dingweding

i decided to try PPS-Pro for my shrimp tank.

The tank is 90L, about 24 US Gallon, light is 2x24w 6500k and 1x24w 4000k.

Currently tank NO3 is 0, GH is 13, KH is 8, PH is 7.4
Tap water NO3 is 50, GH is 16, KH is 10, PH is 7.6

Pressurised CO2 about 2 bubble per second, off at night

the ligt is on 4 hours, off 2 hours and on 4 hours again.

tank is about one month old, quite heavily planted.

i have some question about PPS-PRO,

first, do i have to use distilled water? where can i get it? i live in London, UK.
second, i should dose 2.4ml solution(24 drop) from two bottle every day? at same time?
third, my water is very hard, do i still have to dose Mg? i remember somewhere is a fomula to calculate the Mg value, but i can not find it any more.

Last, for micro, i have Trace, i have no idea what inside, i bought it with other dry fertiliszer, can i use it?

Many thanks

Seattle_Aquarist

Hi dingweding,

I'm surprised that no one has gotten back with you. You do not have to use distilled water. I do use distilled because otherwise I have problems with fungus starting very quickly in my mixtures. I am surprised that you are having problems finding it. I just "Googled" 'distilled water London' and found several possible sources. If you don't used distilled, refrigeration of you mixes will slow the formation of fungus, or you could try a couple of drops per bottle of a fungus remedy that you use on your fish.

Yes, your amounts are correct and you dose 2.4 ml into the tank from each bottle daily. I do the macro first, wait a couple of minutes, and then dose the micro (trace).

You may not need to dose the mg with hard water, it would depend on what minerals are making it "hard". You can usually tell if your plants are suffering from an Mg deficiency, the plants will exhibit a reduced growth rate, yellowing of the leaves, and interveinal chlorosis of the leaves.

ray-the-pilot

Almost every large market that sells gallon (4L) sized bottles of water usually also sells distilled water. It is not very expensive.

BTW you say your tap water is 50 ppm NO3! I’d be a little concerned about that. 50 ppm corresponds to 11 ppm nitrate nitrogen, which is above the EU guidelines of 10 ppm for potable water.

dingweding

Thanks guys, i decide to buy two brown glass bottle for the solution, and a seperate syringe for dosing.

i can not find distilled water in any supermarket, but i found someone on ebay sell it, although i have to pay quite a lot postage, as it is heavy.

yes, london water is really crap like that