Less common but equally problematic are silica (SiO2) and calcium fluoride (CaF) scales.

Read more: Avista
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and these can build up and <"block the RO membrane">. I also think that valency is important, with monovalent cations less strongly held?
........ Accordingly, a strong focus of our membrane development was the enhanced polymerisation degree of the polyamide layer. A higher polymerisation degree improves the mechanical and chemical stability of the thin barrier layer offering greater durability. Additionally, the negative charge on the membrane surface is reduced which leads to a lower cationic adsorption (fouling) on the membrane surface. Due to its chemistry, the surface of a polyamide membrane is usually negatively charged, and often results in cationic fouling that is extremely difficult to remove. A typical example of cationic fouling is fouling with iron.........
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cheers Darrel
 
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dw1305 said:
Hi all,

I think it is mainly that multivalent ions (like calcium (Ca++), iron Fe(+)++) form a lot of insoluble salts <"Avista">

and these can build up and <"block the RO membrane">. I also think that valency is important, with monovalent cations less strongly held?


cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

Got it. This comment is a bit tangential, but I think the duty of the membrane is to reject solids mostly regardless of charge - but charge definitely plays a role as well. Most membranes can reject particles down to 0.1 nanometer - when we say "reject" it really means that a high percentage (depending on the solid) will not slip through... not that none will slip through.... For instance, its a bit odd that water molecules at 0.27 nm can slip through, but as it turns out the water molecules still have the ability to slip through the membranes polymers opposed to the pores, but at a much lower rate, hence in part the large amount of wasted water that comes from the RO process - depending on water temperature - how much water molecules jiggles - and the water pressure.

Cheers,
Michael
 
Just a quick addendum to the discussion above. These are typical rejection rates found for various solids:

rorejectionrate-jpg.206549

Source.

Cheers,
Michael
 
hello everyone ! im new here nice to meet you all !!
im hear because of a video from aquarium shed. i was trying to study a little bit about diy fertilizer, im using ada substrate and ada fertilizer
i will love to know best selection of salts for doing it ADA CLONE, i can buy from NILOCG aquatics or GLA aquatics.

i will share a photo of my aquarium and some details of my aquarium. so if someone could helpme will apreciate a lot.

this is my aquarium a 64L 60p, im using a twinstar vIII for 8hrs period, with a eheim pro4+600, co2 with a controller to 6ph.
I use OR water 100%, i do 2 times WC of 21L and a 42.6L to restar the week, i was dosing ada method everyday but now on im doing 3 times a week the bright k, and mineral and the fe one week one time, and the 2d week i dose nitrogen.




aquario.jpeg
 
caribbeanBoy said:
hello everyone ! im new here nice to meet you all !!
im hear because of a video from aquarium shed. i was trying to study a little bit about diy fertilizer, im using ada substrate and ada fertilizer
i will love to know best selection of salts for doing it ADA CLONE, i can buy from NILOCG aquatics or GLA aquatics.

i will share a photo of my aquarium and some details of my aquarium. so if someone could helpme will apreciate a lot.

this is my aquarium a 64L 60p, im using a twinstar vIII for 8hrs period, with a eheim pro4+600, co2 with a controller to 6ph.
I use OR water 100%, i do 2 times WC of 21L and a 42.6L to restar the week, i was dosing ada method everyday but now on im doing 3 times a week the bright k, and mineral and the fe one week one time, and the 2d week i dose nitrogen.




View attachment 207852
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I am sure @Hanuman can help you on the ADA clone question - which I believe is in the IFC Calculator. Whatever you are doing right now seems to work beautifully. You tank is very pristine and fish and plants seems happy 🙂

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
I am sure @Hanuman can help you on the ADA clone question - which I believe is in the IFC Calculator. Whatever you are doing right now seems to work beautifully. You tank is very pristine and fish and plants seems happy 🙂

Cheers,
Michael
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thnxs Michael ! hope them that mr hanuman help me doing the ADA clone recipe !
 
caribbeanBoy said:
will love to know best selection of salts for doing it ADA CLONE
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Here you go:

>> ADA Green Brighty 'N'
Urea
>> ADA Green Brighty Neutral 'K'
Potassium Chloride
>> ADA Brighty 'K'
Potassium carbonate - You could use any K source though (potassium chloride or potassium sulphate). IMO the carbonate part is just totally unnecessary.
>> ADA Green Brighty Iron
any Fe chelate but I would recommend Fe 11% DTPA
>> ADA Green Brighty Mineral
You will need a set of micro nutrients if you want to replicate this product exactly as the original. In other words you will need to buy Mg, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo and Zn. For the exact compounds, look at the DIYTraceCalculator sheet. If you are not so bothered by the exact same composition, then you could simply buy some sort of CSM+B product and use Fe as a proxy.

To clone them just use the IFC calculator. They are all in there.
 
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Hanuman said:
Here you go:

>> ADA Green Brighty 'N'
Urea
>> ADA Green Brighty Neutral 'K'
Potassium Chloride
>> ADA Brighty 'K'
Potassium carbonate - You could use any K source though (potassium chloride or potassium sulphate). IMO the carbonate part is just totally unnecessary.
>> ADA Green Brighty Iron
any Fe chelate but I would recommend Fe 11% DTPA
>> ADA Green Brighty Mineral
You will need a set of micro nutrients if you want to replicate this product exactly as the original. In other words you will need to buy Mg, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo and Zn. For the exact compounds, look at the DIYTraceCalculator sheet. If you are not so bothered by the exact same composition, then you could simply buy some sort of CSM+B product and use Fe as a proxy.

To clone them just use the IFC calculator. They are all in there.
Click to expand...
thnxs a lot @Hanuman

any recomendend urea ? liquid or powder ??
the other components i will just start to find them
 
caribbeanBoy said:
thnxs a lot @Hanuman

any recomendend urea ? liquid or powder ??
the other components i will just start to find them
Click to expand...
You want the dried form. Urea usually comes prilled. Choose the one with the least amount of biuret (under 1% or even under 0.5% if possible).
 
Hanuman said:
You want the dried form. Urea usually comes prilled. Choose the one with the least amount of biuret (under 1% or even under 0.5% if possible).
Click to expand...
I have used urea prills and works out very cheap and easy.
 
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