Fleet Enema

[tamccain]

I am working on getting stuff lined up to start doing some water column fertilization. I read that Fleet Enema's provide phosphates through KH2PO4. I bought a fleet enema and the ingredients say that it is monobasic sodium phosphate and dibasic sodium phosphate, which I believe whould be NaPO4 and Na2PO4 - or something close to that. My question is, is this safe to use, or should I be looking for something else. I don't want to hurt my fish with anything I put in it.

Thanks

 

[midiamin]

What is the reason for doing this?

 

[reiverix]

This thread talked a bit about using Fleet

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41400&highlight=fleet

It seems like it is something you will have to use carefully and add a few drops then test then add a few drops again, etc, until you reach the desired level.

Another option is to order K2SO4 from gregwatson.com and then you can calculate the exact dosage.

 

[Jay]

That is the correct stuff. Although KH2PO4, as a dry ingredient, is easier to manage in terms of determining the amount needed.

 

[djlen]

It's the right stuff. Completely safe to use.
And I can't imagine anything easier to dose and manage than Fleet's. It's a simple matter of counting drops to bring P to the desired level.
Check the level every couple of days for content and add back if necessary.

Len

 

[SnakeIce]

Yes fleet is the right stuff, but I would caution that only 1 ppm is the max that you should try to have in the tank at one time. Only 3-4 drops brings my 20 gallon with about 16 actual gallons in it up to that level from 0 registering.

 

[Blinky]

I use Fleet, it works well and is super easy to use. I use a set number of drops each day - it only takes a little while to sort out how much PO4 your tank needs each time you dose.
The only thing I dislike about using Fleet is having to purchase it

Midi, the reason some of us dose PO4 is because our tanks are heavily planted and need more than is contained in tap water or produced by fish.

 

[djlen]

Phosphates should be kept at a level which will reflect a 10:1(N=10/P=1) ratio between them and N.
Therefore, there is no set level to keep a particular tank at. For instance, you might have tap water which naturally contains an excess of N, or a lot of fish which produce extra N, and need to dose extra Phosphates to compensate and balance with the N level.
I keep my Phospate levels at 1.5ppm - 2.0 in many of my tanks at all times because I like to keep my N levels high and need to balance it.

Len