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Low-Tech Fertilizer Recipe

Happi

Happi

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2012
Messages
811
Location
UTAH, USA
After some debate on this thread, it encouraged me to post some decent recipe that can be useful for the low-tech folks. Below are two recipes that I can consider to be a good starting point with very little maintenance. Can be dosed once a week or split the doses into 3-4x a week, Target 1 ppm K weekly. Feel free to test these and report back the results. I choose to use the Solufeed Coir TEC for this recipe as it provide much better Micro/Fe Chelation, especially the DTPA Fe.

500 ml solution, 20 ml per 50 gallons (with decent fish load)​


10.545 grams K2SO4
19.194 grams MgSO4.7H2O
3.6342 gram Solufeed Coir TEC
0.25 gram potassium sorbate

Fe 0.05 (chelated by DTPA Fe)
Mn 0.02135
B 0.0028415
Cu 0.0017665
Zn 0.015745
K 1
Mg 0.4
S 0.94
Mo 0.0013055


500 ml solution, 20 ml per 50 gallons (No fish load)​


10.184 grams KNO3
19.567 grams Mg(NO3)2.6H2O
3.634 gram Solufeed Coir TEC
2.536 grams Urea
2.780 grams KH2PO4
0.25 gram potassium sorbate
5 ml White Vinegar

N 1
K 1
P 0.13
Fe 0.05 (chelated by DTPA Fe)
Mn 0.02135
B 0.0028415
Cu 0.0017665
Zn 0.015745
Mg 0.4
Mo 0.0013055
 
ElleDee said:
@Happi, what kind of water changing regime are you imagining for this?
Click to expand...
usually only topping off the evaporated water, in low tech tank this may vary. but 25% water change every 2 week should be good, which is about 50% water change every month. you maybe get away with less than that.
 
Happi said:
N 1
K 1
P 0.13
Fe 0.05 (chelated by DTPA Fe)
Mn 0.02135
B 0.0028415
Cu 0.0017665
Zn 0.015745
Mg 0.4
Mo 0.0013055
Click to expand...

Quite close to what you get from Tropica Specialized. Or Premium (which is same minus the P and N).

Quite ideal for me (running soft acidic tanks with a relatively high plant mass, moderately/lightly stocked). I would use this as a much cheaper alternative to Tropica, but I am too lazy to blend the micros myself 🙂

Happi said:
but 25% water change every 2 week should be good, which is about 50% water change every month. you maybe get away with less than that.
Click to expand...
I have sort of being pushing it to 25-30% every 3 weeks recently.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Happi said:
Next thing to try is no water changes at all, only top off the evaporated water.
Click to expand...
That would be unchartered territory for me... Well, last year I had a couple of occasions where I didn't change water (or add fertilizer!) for 5-6 weeks and the deterioration was quite obvious, but not crazy - EC shoot ups, but not too crazy either - this might be more of an instability issue due to lack fertilizer than anything else really... I do the WC's to get rid of waste and possible pathogens and not to get rid of excessive fertilizer that I added to the tank, so in many ways my WC is mostly a livestock consideration. I could try for a couple of 6 week WC cycles in one tank - lightly stocked - and just do micros (or just go crazy lean)... and see where it goes, what say you?

All right @Happi , if you shut off the CO2 I would be prepared to try :lol:

thelma-and-louise-vintage.gif

Cheers,
Michael
 
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MichaelJ said:
1 pump of specialized is about 2 ml, so 14 ml weekly in 180 L equals about 1 ppm N, 0.08 ppm P, 0.8 K. 0.055 ppm Fe. weekly. So rather lean at least on the NPK.
Click to expand...

MichaelJ said:
That would be unchartered territory for me... Well, last year had a couple of occasions where I didn't change water (or add fertilizer!) for 5-6 weeks and the deterioration was quite obvious, but not crazy - EC shoot ups, but not too crazy either - this might be more of an instability issue and lack fertilizer than anything else really... I do the WC's to get rid of waste and possible pathogens and not to get rid of excessive fertilizer that I added to the tank, so in many ways my WC is mostly a livestock consideration. I could try for a couple of 6 week WC cycles in one tank - lightly stocked - and just do micros (or just go crazy lean)... and see where it goes, what say you?
Click to expand...
no water changes and clean tank is possible. I will save it for some other time to discuss about it.
MichaelJ said:
All right @Happi , if you shut off the CO2 I would be prepared to try :lol:
Click to expand...
I actually have a tank with no co2 and freezing water. My son uses it for underwater Dinosaur world.
 
Happi said:
My son uses it for underwater Dinosaur world.
Click to expand...
LOL That certainly solves a lot of worries about fertilizers, maintenance and water parameters - except he probably just want to make sure the water is not too acidic :lol:

Happi said:
no water changes and clean tank is possible. I will save it for some other time to discuss about it.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree... can't wait! ... You have my address so I expect a handwritten letter on this matter of grave concern any time soon!

family-guy.gif

Cheers,
Michael
 
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MichaelJ said:
LOL That certainly solves a lot of worries about fertilizers, maintenance and water parameters - except he probably just want to make sure the water is not too acidic
Click to expand...
Just for the record, this was one of his tanks before 🦕 made their way into it and ate all the plants.
20221128_180147.jpg
 
MichaelJ said:
Hi @Happi just wondering.... did we ever find this product or similar - or a way to obtain it - in the USA?
Click to expand...
No Sir, I cannot find this anywhere in the USA. But I can always send you my own Micro Mix that can last you for very long time.
 
Happi said:
After some debate on this thread, it encouraged me to post some decent recipe that can be useful for the low-tech folks. Below are two recipes that I can consider to be a good starting point with very little maintenance. Can be dosed once a week or split the doses into 3-4x a week, Target 1 ppm K weekly. Feel free to test these and report back the results. I choose to use the Solufeed Coir TEC for this recipe as it provide much better Micro/Fe Chelation, especially the DTPA Fe.

500 ml solution, 20 ml per 50 gallons (with decent fish load)​


10.545 grams K2SO4
19.194 grams MgSO4.7H2O
3.6342 gram Solufeed Coir TEC
0.25 gram potassium sorbate

Fe 0.05 (chelated by DTPA Fe)
Mn 0.02135
B 0.0028415
Cu 0.0017665
Zn 0.015745
K 1
Mg 0.4
S 0.94
Mo 0.0013055


500 ml solution, 20 ml per 50 gallons (No fish load)​


10.184 grams KNO3
19.567 grams Mg(NO3)2.6H2O
3.634 gram Solufeed Coir TEC
2.536 grams Urea
2.780 grams KH2PO4
0.25 gram potassium sorbate
5 ml White Vinegar

N 1
K 1
P 0.13
Fe 0.05 (chelated by DTPA Fe)
Mn 0.02135
B 0.0028415
Cu 0.0017665
Zn 0.015745
Mg 0.4
Mo 0.0013055
Click to expand...

Great so see a recipe for low energy tanks @Happi thanks for posting - any reason some of the Solufeed 2:4:1 as used in your high energy recipe, can't be used here with the Coir TEC to simplify things, or does it throw the quantities of certain nutrients too far out?

Also, just to get on my soap box about this point - I know you weren't suggesting them in combination specifically, but I think it's worth pointing out to anyone reading that the following shouldn't really be combined if fish health is a priority:

Happi said:
(with decent fish load)
Click to expand...
Happi said:
Next thing to try is no water changes at all, only top off the evaporated water.
Click to expand...

Sure with a very light fish load, decent water volume, very heavy planting it might be possible, and for plant only or plant/invert only tanks is probably fine, but for decent levels of fish stocking, water changes are important to maintain fish health.
 
Wookii said:
Great so see a recipe for low energy tanks @Happi thanks for posting - any reason some of the Solufeed 2:4:1 as used in your high energy recipe, can't be used here with the Coir TEC to simplify things, or does it throw the quantities of certain nutrients too far out?
Click to expand...
Hi Wookii, sorry about the late reply, got busy with the kids. you can certainly use this recipe for the low tech tank if that is what you are asking. I just picked up the Coir TEC for this project as I believe it may be better overall Trace/Fe and we can add the N, P, K, Mg etc. to it as we wish rather than relying on fixed numbers. if one have a heavy fish load, we can add K and Mg only to the Coir TEC and if one have low fish load then they can adjust the N, P etc. to the Coir TEC. I hope that make sense? the above recipe is just a standard number that i believe should be sufficient, and it can be modified as needed. we will have to gather how well it works from multiple members if they start using it.
Wookii said:
Also, just to get on my soap box about this point - I know you weren't suggesting them in combination specifically, but I think it's worth pointing out to anyone reading that the following shouldn't really be combined if fish health is a priority:

Sure with a very light fish load, decent water volume, very heavy planting it might be possible, and for plant only or plant/invert only tanks is probably fine, but for decent levels of fish stocking, water changes are important to maintain fish health.
Click to expand...
In order to understand why we change water is first we need to look into why we change water to begin with, for some its buildup of nutrients, rise in TDS, rise in NO3 etc. am not saying water changes are harmful but its possible to maintain the tank with very little water changes or only topping off the evaporated water.

I did an experiment with one of the tank while back with fishes in it, it was designed something like this:

1/2 -1" Bio balls as a first layer, covered with mesh, then on top of that 3" layer of mixed clay (Kitty Liter) 75% and some aqua soil about 25% and this setup never needed any water changes and I only top off the evaporated water. the TDS would actually go down and NO3 would stay close to 0. Nutrients were dosed at low level and the accumulation was very low to begin with, plant and clay would also absorb most of the nutrients. the system was designed similar to anoxic filtration.
 
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MichaelJ said:
Quite close to what you get from Tropica Specialized. Or Premium (which is same minus the P and N).

Quite ideal for me (running soft acidic tanks with a relatively high plant mass, moderately/lightly stocked). I would use this as a much cheaper alternative to Tropica, but I am too lazy to blend the micros myself 🙂
Click to expand...
Probably not that close but here is a decent Knock off:

500 ml solution, 20 ml per 50 gallons

7.268 gram Solufeed Coir TEC (not available in the USA, But available in the UK)
18.12 grams NH4NO3 (easy to find in the USA, but not in the UK)
2.102 grams KH2PO4
9.174 grams K2SO4
19.194 grams MgSO4*7H2O

N 1.34
P 0.1
K 1
Fe 0.1
Mn 0.0427
B 0.005683
Cu 0.003533
Zn 0.0315 (bit too high compare to Tropica)
Mg 0.4
S 0.88
Mo 0.002611

for our USA Candidates especially for you @MichaelJ , we have these available:

6.76 grams Plant-Prod Chelated (same products on these two websites Link #1 and Link #2)
18.12 grams NH4NO3
2.102 grams KH2PO4
9.174 grams K2SO4
19.194 grams MgSO4*7H2O

N 1.34
P 0.1
K 1
Fe 0.1 (Fe EDTA 0.0667 and Fe DTPA 0.0333)
Mn 0.0286
Zn 0.0057
Cu 0.0014
B 0.0186
Mg 0.4
S 0.88
Mo 0.0009
 
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