Edward

Left C

Are there aquarium water parameters or guidelines (minimum and mazimum levels) for PPS-PRO? What are the specs in your tanks using PPS-PRO, Edward?

My main concern is about NO3, PO4 and GH levels. My tap water has very low KH, GH, NO3 and PO4 levels. All my tanks use pressurized CO2.

Edward

Plants are extremely adaptable. With PPS-Classic we saw what they look like in well managed levels. Then we found what plants need as a minimum requirement and put it into PPS-Pro. So here we have the minimum levels.

The maximum levels are controlled by plants uptake. However something can still go wrong and have an effect on nutrient accumulation. Here are some possible reasons, too few plants, unreasonable fish load, dissolving substrate, wrong lighting, wrong CO2, etc.

Left C

Hum....I was really asking for some #'s.

These are Tom Barr's old parameters. Is your system leaner than this?
pH 6.5 to 7.0
KH 3-6 degrees
GH 2-8 degrees
Nitrate (NO3) 5ppm-10ppm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2ppm to 0.5ppm
Potassium(K+) 20-30ppm
Iron (Fe) 0.2ppm to 0.7ppm+

I started using PPS-PRO this past Sunday (4/22). My test tank is a 10g that has 76w of PC lighting (40w 6700K/10,000K + 36w ADA 8000K) and an automatic pressurized CO2 system.

snickle

Left C,

Good question. I'll be interested to see Edward's response. My understanding is the KH and GH don't matter too much.

NO3 levels need to be kept safe for the fish. If the bioload is too high more frequent water changes may be necessary.

As for PO4, I believe what we are adding is sufficient.

dennis

Edward, to be a stickler for details, I'm not sure if that statement is quite right. NO3 is NO3 regardless of organic or inorganic. The plants would have to expend the same amount of energy to get the N from either kind. In this hobby, I think people get confused as to what is N and what is NO3 (not saying you are Edward). As far as I know, a test kit will measure N and if it is made to "measure" NO3 then the chart or code will automatically have converted to the proper level of NO3 by multiplying by the correct proportionality factor. Same goes for NO2. This is not entirely true if you get very expensive and technical, but most hobby grade kits will not have the technology associated to measure NO3 as a specific ion but will measure N and convert.

Now as far as the source of N is concerned, organic N will most likely be harder for the plant to get because the N will be bound to more complex organic forms like acids, etc. For examlpe, put KNO3 in water and you get K+ and NO3-. The NO3- ion is more available the a NO3 ion that was created organically and may be bound to (for example) H, as in nitrous acid- HNO3. The plants will have to work harder to strip the N from that molecule than they would to strip the N from NO3inorganic.

<end picky-ness>

LilLou

I arrived at my calculations by using the fertilater. I didn't use the first screen I used the one called Find percent solution of nutrient in water.

I started with KNO3 in a 100 gallon tank using 65 grams in a 500ml solution and plugged numbers in till I hit 10 mL of solution....etc

Left C when you did your calculations did you take into account that your dosing solution was exactly 1/2 the strength of the 500mL solution?

Kinda of the ass backwards way of doing it.


Edward

I am looking into getting a pH/EC/TDS test pen to do as you advised

I just have one more question. My water right now has next to no calcium in it (less than 10 ppm) should I be adding Calcium with Discus solution or just not worry about it? I have ADA Aquasoil, I know it wamentioned somewhere that certain substrates added Calcium.

Left C

Hi LilLou!

I started using that screen but I got all tangled up. My think-o-meter is slipping a little and my memory gland doesn't work like it used to.

I used the first screen on the fertilator. I entered the amount of each fert in grams from the formula and for the water volume, I used 37,850 L. This shifted the decimal place three places. 37.85 liters is 10 gallons and 1000 ml is 1 liter.

This is a shortcut way to look at the calculations that I used with the fertfriend:
(37.85 L per 10 gallons) X (1000 mL per L) X (10 gallons per mL dose) = ppm per day

This method made the conversions very easy to do.

I basically got what Edward says that each dose adds.

This is what I got: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Edward says:
NO3 is dosed at 1.05 ppm per day - - - - - - - NO3 is dosed at 1.00 ppm per day
K is dosed at 1.41 ppm per day - - - - - - - - -K is dosed at 1.33 ppm per day
PO4 is dosed at 0.11 ppm per day - - - - - - - PO4 is dosed at 0.10 ppm per day
Mg is dosed at 0.11 ppm per day- - - - - - - - Mg is dosed at 0.10 ppm per day

In my state (NC) we call this bass 'ackwards.

Left C

Edward's formula is for 1000 mL or 1 L and that's what I used in my calculations.

I don't understand what you mean by 1/2 the strength of the 500mL solution.??

Edward

My advice would be getting only simple and cheap TDS meter calibrated in uS. The reason is the unneeded EC probe and six month lifespan pH probe. TDS tester is cheap and for ever.

There are people using ADA substrates with RO (very low Ca water). You need to post this and wait for replies. If you want you can dose just CaSO4 to 20-30 ppm Ca. This works perfectly fine.