Dry Ferilizer Application

[jones57742]

Foks:

I did not want to hijack another thread and hence I generated this thread.

TR

... Bulk dry nutrients are the way to go. Also bulk dry nutrients are MUCH cheaper than buying bottled water.

Rex and/or Folks:

Background:


I have a 110G with a wet/dry with a large sump.

The return water chamber is approximately 15% of the tank volume and the pump provides an approximate 9X/hour turnover volume.


Questions:

One:

Can I add the appropriate amount of teaspoons of the dry ferts to the return chamber or

do I need to "mix up" the dry ferts in a small vessel with RO water before adding to the sump?


Two

How in the world does one ascertain the concentration of trace minerals, phosphates, iron, etc in the tank water?

TR

 

[Volenti]

1, you can, though I make up bulk solutions with demineralized water, easier to measure out and I don't have to worry about dissolving dry chemicals in the tank water.

2. There are test kits available for most of what we have to measure or ways to calculate what is there from other parameters. I use a commercial trace mix (iron+trace) and only use dry chemicals for macro elements.

 

[Rex Grigg]

I dose directly into my tanks. You could dose into the return chamber.

You really can't measure the trace minerals. You can purchase a phosphate test kit. Same for iron.

Or you can do the Estimative Index method of dosing and not have to worry about using test kits.