I've been hearing some rumblings in this group about not fertilizing
(micronutrients -iron etc.) after a water change because the water already
has these nutrients--maybe waiting a few days for the nutrients to be
absorbed would be better.

I've been currently fertilizing using Ferreal +spureal (iron & trace
elements) directly after every weekly 25% water change.

Any suggestions? Or am I doing it right.

Thanx alot for your help!
Dave.

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
I've been hearing some rumblings in this group about not fertilizing
(micronutrients -iron etc.) after a water change because the water already
has these nutrients--maybe waiting a few days for the nutrients to be
absorbed would be better.

I've been currently fertilizing using Ferreal +spureal (iron & trace
elements) directly after every weekly 25% water change.

Any suggestions? Or am I doing it right.

Thanx alot for your help!
Dave.

There's typically not even close to enough micronutrients in tap
water.

If you use CO2 etc, try dosing 2-3x a week. I do it right after the
water change then once or twice more during the week till the next
water change. Sera are good products IMO.
You will need to add about 2-3x the recommended doses if you use CO2.
So rather than say 5mls weekly, add it 5mls 2-3x weekly.
Dosage stays the same but with more light/CO2 etc, the __frequency__
increases.

This makes sense due to increased plant growth therefore more uptake
and demand for more nutrients/CO2 etc.

Non CO2 tanks I don't use any water column fertilizers and don't do
water changes, just top off for the evaporation losses and feed a good
sized fish load.

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
I've been hearing some rumblings in this group about not fertilizing
(micronutrients -iron etc.) after a water change because the water already
has these nutrients--maybe waiting a few days for the nutrients to be
absorbed would be better.

I've been currently fertilizing using Ferreal +spureal (iron & trace
elements) directly after every weekly 25% water change.

Any suggestions? Or am I doing it right.

Thanx alot for your help!
Dave.

There's typically not even close to enough micronutrients in tap
water.

If you use CO2 etc, try dosing 2-3x a week. I do it right after the
water change then once or twice more during the week till the next
water change. Sera are good products IMO.
You will need to add about 2-3x the recommended doses if you use CO2.
So rather than say 5mls weekly, add it 5mls 2-3x weekly.
Dosage stays the same but with more light/CO2 etc, the __frequency__
increases.

This makes sense due to increased plant growth therefore more uptake
and demand for more nutrients/CO2 etc.

Non CO2 tanks I don't use any water column fertilizers and don't do
water changes, just top off for the evaporation losses and feed a good
sized fish load.

Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
I've been hearing some rumblings in this group about not fertilizing
(micronutrients -iron etc.) after a water change because the water
already
has these nutrients--maybe waiting a few days for the nutrients to be
absorbed would be better.

I've been currently fertilizing using Ferreal +spureal (iron & trace
elements) directly after every weekly 25% water change.

Any suggestions? Or am I doing it right.

Thanx alot for your help!
Dave.

There's typically not even close to enough micronutrients in tap
water.

If you use CO2 etc, try dosing 2-3x a week. I do it right after the
water change then once or twice more during the week till the next
water change. Sera are good products IMO.
You will need to add about 2-3x the recommended doses if you use CO2.
So rather than say 5mls weekly, add it 5mls 2-3x weekly.
Dosage stays the same but with more light/CO2 etc, the __frequency__
increases.

This makes sense due to increased plant growth therefore more uptake
and demand for more nutrients/CO2 etc.

Non CO2 tanks I don't use any water column fertilizers and don't do
water changes, just top off for the evaporation losses and feed a good
sized fish load.

Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
I've been hearing some rumblings in this group about not fertilizing
(micronutrients -iron etc.) after a water change because the water
already
has these nutrients--maybe waiting a few days for the nutrients to be
absorbed would be better.

I've been currently fertilizing using Ferreal +spureal (iron & trace
elements) directly after every weekly 25% water change.

Any suggestions? Or am I doing it right.

Thanx alot for your help!
Dave.

There's typically not even close to enough micronutrients in tap
water.

If you use CO2 etc, try dosing 2-3x a week. I do it right after the
water change then once or twice more during the week till the next
water change. Sera are good products IMO.
You will need to add about 2-3x the recommended doses if you use CO2.
So rather than say 5mls weekly, add it 5mls 2-3x weekly.
Dosage stays the same but with more light/CO2 etc, the __frequency__
increases.

This makes sense due to increased plant growth therefore more uptake
and demand for more nutrients/CO2 etc.

Non CO2 tanks I don't use any water column fertilizers and don't do
water changes, just top off for the evaporation losses and feed a good
sized fish load.

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Wow...sounds pretty involved. But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?

Thanx.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got
about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae
spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I
guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Wow...sounds pretty involved. But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?

Thanx.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got
about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae
spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I
guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Is this stuff easily dissolved?

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
a...
Wow...sounds pretty involved. But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it
from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?

Thanx.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got
about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow
tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae
spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I
guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Is this stuff easily dissolved?

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
a...
Wow...sounds pretty involved. But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it
from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?

Thanx.

" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow, I've been only dosing every water change (once a week). I've got
about
33ppm C02 going right now with 2wpg in a 15 gallon wide (shallow
tank).
Dosing say, every 2nd day or so wouldn't be too much iron?--algae
spurts? I
guess I could test for iron levels every other day to actually see. I
guess
we want chelated iron levels about what?--.3 to .35ppm?

Dave.

Good CO2 and light.
Well then the macro and micro nutrients are all that's left.
Here's an easy cheap way to do this and keep them in a good range.

For your tank, dosing 2x a week would be about right and relatively
easy/cheap.

What you'll need:
Traces- you got that.
KNO3- stump remove, I use Grant's or Cooke's branc.
K2SO4- potash of sulfur, I used Green All brand
KH2PO4- I get this from www.litemanu.com and you can get all three
from them also.

So the routine goes like this:
Twice a week add:

Add 1/8 teaspoon of KNO3
Add 1 rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
4mls of Trace mix.

Once a week after water change:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4
Dechlorinator.

Do 50% weekly water changes, add all the 4 nutrients back, 1/2 way
through the week add the KNO3, KH2PO4 and traces.

That's it.

Try and tell me what you think after 3 weeks.

Before you do the water changes, trim the plants, scrub off any algae
from the glass, trim any algae off plants etc. Then do the water
change.

The above routine will give you about 7-8ppm of NO3 after each dose
and enough K and PO4, Fe etc.

The weekly water changes keep the nutrients from getting too high and
the dosing keeps things from getting too low.

It resets the tank each week.

Just keep up on the CO2 and you'll be fine with this routine.
No, algae will not be a problem if the plants are growing well.
The best way to deal with algae is to have well growing plants.
So give the plants what they need. If the plant suffer, the algae will
creep in.
So you recheck the CO2 first, then do a 50% water change and add the
nutrients back in.

Regards,
Tom Barr

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
Wow...sounds pretty involved.

You add 4 things with teaspoon measurements 2x-3x a week. I see
nothing complicated there. If you made cookies from scratch it would
be more complicated.

But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?
Thanx.

I buy bags from a nursery(Stump remover-KNO3 and potash of
sulfur-K2SO4) or on line etc. KH2PO4 you'll likely need to get on line
at www.litemanu.com, potassium monobasic phosphate.
You can buy it all from litemanu.com also.

Traces like Flourish, Tropica Master Grow- TMG, you get from from the
LFS or on line etc. You can also make your own traces from dry powder,
CMS Plantex brands are commonly used and are pretty cheap.

I add the KH2PO4, KNO3 and the K2SO4 dry right into the tank like I
have for years. Traces are liquid so I add those in milliliters.

For a 20 gallon tanks I add 2-3x a week:
1/4 teaspoon KKNO3
2rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
5mls of Flourish
and once a week after the water change
1/4 teaspoon K2SO4

That is as simple as you are going to get.
Do 50% weekly water changes and keep the CO2 in the 20-30ppm range.

That's it.
Regards,
Tom Barr

"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message . ca...
Wow...sounds pretty involved.

You add 4 things with teaspoon measurements 2x-3x a week. I see
nothing complicated there. If you made cookies from scratch it would
be more complicated.

But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery store?
Thanx.

I buy bags from a nursery(Stump remover-KNO3 and potash of
sulfur-K2SO4) or on line etc. KH2PO4 you'll likely need to get on line
at www.litemanu.com, potassium monobasic phosphate.
You can buy it all from litemanu.com also.

Traces like Flourish, Tropica Master Grow- TMG, you get from from the
LFS or on line etc. You can also make your own traces from dry powder,
CMS Plantex brands are commonly used and are pretty cheap.

I add the KH2PO4, KNO3 and the K2SO4 dry right into the tank like I
have for years. Traces are liquid so I add those in milliliters.

For a 20 gallon tanks I add 2-3x a week:
1/4 teaspoon KKNO3
2rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
5mls of Flourish
and once a week after the water change
1/4 teaspoon K2SO4

That is as simple as you are going to get.
Do 50% weekly water changes and keep the CO2 in the 20-30ppm range.

That's it.
Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanx for all your help! I'll be starting that as soon as I get back from a
few days holidays and after I can aquire this stuff.

Dave.
" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow...sounds pretty involved.

You add 4 things with teaspoon measurements 2x-3x a week. I see
nothing complicated there. If you made cookies from scratch it would
be more complicated.

But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it
from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery
store?
Thanx.

I buy bags from a nursery(Stump remover-KNO3 and potash of
sulfur-K2SO4) or on line etc. KH2PO4 you'll likely need to get on line
at www.litemanu.com, potassium monobasic phosphate.
You can buy it all from litemanu.com also.

Traces like Flourish, Tropica Master Grow- TMG, you get from from the
LFS or on line etc. You can also make your own traces from dry powder,
CMS Plantex brands are commonly used and are pretty cheap.

I add the KH2PO4, KNO3 and the K2SO4 dry right into the tank like I
have for years. Traces are liquid so I add those in milliliters.

For a 20 gallon tanks I add 2-3x a week:
1/4 teaspoon KKNO3
2rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
5mls of Flourish
and once a week after the water change
1/4 teaspoon K2SO4

That is as simple as you are going to get.
Do 50% weekly water changes and keep the CO2 in the 20-30ppm range.

That's it.
Regards,
Tom Barr

Thanx for all your help! I'll be starting that as soon as I get back from a
few days holidays and after I can aquire this stuff.

Dave.
" wrote in message
om...
"Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message
. ca...
Wow...sounds pretty involved.

You add 4 things with teaspoon measurements 2x-3x a week. I see
nothing complicated there. If you made cookies from scratch it would
be more complicated.

But I guess after I get a routine down it
shouldn't be too bad. Do you premix all this stuff and then just add it
from
packets or baggies? Can I get all this stuff from a garden/nursery
store?
Thanx.

I buy bags from a nursery(Stump remover-KNO3 and potash of
sulfur-K2SO4) or on line etc. KH2PO4 you'll likely need to get on line
at www.litemanu.com, potassium monobasic phosphate.
You can buy it all from litemanu.com also.

Traces like Flourish, Tropica Master Grow- TMG, you get from from the
LFS or on line etc. You can also make your own traces from dry powder,
CMS Plantex brands are commonly used and are pretty cheap.

I add the KH2PO4, KNO3 and the K2SO4 dry right into the tank like I
have for years. Traces are liquid so I add those in milliliters.

For a 20 gallon tanks I add 2-3x a week:
1/4 teaspoon KKNO3
2rice grain's worth of KH2PO4
5mls of Flourish
and once a week after the water change
1/4 teaspoon K2SO4

That is as simple as you are going to get.
Do 50% weekly water changes and keep the CO2 in the 20-30ppm range.

That's it.
Regards,
Tom Barr