Dosing for Easy Green

[Alex S.]

I am currently working on growing some Vallisneria in one of my tanks, and I have been dosing easy green as a fertilizer. I have been dosing according to the bottle (1 pump per 10 gallons), but when I test my water the nitrates are pretty much unreadable. Should I keep adding easy green until my nitrates get up to around 20ppm like some recommend, or should I stick with the bottle dosing and let it do its thing? The plants seem to have some die off, but they've only been in the tank a couple of weeks so I'm sure its still getting established. I just want to make sure I ease it through the transition as much as I can.

[JoeQ]

Also if you are using the test stips be aware that they are not as accurate as liquid tests. If you don't have liquid tests it wouldn't be a bad idea to have your water tested by a 3rd party for comparison.

[Alex S.]

On 8/17/2023 at 8:32 AM, Pepere said:

Realistically if your tank is sparsely planted, if you dose it up to 20 ppm, it might not need any other dosing all week.  
 

and if you dont do a 50% water change it might not need much more dosing to boost it back up, at least until the Val establishes itself in the tank and takes off…

Thank you so much! Thank makes a lot more sense now! I appreciate the info! 

On 8/17/2023 at 9:44 AM, JoeQ said:

Also if you are using the test stips be aware that they are not as accurate as liquid tests. If you don't have liquid tests it wouldn't be a bad idea to have your water tested by a 3rd party for comparison.

That’s a great point! I need to invest in something like that. I only have strips right now and I’ve wondered just how accurate they are. 

[TOtrees]

Have you considered root tabs? Vals are pretty heavy root feeders, I believe. 

[Alex S.]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:19 AM, TOtrees said:

Have you considered root tabs? Vals are pretty heavy root feeders, I believe. 

I use root tabs as well! I’ve read some places they feed from the roots, but other places suggest they prefer liquid fertilizer. I’ll use more root tabs as well and see if that helps!