Thank you so much for this post @GreggZ .
Many of us would not be able to buy or import KNO3, as that could be used for less friendly hobbies. Would you have a recommendation for ferts mix with an alternative to KNO3?
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Journal Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!
- Thread starter GreggZ
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Many of us would not be able to buy or import KNO3, as that could be used for less friendly hobbies. Would you have a recommendation for ferts mix with an alternative to KNO3?
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- #183
And the extra Mg is likely good for most tanks. We didn't even get into raising dGH but for many that little bit might be enough for a decent ratio if they have some Ca in their source water.
I've never used KCL but the chloride might be helpful too. I use a little Calcium chloride to add just a bit. Does it help? Who knows but surely doesn't hurt.
Are you accounting for the K amounts given by the KNO3 and KH2PO4?
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- #187
toofewfish
Community Member
What about Fe in the recipe?
This is in the CSM+B, with the other micros. FE is chelated with EDTA, works best for soft water, pH not much higher than 7.
For water with KH say around 2-3, pH around 7.3 or so, it may be a safe choice to dose when CO2 is on target and pH therefore below 7. For really hard water, pH 8 or higher, CSM+B may not be the best choice as there is some risk for Fe deficiencies (chlorosis) to develop.
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- Thread starter
- #190
Like @Yugang said the Fe is in the CSM+B.
And this was not an endorsement of CSM+B, just an illustration to show how little nutrients is actually in a bottle of liquid fertilizers. You could also use Millers Microplex or GLA EDTA + DTPA Micromix.
Or if you really want to use the best micros make your own. I wrote an article about that earlier in this journal.
Hey Greggz, your original micros homegrown post from 2022 seems to have lost all of its inline graphicsThis topic has been coming up a lot lately. Folks ask what is the best liquid all-in-one fertilizer? As usual the answer is “that depends”. They are all a combination of macro nutrients in some form, providing Nitrate, Phosphate, and Potassium. And then some add micros nutrients as well. They are provided in different amounts and ratios, so which one is best for you depends on which mix works best in your particular tank.
One thing they all have in common is that you can make a very similar solution for a fraction of the cost. With a liquid fertilizer you are paying mostly for water, packaging, distribution, profit, etc.
If I told you that you could make a typical 1,000 ml bottle of fertilizer that usually retails for about $45 for $2.39 would that get your attention? If so read on to learn more. If fertilizer is more a matter of convenience for you, and you don’t mind paying more, then any number of great fertilizers are out there on the market.
If you are still with me then next we will discuss how to make your own DIY fertilizer as we dive a little deeper into the rabbit hole.
If someone is going to go this route the first they need to do is stop thinking in terms of ml per gallon and start thinking in terms of ppm (parts per million). Every fertilizer out there is providing some amount of ppm of nutrients to your tank. So start thinking in terms of ppm of NO3 (Nitrogen) , ppm of PO4 (Phosphorus), and ppm of K (Potassium). These are what are referred to as macro nutrients. Every fertilizer is supplying these macros at some ratio and amount per dose, and ppm is the universal language of planted tank fertilizers.
And some (not all) also provide some micronutrients. Micros are things things like iron, Boron, Nickel, etc. that are provided in very small trace amounts.
Now on to the fun part. Let’s see what might be in that all-in-liquid fertilizer. In this case I am going to make one up that is pretty typical of liquid fertilizers, and provides fairly rich dosing. So a strong more costly blend than average.
For our purposes our fertilizer will come in a 1,000ml solution, and will cost $45.00. Pretty average for many liquid ferts. Of course some are more and some are less, but as you will see means little in the big picture. The instructions will say to dose 20 ml per week per 25 gallons of water. That will provide 15 ppm NO3, 3 ppm PO4, and 15 ppm K weekly. It will also provide micro nutrients with Fe at 0.50 ppm as proxy.
Let’s start with Nitrate. In our case we will use KNO3 (Potassium nitrate). This is readily available and costs about $3.00 per pound if you buy in a 5lb quantity. Next we use a planted tank nutrient calculator like Rotalabutterfly.com. Note we are creating a 1,000ml solution, with a 20 ml dose providing 15 ppm NO3 to 25 gallons of water. Here’s how that looks.
View attachment 4511
Once you understand how to calculate for one fertilizer then it’s on the others. I used CSM+B for micros, but you could save even more if you make your own custom micro mix. If you want to learn more here is a link to a post with more detail.
Journal - Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!
Where have I seen that forum banner before? :unsure: ...and stop teasing me with the Cabomba F. (inside joke)scapecrunch.com
So as calculated by Rotalabutterfly above we would add 115g of KNO3 to our 1,000ml solution. The cost per pound is about $3.00. There are about 453 grams in a pound, so our cost per gram is $0.0066. For our solution we add 115g which is about $0.76 of KNO3. Yep that’s right less than a dollar. Then we go on to the additional nutrients doing the same calculations. And here’s what you end up with.
View attachment 4513
So that $45 bottle of fertilizer has $2.39 of actual fertilizers in it. Or to put it another way, for the $45 for one bottle I could make almost 19 bottles of DIY fertilizer.
And a 1,000ml size bottle is a large size and offers some cost savings. But the reality is most people buy fertilizers in smaller 500 ml bottles. In that case your savings are even more.
Most 500ml bottles are closer to $30.00 per bottle (shipped). So the 500ml bottle has about $1.20 of fertilizer in it. So for the cost of one 500ml bottle you could make 25 DIY bottles.
So for those who are looking for a better deal on fertilizers, you should really consider making your own. And for a larger tank like mine I don’t make a solution, I just dose dry amounts into my tank. Either way learning to use dry salts can save a LOT of money over time…….and that means more money to buy plants! I hope this helps a few people out there save a few bucks dosing their tank.
And there is one other benefit as well. You can pretty much clone any fertilizer or customize your mix any way that you would like. That's when you really start diving deep down the rabbit hole!
making it a little tough to follow.Would you be up for recreating it and reposting, maybe as a sticky?
- Thread starter
- #192
Do you mean this post? If so I just looked at it and all of the pictures/graphics are there. So not sure what may be going on with you not seeing them?Hey Greggz, your original micros homegrown post from 2022 seems to have lost all of its inline graphics
Would you be up for recreating it and reposting, maybe as a sticky?
Journal - Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!
Where have I seen that forum banner before? :unsure: ...and stop teasing me with the Cabomba F. (inside joke)
scapecrunch.com
Do you mean this post? If so I just looked at it and all of the pictures/graphics are there. So not sure what may be going on with you not seeing them?
Journal - Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!
Where have I seen that forum banner before? :unsure: ...and stop teasing me with the Cabomba F. (inside joke)
Here's what I see:
Is it just me then?
Anyone else have the same issue?Weirdly enough I can see all the jpegs in the posts further down that same thread.
- Thread starter
- #195
DuckDuckGo browser on Android here.
Maybe your browser has access to the original files, if you are viewing it from the same machine where you created the original post?
- Thread starter
- #198
*Ci*
Tending water worlds since 1975!
I’m using Safari on an iPad and see the attachments just fine.
FrankZ
Well-known Member
iPhone using safari is showing broken images here
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