Easy Green for 5 gal?

[HGordon]

I really want to try Easy Green but I see that it is 1 pump per 10 gal.  I do have decently strong lighting for my tank as it gets indirect light from a window all day and then I turn on my Aqueon plant light for about 6-8 hours in the afternoon.  Is it easy to do 1/2 a pump from this bottle or would I be safe with 1 full pump for my 5 gal once per week?

Thanks!

Also a side question - would I benefit from root tabs in my Fluval Stratum or would Easy Green be enough?

My 5 gal is medium-heavy planted with 1 betta, 3 otos, a few shrimp and a mystery snail (mystery snail might go in the other tank as he keeps knocking the grass out).

[Brandy]

Easier solution I use: make a 50% dilution and then put one squirt per 5 gallon. (pour half the bottle to another container, dilute with aged non-chlorinated tap water)

[TheDojoMojo]

If you don't care to be exact, estimating a half a pump could work. I would recommend using a pipette and measuring a half a mL as that's pretty easy. The dilution idea also would work well. If you do care to be exact however, I recommend measuring easy green before dosing anyway, since I've found that the pump head can be innacurate in my experience anyway and often pumps closer to 0.5 mL than 1 mL for me. I just squirt it into a measuring cup to the right amount instead of directly in the tank. If you dont care to be exact with your dosages however, you may want to use this to your advantage if your pump head is like mine. Measure the average volume of one pump using something to measure it (I used a test tube with my API kit since the line is 5 mL, and found that it usually took like 8 or so pumps to fill it up to 5 mL, so after repeating this test a couple times I concluded that my average pump is probably around 0.625), and if your pump is like mine then you may not need to dilute your solution or use a half pump after all if your pump size is close enough to 0.5 mL. Keep in mind that my pump may be very different from yours as it is a pretty old bottle or may just malfunction, so make sure not to just use my results. Also keep in mind that the 1 mL per 10 gal is just a guideline and depending on the nutrient uptake of your tank, you should dose more or less in order to keep your nutrients in the proper range.

[Pete]

You're probably good with a full pump a week on that tank. Sounds like there's a lot of plants in it to take the nutrients, and your stock isn't going to generate a huge bioload to help feed them. Easy Green is hard to mess up. I'd give your tank a full pump, check the Nitrates just to ensure they aren't over 40 ppm, and then watch your plants over the week to see how they react or if you just end up with algae. My guess is your plants will love it and you won't have any issues.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

IMO a pipette is the way to go so you can dial in your dose. Diluting the ferts also dilutes the anti mold additives potentially giving mold a change to grow.

[Spitzzard]

I only use pipettes, you can get a bag of 300 for like 10 bucks on amazon. I don't really trust the pump head to be pumping out 1ml consistently (sorry Cory)

[HGordon]

Alrighty, I have some pipettes/tubes I can use.  Gonna give it a whirl!  Thanks everyone.  This forum is awesome, glad I found it!