Algae problems, questions about fertilization.

[riioKen]

On 9/11/2023 at 5:51 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I’d get a Netlea instead.

I can't find it in Europe, I heard it's good too 

[riioKen]

On 9/11/2023 at 5:51 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Adds another spectrum of lower end blues. It’s not a lot but it’s there if you want it.

WA is the correct choice. If I was going to spend Chihiros money, I’d get a Netlea instead.

I have bought the shade too, but seems that it doesn't have mirror, do you think that It can be applied? It can improve the par right?

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:54 AM, riioKen said:

I have bought the shade too, but seems that it doesn't have mirror, do you think that It can be applied? It can improve the par right?

I use the shades as is. You certainly could but not necessary.

[riioKen]

@Mmiller2001 Sorry for bothering you, i prepared 1 or 2 week ago a solution that gives me 20ppm no3 with KNO3 and 2ppm PO4 with KH2PO4 for 30ml x 100 litres tank.

You suggested me to buy some K2SO4, for a bit more of K (based on IFC Calculator, without K2SO4, i have a weekly dose of 13ppm of K), i tried to replicate your formula but with less nutrients, so 20-2 and lastly, K to 25. IFC calculator says that i need to add 28,64g to the solution to reach 25ppm of K. Can i add it directly to the bottle of macro?

Edited September 13, 2023 by riioKen

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:36 AM, riioKen said:

@Mmiller2001 Sorry for bothering you, i prepared 1 or 2 week ago a solution that gives me 20ppm no3 with KNO3 and 2ppm PO4 with KH2PO4 for 30ml x 100 litres tank.

You suggested me to buy some K2SO4, for a bit more of K (based on IFC Calculator, without K2SO4, i have a weekly dose of 13ppm of K), i tried to replicate your formula but with less nutrients, so 20-2 and lastly, K to 25. IFC calculator says that i need to add 28,64g to the solution for reach 25ppm of K. Can i add it directly to the bottle of macro?

You should be able to as long as you haven’t used any out of already mixed bottle. I’m not well versed on solubility issues, but I’d imagine you are under those levels and it will all mix without reaching saturation. But again, I’m not sure when and where this occurs.

Does the IFC calculator include solubility?

[riioKen]

On 9/13/2023 at 4:44 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Does the IFC calculator include solubility?

Yes, it's amazing, rotala butterfly is great but IFC is insane. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ifc-aquarium-fertilizer-calculator.63045/

I haven't use it, it's, i was waiting for K2SO4.

Edited September 13, 2023 by riioKen

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:53 AM, riioKen said:

Yes, it's amazing, rotala butterfly is great but IFC is insane. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ifc-aquarium-fertilizer-calculator.63045/

I haven't use it, it's, i was waiting for K2SO4.

Perfect. I need to try it but I don’t have the program to run it on my pc.

[riioKen]

On 9/13/2023 at 4:58 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I don’t have the program to run it on my pc.

You can use the free version of office 365 included in Microsoft edge, it's free

[riioKen]

Hi @Mmiller2001, yesterday i starting using my own ferts.

I dosed in the morning, 10ml, after i dosed in the tank i had 10ppm nitrates and around 0.5ppm po4.

 

i checked in the evening, around 10-15ppm nitrates and again 0ppm po4

so i dosed 10ml more and tested before going to bed, around 20-30ppm nitrates (it was shade was reddish, but not deep) and finally around 1ppm po4.

but now, this morning i dosed micro and checked for po4 and no3. NO3 is 20ppm and Po4 is again 0. seems that my tank consume 1ppm or more po4 daily.

 

Considering that i dosed micro this morning, can i dose po4? I have a bottle with all macros, that yields me 6-7ppm nitrates, a bit less than 1ppm po4 and 7-8ppm K, and then i have 1 bottle with only Po4 that yields me 1ppm per dose.

Edited September 14, 2023 by riioKen

[JoeQ]

Watch the K2SO4, which is very tricky on solubility. You might want to skip the solution and dry dose that.

[riioKen]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:40 AM, JoeQ said:

Watch the K2SO4, which is very tricky on solubility

yes, i had problems initially, but after i shaked the bottle more vigorously, it dissolved. I still see some little grain at the bottom, but are too few for considering it "precipitated".

[JoeQ]

 

On 9/14/2023 at 5:44 AM, riioKen said:

yes, i had problems initially, but after i shaked the bottle more vigorously, it dissolved. I still see some little grain at the bottom, but are too few for considering it "precipitated".

You might get more dissolved by using hot water. But speaking of precipitation, also watch using magnesium sulfate with your macros,  I made numerous batches that came out weaker than calculated. Evidently it turns out the sulfur caused perception rendering them batches useless.......

[Mmiller2001]

You can definitely dose more PO4. Not a problem.

[riioKen]

On 9/14/2023 at 2:11 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

You can definitely dose more PO4. Not a problem.

After few days of extra po4 dosing, I can clearly see that GSA isn't expanding anymore. But I have noticed new symptoms that are really worrying, because it affects new growth.

As you can see, there are holes in the leaves, so I thought of K deficiency, but it's impossible that I'm lacking potassium in the tank, I dose KNO3, KH2PO4 and K2SO4. I'm probably in a range of 20-30 K.

Then there are others symptoms too, macrandra are developing some yellowish veins and I noticed that the leaves are very thin.

Edited September 16, 2023 by riioKen

[JoeQ]

What is your recipe for the solution you are dosing? 

[riioKen]

On 9/16/2023 at 12:17 PM, JoeQ said:

What is your recipe for the solution you are dosing? 

I'm dosing macro as suggested by plantedbox so 30ml x 100 litres should give me 20ppm no3 and 2ppm pork (but I'm dosing more po4 when I see that it drops to <0.5ppm, and I did a double dose the first day of macros).

In addition to macro, I have added 28g of K2SO4 into macro mix, ti should give around 7ppm more K (KH2PO4 and KNO3, should give around 13-14ppm K weekly, I have added 7ppm more)

And

The same for micro, 30ml x 100L should give me 0.5Fe.

I'm dosing both every other day (different days), 10ml.

[JoeQ]

On 9/16/2023 at 6:27 AM, riioKen said:

I'm dosing macro as suggested by plantedbox so 30ml x 100 litres should give me 20ppm no3 and 2ppm pork (but I'm dosing more po4 when I see that it drops to <0.5ppm, and I did a double dose the first day of macros).

In addition to macro, I have added 28g of K2SO4 into macro mix, ti should give around 7ppm more K (KH2PO4 and KNO3, should give around 13-14ppm K weekly, I have added 7ppm more)

And

The same for micro, 30ml x 100L should give me 0.5Fe.

I'm dosing both every other day (different days), 10ml.

Right, if I remember correctly you are dosing the EI method which usually prevents you from having to chase deficiencies. The only time I had to chase deficiencies was when there was a problem with the solution I made. Which im thinking might be your problem as well. For example here's the recipe for my current EI macro. 

Edit: this is a good recipe that "works".

500ml purified water

10ml Eazy Carb

Kno3 - 58.2g

K2hpo4 - 11.4g

A dose of 1ml per 2.5g results in:

7.4ppm kno3, 1.3ppm po4, 5.7 ppm K

Edited September 16, 2023 by JoeQ

[JoeQ]

The above recipe "works",  these should too on paper, but in reality they dont...  Either on account of perception or because of chemical interactions.

5-17 PPS-Pro Macro
Kno3 – 19.7g,
K2HP04 – 1.8g,
K2S04 – 17.5g
MgS04 - 12.4g,
296ml H2O,
6ml Ez Carb

1ml per 10g at lights out, daily
Dose will add:
NO3-1.06ppm, PO4 -0.09ppm, K-1.44ppm
S-0.42ppm, Mg-0.11ppm, dGH-0.02

This batch I had to suppliment with a no kno3 mix on account of GDA..

Then there was this gem:

8-04-23 EI Macro
Kno3 – 118.0g,
K2HPO4 – 23.0g,
Mgso4 - 25.0g,
500ml Purified H20,
10ml Ez carb

A dose of 2ml per 10g will add:

NO3-7.50ppm, PO4 -1.30ppm, K-5.27ppm,
Mg-0.26ppm, S-0.34ppm, dGH-0.06
 

Again on paper it looked great, but in reality plants were suffering. Turns out the magnesium sulfate was rendering my solution ineffective compared to its 'on paper advertised strength'.

The moral of the story is that we are not chemists, we just have a high Google IQ and can figure out just enough to get by.  To avoid wasting product mix small batches, let your plants be your guide, not numbers on a screen which aren't always accurate when it comes to solutions. This is why guys prefer dry dosing, solutions get tricky on account of solubility and chemical reactions during their shelf life.

Edit: on my next batches ill probably also eliminate the ez carb which according to the barr report forum isn't necessary.

Edited September 16, 2023 by JoeQ
Noted

[riioKen]

On 9/16/2023 at 2:03 PM, JoeQ said:

The above recipe "works",  these should too on paper, but in reality they dont...  Either on account of perception or because of chemical interactions.

5-17 PPS-Pro Macro
Kno3 – 19.7g,
K2HP04 – 1.8g,
K2S04 – 17.5g
MgS04 - 12.4g,
296ml H2O,
6ml Ez Carb

1ml per 10g at lights out, daily
Dose will add:
NO3-1.06ppm, PO4 -0.09ppm, K-1.44ppm
S-0.42ppm, Mg-0.11ppm, dGH-0.02

This batch I had to suppliment with a no kno3 mix on account of GDA..

Then there was this gem:

8-04-23 EI Macro
Kno3 – 118.0g,
K2HPO4 – 23.0g,
Mgso4 - 25.0g,
500ml Purified H20,
10ml Ez carb

A dose of 2ml per 10g will add:

NO3-7.50ppm, PO4 -1.30ppm, K-5.27ppm,
Mg-0.26ppm, S-0.34ppm, dGH-0.06
 

Again on paper it looked great, but in reality plants were suffering. Turns out the magnesium sulfate was rendering my solution ineffective compared to its 'on paper advertised strength'.

The moral of the story is that we are not chemists, we just have a high Google IQ and can figure out just enough to get by.  To avoid wasting product mix small batches, let your plants be your guide, not numbers on a screen which aren't always accurate when it comes to solutions. This is why guys prefer dry dosing, solutions get tricky on account of solubility and chemical reactions during their shelf life.

Yeah, to my EI mix for sure something is off.

 

I see that on my macrandra's leaves, there some yellow/green stripes, and then it start to melt, it's happening on new growth too, and this is concerning me. I can even double the dose of APT3 daily and give 1ppm extra of po4.

With apt 3 the plants were thriving but I had a lot of GSA and hair algae. Now seems that algae aren't growing or at least not fast as before. 

 

 

[riioKen]

I have posted few photos. 

I never seen this symptoms, do you suggest me to rid my own ferts and try again? Maybe dose a nutrient in each bottle?

[JoeQ]

On 9/16/2023 at 8:11 AM, riioKen said:

Yeah, to my EI mix for sure something is off.

 

I see that on my macrandra's leaves, there some yellow/green stripes, and then it start to melt, it's happening on new growth too, and this is concerning me. I can even double the dose of APT3 daily and give 1ppm extra of po4.

With apt 3 the plants were thriving but I had a lot of GSA and hair algae. Now seems that algae aren't growing or at least not fast as before. 

 

 

I had a big beautiful tuff of BBA growing all over my outflow which I loved. But over the course of the last 6 months it has all but died :(. I think the addition of ez carbo was responsible. Along with lethargic plant growth, thinning leaves, ect on previous batches. Today ill probably make a bare bones EI macro {kno3 & po4} without the ez carbo and see what happens! 

[JoeQ]

On 9/16/2023 at 8:20 AM, riioKen said:

I have posted few photos. 

I never seen this symptoms, do you suggest me to rid my own ferts and try again? Maybe dose a nutrient in each bottle?

Wow! Your plant skill level far out weighs mine so I feel I shouldn't even "give advice", but speaking from a purely solution stand point I'd make a bare bones EI macro solution and see what happens! On your micros 0.5 Fe is hard to hit with an EI solution because of solubility issues. That you might have to consider dry dosing. 

[Mmiller2001]

Lower the micro dose to .4ppm Fe as proxy weekly. Watch the new growth.

[riioKen]

On 9/16/2023 at 2:40 PM, JoeQ said:

Wow! Your plant skill level far out weighs mine so I feel I shouldn't even "give advice"

Thanks but, the rotalas looked way better last week. The macrandra had nice reds but now seems melting, even new growth are melting...

 

On 9/16/2023 at 2:43 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Lower the micro dose to .4ppm Fe as proxy weekly. Watch the new growth.

Do you suspect a "burn" due to high Fe?

[JoeQ]

On 9/16/2023 at 8:52 AM, riioKen said:

Thanks but, the rotalas looked way better last week. The macrandra had nice reds but now seems melting, even new growth are melting...

My problem since starting dyi ferts is similar but not as drastic as yours. I figure this is because you are pushing way more co2 than me. My plan for now is mixing a small batch of EI macros but if that doesn't workout I'll probably just revert back to Nilocg EI premixed and call it a day!