Gravel on top of flourite?

[jpappy789]

Just found these when stumbling through Seachems site...

http://www.seachem.com/Library/Calculators.html

^Dosing calculator for their products (runs in Flash)

http://www.seachem.com/support/PlantDoseChart.pdf

^Calendar that shows what/how much to day per day.

Useful if you end up going liquid first.

 

[dundadundun]

no matter what ferts you use you will want to watch and test... especially at first. once you get the hang of things you can back off a little.

for iron according to the link i posted... "Fe 0.2-0.5ppm or higher" IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE!

 

[Paintballer99]

I'm just not understanding what my levels should be if the master test kit can test this stuff etc.. What should the levels be? How often should I test? Thanks sooo much! I'm just a total noob here

 

[dundadundun]

sounds like you got the api master test kit. i have that and the red sea kit for planted tanks. i really do like the api kit more than the red sea, but it does not test for quite as much. your kit should test ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. along with that you'll need co2 (drop checker is fine), phosphates, kh, gh, fe (iron) and if you plan on inverts at all calcium is not a bad idea... especially with co2. it eats snail shells up pretty good. i am not sure they sell calcium kits for fresh water but the saltwater test will do.

for levels that are suggested for ei dosing check out and read through the link i posted earlier... it's in there like prego!

i know, it's frustrating and expensive... hang in there.

 

[Paintballer99]

I have gh and kh, so now I need iron too? I'll get calcium when I get inverts later..

 

[Paintballer99]

ANd on the chart, I'll only need to worry about fe, kh, gh and co2 right?

 

[dundadundun]

gh you can vary for plants... it helps to know just in case. for your fish knowing this can help you pick any wild or delicate species you may want to add. for example: discuss and other fish from the same area like it low. for another example: for many cichlids you'll want it on the high side. many common or hardy fish will accept almost any gh that is not off the charts.
kh is your buffering capacity... ie higher means your ph will be more stable when dealing with co2... baking soda is your friend if yours is low! too high and your ph can be too high.
co2... drop checker... check!... as in you have it already.
no3... nitrates... check!
k+... potassium... best to know it then guess. test kits for k+ are expensive and you could probably get away without it.
po4... phosphorous... also best to know.
fe... iron... also best to know.

you can add ferts blindly and guess when things go wrong or you can know what your values are beforehand. if you know what they are getting help is much easier and your plants will appreciate it... you'll appreciate them too.

 

[Paintballer99]

Ok thanks for all your help! I got iron trace and flourish, for now but really gonna consider dry ferts.... I'll keep an eye out for the iron and p04 test kits at petsmart. I should be okay at least to start things off. Now it's just to figure out the darn 4dkh solution (I don't wanna spend $20 for a bottle of water right now ) and I don't have a scale to measure out the stuff.

 

[dundadundun]

what i would do.

.48 tsp baking soda makes 5dKH in 5 gallons of r/o or distilled water.
1/2 tsp works just fine.

mix that well.
get a large glass.
get a 1 cup measuring cup.
take 1 cup of water from your bucket.
put it in your large glass.
take 1/4 cup from the distilled or r/o.
put it in your large glass.
you now have 1 1/4 cup of 4 dKH.

the same will work with:
1/4 tsp and 2 1/2 gallons,
1/8 tsp and 1 1/4 gallons,
1/16 tsp and 5 pints,
1/32 tsp and 5 cups
imo the higher volumes are more accurate because of human error and such.

or there's:
http://www.barrreport.com/co2-aquatic-plant-fertilization/3207-correct-4dkh-receipie.html

 

[Paintballer99]

Thanks so much! hahahah I needed that! Whats R/o water?