Fertilizer Recommendations & Info - the Informal FAQ
- Thread starter nanahachi
- Start date
The potassium mix needn't be refrigerated. But trace mixes should be kept in a cool, dark place.
terror said:
NO WAY too much nitrate you would need a diferant formula all together 30 10 10 is way off , check the numbers of your lfs plantfood products to get an idea of what rage you need,one of the number(maybe the 1st) should be 1 or 2 not 30 or 10 if you see where im going with this.Theres a great thread on plants in here AquqriumCentral search freswater topics or plants I 4get where I saw it . Nanahatchi Fertilizer Recomendations & info is one
telecubby said:
I think he wanted to make a statement <grin>... or at least make sure we didn't miss it <grin>...
But he is right ...
However, there is an even more critical concern ... you also need to check what "form" that Nitrate would be in ... in most cases a very large amount of that is in an Amonium Nitrate form or some variation of amonia ... which is esseentially an instant algae bloom ...
Greg
GregWatson said:
*cough* free trace mix...uh, mine is moldy too... :joke:
I store my dry CSM+B in zip-loc bag within a paper bag in the tank stand...been several months (a year?). No mold! If I ever use it up (few more months?) I'll be ordering the new iron rich stuff! :thm:
Has anyone tried using volcanic clay gravel. it has a large quanity of those minerals in it. ????
Okay, I think I've read this thread a zillion times. Maybe it's me, but I'm confused about one thing . . .
I know WHAT to dose and HOW to dose, but I don't see anything on WHY and WHEN to dose? I guess that would be a WHYN
I guess I'm leary of starting a chem war in my tank and don't want to add stuff where stuff isn't needed.
I haven't gotten the CO2 working 100% as yet so the following is based on IF and WHEN I get it running properly:
If my nitrate levels are above 0, is that an indication that I don't need to add more nitrates?
Phosphates, PO4 -- my tap water is 2+ off the chart somewhere and my tank after about a week or so reads 1.0. If it stays above 0, does that mean I need to add more?
How do I know if my plants need a certain mineral or whatever? Do I wait unitl they exhibit some defficiency? Or do I just dump stuff in?
Same with Iron and all that other good stuffs. I have an iron test and after a week I'm at .1mg/l, but I do not have a potassium test kit et al. Is that needed?
Betcha I'm making this more difficult than need be, but I can't see just sloshing stuff into my tank without a reason.
Roan
I know WHAT to dose and HOW to dose, but I don't see anything on WHY and WHEN to dose? I guess that would be a WHYN
I guess I'm leary of starting a chem war in my tank and don't want to add stuff where stuff isn't needed.
I haven't gotten the CO2 working 100% as yet so the following is based on IF and WHEN I get it running properly:
If my nitrate levels are above 0, is that an indication that I don't need to add more nitrates?
Phosphates, PO4 -- my tap water is 2+ off the chart somewhere and my tank after about a week or so reads 1.0. If it stays above 0, does that mean I need to add more?
How do I know if my plants need a certain mineral or whatever? Do I wait unitl they exhibit some defficiency? Or do I just dump stuff in?
Same with Iron and all that other good stuffs. I have an iron test and after a week I'm at .1mg/l, but I do not have a potassium test kit et al. Is that needed?
Betcha I'm making this more difficult than need be, but I can't see just sloshing stuff into my tank without a reason.
Roan
Roan Art said:
Back when you were in school ... you learned about nutrition in a health class somewhere along the line ...
Plants need to be fed ... and they need to be fed a well balanced diet ...
What happens to you if you do not eat a well balanced diet? Malnutrition, susceptibility to disease ... and you start to waste away ...
Your plants are no different ... if you do not feed your plants ... you are essentially starving them ... and condeming them to a slow death ...
Plants need to be fed ... they need to be fed a well balanced diet ... and they need to be fed in a consistent timely manner ...
Greg
Exactly, but if I'm eating broccoli and liver every day and supplement that with an iron supplement, that's overkill, no?
I'm used to mammal diets, horses in particular. Dunno much about plants
Having an imbalance of something, say potassium and phosphorus, can lead to a lot of health problems in horses.
What about plants? What happens to plants when they get too much phosphates? Iron? Magnesium? Do they just ignore it when there's too much, or do they try to use it and cause other problems? :huh:
Roan
I'm used to mammal diets, horses in particular. Dunno much about plants
Having an imbalance of something, say potassium and phosphorus, can lead to a lot of health problems in horses. What about plants? What happens to plants when they get too much phosphates? Iron? Magnesium? Do they just ignore it when there's too much, or do they try to use it and cause other problems? :huh:
Roan
Roan Art said:
1. Feed your plants ...
2. Feed your plants a well balanced diet ...
3. Feed your plants on a regular basis ...
It really can't get any more simple than that <grin> ...
Do you or I *personally* understand every single subtle nuance of the bio-chemical interactions in your body? Do you or I need to in order to eat a relatively well balanced diet? No.
... you and I have been taught the general broad concepts about how to eat. When you or I sit down for breakfast, do we read the label of everything you are going to eat and then figure out the 1,000 biochemical responses for every single item? When you or I sit down for lunch, do we read the label of everything you are going to eat and then figure out the 1,000 biochemical resonspes for every single item? When you or I sit down for dinner, do we read the label of everything you are going to eat and then figure out the 1,000 biochemical responses for every single item?
All over the web, there is an abundance of very very technical details about many of the physiological interactions ...
All over the web, there is an abundance of very very technical details about many of the biochemical interactions ...
All over the web, there is an abundance of very very technical details about dosing strategies ... how much, how often, and when ...
All over the web, there is an abundance of very very technical details about plant nutritional deficiencies ...
Encylocpedias worth of technical details ...
To the extent that you desire ... all of this is a browser click away for your reading pleasure ...
The key is understand the relevance of that information ... is it relevant to the knowledge that you need to feed your plants ...
Obviously - in general - most of it is not relevant to our personal lives ... you and I haven't needed to understand the 1,000 biochemical and physiological consequences of each type of food and nutrient you consume for breakfast ...
What has been relevant to you and I ... is that we both know that we generally need to eat a well balanced diet and that there are consequences if we don't ...
I personally don't want to have to earn a PHD is plant phsyiology before I am allowed to feed my plants <grin> ...
I took the time to read the valuable contributions that my fellow hobbyist have written ... I listened to their advice about different dosing strategies ... I chose a strategy that made the most sense to me ... and I chose a strategy that matched my lifestyle ...
I then fed my plants ... in an incredibily simple and straight forward manner ...
I have four undergraduate degrees ... one of the philosophies of the University was "Applied Science" ... their emphasis was on the ability to "Apply" concepts in the real world ... all of the theory and all of the king's horses can't put humpty dumpty together again - if you can not "Apply" what you know ...
It's that concept of real world applications that taught me more than anything else I learned ... I learned how to cut through all of the noise and find the key concepts that were relevant and necessary to apply to the real world ...
I would encourage you to cut through all of the noise ... find a dosing strategy that makes sense to you and matches your lifestyle ... then apply it to your aquarium ... you might be suprised to find that it works ...
And over time ... as your experience grows ... your knowledge and understanding of this vast hobbyist encyclopedia will grow as well ... and based on your real world experiences, you will be better equipped to interpret what of that encylopedic knowledge is relevant and what is not ...
Good luck ... but I would encourage you to actually "apply" the concepts and practices that you have already learned from your fellow hobbyists ...
Best of wishes ... feed your plants ...
Greg
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