I have a 100gal heavily planted tank. I has CO2 (10lb tank), and it does with Fe, and K daily. Was wondering what the P04 and N03 level should be. I have the Red Sea test kits, are they OK??
Phosphate and Nitrate levels
- Thread starter tanker
- Start date
You might want to consider a method that gets away from testing unless of course you like guessing and testing with cheap test kits.
I'd rather prune etc. Or do a water change and know my levels are good after wards.
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles.html
Basically you remove everything weekly by doing a 50% water change. Then you dose and re set your tank.
So you know what's in the tap water, so you dose the chemical fert's dry with a teaspoon easily.
The weights of the KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4 etc are known(see Chuck Gadd's dosing calculator).
So after a 50% water change on a 20 gallon tank: you add 1/4 tweaspoon of KNO3, K2SO4, 5mls of SeaChem flourish etc and a rice grain's worth of KH2PO4.
You guess the dosage later 1-2x before the next water change byu adding 1/4 teaspoion of KNO3 and some more KH2PO4 and trace after 2-3 days.
Adding some teaspoon measurements of dry powder 2-3x a week is easy. Easier and much more accurate than the test kits and it cost much less.
It also produces excellent tanks and results, poke around on the site there and take a look around.
Or www.sfbaaps.com also.
Many folks use this method.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I'd rather prune etc. Or do a water change and know my levels are good after wards.
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles.html
Basically you remove everything weekly by doing a 50% water change. Then you dose and re set your tank.
So you know what's in the tap water, so you dose the chemical fert's dry with a teaspoon easily.
The weights of the KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4 etc are known(see Chuck Gadd's dosing calculator).
So after a 50% water change on a 20 gallon tank: you add 1/4 tweaspoon of KNO3, K2SO4, 5mls of SeaChem flourish etc and a rice grain's worth of KH2PO4.
You guess the dosage later 1-2x before the next water change byu adding 1/4 teaspoion of KNO3 and some more KH2PO4 and trace after 2-3 days.
Adding some teaspoon measurements of dry powder 2-3x a week is easy. Easier and much more accurate than the test kits and it cost much less.
It also produces excellent tanks and results, poke around on the site there and take a look around.
Or www.sfbaaps.com also.
Many folks use this method.
Regards,
Tom Barr