In dilemma!!!
- Thread starter arjosh
- Start date
yuppers, that's pretty much the 7 days rule. it isn't necessary though. i do my kh2po4 and traces as a stock solution myself. i use a baby medicine type syringe. i use the time it takes me to wash it as a time buffer between dosing one and the other. that's about 1-2 minutes in between and i get no precipitation. once they're in the tank they're too diluted to precipitate.
i'd be a little more careful though if i were dry dosing straight to the tank. that's just me i guess though.
i'd be a little more careful though if i were dry dosing straight to the tank. that's just me i guess though.
Whatever gets the ferts in the aquarium.
Liquids are dribbly and make a mess. They are easier to dose more accurately, however, there's no need for such accuracy with dosing aquariums.
No need to cut it to the bone.
There is a lot of play.
So dry dosing works well for tanks 20 gal and up.
For traces, I still mix with RO/DI water and dose them as liquids.
Just the habit I formed. Some add all dry, some go all liquids, some ad every other day, some 2-3x a week, some daily and the totals are all the same. Some use a scale, but it offers little difference at the end of the day as far as plants go.
I think CO2 and a good reasonable light level for the rates of growth and labor you can put up with is a good/better idea, nutrients are easy, you add them and keep enough in the tank.
That's not a hard option.
Good CO2 takes more observations and care and is a root issue for 95% of algae issues, and 100% of all fish deaths with respect to overdosing. I've never met anyone that's ever killed a fish with nutrients to date(15 years on line).
Never, we see a dozen post a week on various forums about folks gassing their fish, yet no one says to stop using CO2 or to limit that.......
Go figure.
Like copper, it needs care and observation to get it right, dose makes the poison. CO2 deserves the most respect of any nutrient you add.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Liquids are dribbly and make a mess. They are easier to dose more accurately, however, there's no need for such accuracy with dosing aquariums.
No need to cut it to the bone.
There is a lot of play.
So dry dosing works well for tanks 20 gal and up.
For traces, I still mix with RO/DI water and dose them as liquids.
Just the habit I formed. Some add all dry, some go all liquids, some ad every other day, some 2-3x a week, some daily and the totals are all the same. Some use a scale, but it offers little difference at the end of the day as far as plants go.
I think CO2 and a good reasonable light level for the rates of growth and labor you can put up with is a good/better idea, nutrients are easy, you add them and keep enough in the tank.
That's not a hard option.
Good CO2 takes more observations and care and is a root issue for 95% of algae issues, and 100% of all fish deaths with respect to overdosing. I've never met anyone that's ever killed a fish with nutrients to date(15 years on line).
Never, we see a dozen post a week on various forums about folks gassing their fish, yet no one says to stop using CO2 or to limit that.......
Go figure.
Like copper, it needs care and observation to get it right, dose makes the poison. CO2 deserves the most respect of any nutrient you add.
Regards,
Tom Barr
ofcourse tom is absolutely right. that never changes somehow.
i did want to add that the only reason i would worry about dry ferts is where i dose. i dose in my hob. if i were to say dose dry kh2po4 and traces back to back there's a chance some of the dry will be carried away at the top of the water and get caught in my sponges. if this were to happen i could possibly be mixing the 2 as they hit the water column. this could cause a minor precip. no biggie really but i see no reason to waste it when i already have it mixed and that won't precipitate.
i did want to add that the only reason i would worry about dry ferts is where i dose. i dose in my hob. if i were to say dose dry kh2po4 and traces back to back there's a chance some of the dry will be carried away at the top of the water and get caught in my sponges. if this were to happen i could possibly be mixing the 2 as they hit the water column. this could cause a minor precip. no biggie really but i see no reason to waste it when i already have it mixed and that won't precipitate.
