Understanding doseage amounts for ferts

[Swim Shady]

Hi all.
I've been doing a bit of light reading on the subject of ppm and doseage amounts.
Now math has never been my strong point but I don't seem to be able to get ppm fiqures to tally with the target amounts.
I currently use the 2hr aquarist APT 3 complete as my chosen fert and I dose this using a D-D P1 pump.
I currently have this set to dose 4ml daily spread over 8 hours before lights on.
I read on the 2hr website that ideally I should be targeting the following -

		Weekly target	Daily target
Nitrates	NO3	20-30ppm	2.8 - 4.2ppm
Phospahtes	PO4	5-7ppm	0.7 - 1ppm
Potassium	K	20-30ppm	2.8 - 4.2ppm
Iron	Fe/traces	0.5-1ppm	0.07 - 0.14ppm
Magnesium	Mg	10ppm	1.4ppm

Based on the above targets I thought I would attempt to work out if my doseage is anywhere near these targets.
The 2hr aquarist website gives the ppm fiqures based on 5ml daily for 100l.

I've calculated that my total volume of water including ext filter is 80l which made the math easier. I think im correct in saying a 4ml dose in 80l of water is the same a 5ml dose in 100l.
This gave me the daily ppm fiqures which I then multiplied by 7 to reach my actual weekly doseage fiqures as seen below. These fiqures seem to fall way short of the suggest targets.

		5ml-100l daily	35ml-100l weekly	4ml-80l daily	28ml-80l weekly
Nitrates	NO3	1.8ppm	12.6ppm	1.8ppm	12.6ppm
Phospahtes	PO4	0.7ppm	4.9ppm	0.7ppm	4.9ppm
Potassium	K	3.8ppm	26.6ppm	3.8ppm	26.6ppm
Iron	Fe/traces	0.05ppm	0.35ppm	0.05ppm	0.35ppm
Magnesium	Mg	0.4ppm	2.8ppm	0.4ppm	2.8ppm

Now this is where I start to get very confused because if I use the 2hr aquarist doseage chart (seen below) to get my ppm in weekly target I would be using the suggested doseage for a much much larger volume of water! I think about 10ml daily would give the correct ppm but that seems far to much!

Am I making this to complex for my little head or have I mis-calculated something somewhere?
I just want to try and maximise my doseage and hit the suggest target ppm using the products I have. I hate throwing away perfectly usable products.
I also have a bottle of easy-life easy carbo and easy-life Profito.
I would be externally grateful if someone who understands this a lot better than I do could maybe create a good daily dosing schedule for me based on the products I have that meets the target ppm's.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[Gorillastomp]

I currently have this set to dose 4ml daily spread over 8 hours before lights on.

This is not really usefull, just dose one hour prior lighting is on or when your ph is at its lowest if you inject CO2

You calculation seems right, not every APT line is the same ratio. To reach out the ratio you want you would need the APT EI. I guess APT complete is to get a bit of nitrate limitation to accentuate color in some plants and reduce growth speed. I could be wrong about the later since i don't use them.

 

[erwin123]

I read on the 2hr website that ideally I should be targeting the following -

		Weekly target	Daily target
Nitrates	NO3	20-30ppm	2.8 - 4.2ppm
Phospahtes	PO4	5-7ppm	0.7 - 1ppm
Potassium	K	20-30ppm	2.8 - 4.2ppm
Iron	Fe/traces	0.5-1ppm	0.07 - 0.14ppm
Magnesium	Mg	10ppm	1.4ppm

What Planted Tank Fertilizer should I use?

Do I really need fertilizers for my aquarium? There are so many choices in the market- which is the right one for me?

www.2hraquarist.com

APT Complete is intended as a middle ground between ADA style lean dosing and Estimative Index. The IFC spreadsheet helpfully allows you to compare the different dosing regimes.

 

[Swim Shady]

This is not really usefull, just dose one hour prior lighting is on or when your ph is at its lowest if you inject CO2

You calculation seems right, not every APT line is the same ratio. To reach out the ratio you want you would need the APT EI. I guess APT complete is to get a bit of nitrate limitation to accentuate color in some plants and reduce growth speed. I could be wrong about the later since i don't use them.

Thanks for your reply, I will change my auto dose setting to dose just the once daily then one hour prior to lights on. At least my math is correct then, was worried I was doing something wrong.

 

[Swim Shady]

What Planted Tank Fertilizer should I use?

Do I really need fertilizers for my aquarium? There are so many choices in the market- which is the right one for me?

www.2hraquarist.com

APT Complete is intended as a middle ground between ADA style lean dosing and Estimative Index. The IFC spreadsheet helpfully allows you to compare the different dosing regimes.
View attachment 189238

Perfect thankyou, Where do I find the above chart? Would like to have a good play around with that and get my head round how it all works.

 

[erwin123]

Perfect thankyou, Where do I find the above chart? Would like to have a good play around with that and get my head round how it all works.

IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

Hello everyone, Based on its ancestor, the new IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator is completed at last. This has been a long (sometimes fun, sometimes painful) adventure for us. We have spend more time than we care to admit but here it is, ready to roll. Home screenshot here below: Background...

www.ukaps.org

 

[Swim Shady]

IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

Hello everyone, Based on its ancestor, the new IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator is completed at last. This has been a long (sometimes fun, sometimes painful) adventure for us. We have spend more time than we care to admit but here it is, ready to roll. Home screenshot here below: Background...

www.ukaps.org

Thankyou for this. Will have a little look at this now whilst waiting for the F1 to start.