Dosing for Low tech low light 90 gallon

I have a 90 gallon aquarium with the following stock. Rotalia Rotundifolia, Pogostemon helferI x3, Cryptcorne spiralis x1, Mirosorum pterpus x2. Fish stock is 9 Harlequin Rasboras, and 10 Cherry barbs. I plan on adding another Harlequin, 10 KuhlI Loaches and 3 Honey Gourami.

I ordered some plantex csm+b the other week and started adding it in small doses. Liquid equivalent to 1/8 tsp. 50% water change every week. This will be my 3rd week and wonder if my dose is wrong. I've ordered some macros from AquariumFertilizers as well as an extra graduated dispenser bottle.

What dosages should I be looking at? I wouldn't mind lowering the dosages so I can do smaller water changes. I don't have a python so it's a pain to do. Advice would be great.

 

My csm+b is diluted with water. 32g per 500 ml of water. Dose is .1 ml per 10 gallons/daily.

I'm not keen on dry fert dosing. Try looking up EI (estimated index) dosing of you want to continue dosing dry.

After some simple math I'm dosing about 0.0384g per day which is about 0.1 ppm of iron.

I can't say for sure since tsp is volume and gram is weight but I'd estimate that 1/8 tsp is about 0.5 grams.

 

What is your water change schedule?

 

Half weekly

 

Rotala r and Pogostemon h. are not quite low light plants.
GLA recently updated micro ferts dosage. It has been drastically reduced, I don't know why.
It used to be 40 grams of CSM+B in 500 ml water to make the stock solution. Dose 1 ml for each 10 gallon tank/day.
It is now: 28 grams of CSM+B in 500 ml water (almost half). Dose 0.1 ml (2 drops) for each 10 gallon tank water/day.
So stock solution is now half the strength and dosing is 10 times less.

 

I've been using the eI low light/weekly method found at Rotala Butterfly's calculator. Which is 1.04 grams/ week of Plantex CSM+B.

I'm having a hard time finding the dosage amount for the NF's Macro Mix. It looks like they just mixed equal portions of the 4 components.

 

Which 4 components for macro? Do you include MgSO4? I do.
No. No equal parts. The proportion between nitrate to phosphate should be like 10:1
1/8 of a teaspoon is about 0.72 grams (a teaspoonful is roughly 5 grams)
I dose PPS-PRO and my macro stock solution has:
30 grams K2SO4
32 grams KNO3
3 grams KH2PO4
20 grams MgSO4
in 500 ml distilled water. I dose 1ml/10 gallons of tank water every other day, alternating with CSM+B

 

pps (perpetual preservation system) pro dosing is not the same as EI (estimated index) dosing. She is EI dosing.

 

It's already mixed up.

Macro Mix
Equal part mixture by weight of KNO3, KNO4, MgSO4, and MKP.

I contacted the seller and they said mix it up 1/4 cup to 500 mL water. But no dosing instructions.

 

What is already mixed up?
If you mix equal parts (by weight), you'll overdose PO4. To give you an idea, you need a target of about 30 ppm NO3 and K but only 1 ppm PO4. Get a Phosphate test and check for yourself.
I assume the KNO4 (in your post) is the K2SO4.

 

go to aquariumfertilizer dot com and it's listed there. It lists potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate and mono potassium phosphate in equal parts. I was told I needed Macros in addition to my CSM+B and I thought this would be what I needed. I'm a total newbie to ferts and especially dry ferts. Just tell me if I just wasted my money on this or can I use it?

 

I see what you're saying...You purchased an already mixed macro nutrients made up of equal parts four chemicals.
And I insist that the amount of phosphate should be 1/10 compared to nitrates.
Same site sells macro-micro mix without any phosphates in it.
Let me do some more research and I'll get back to you

 

I've emailed them, and hopefully they can clarify.

 

They got back to me. It is pre-mixed in 4 equal parts. I'm thinking if I can I will return it and order something else.

What Macros do I need to order? I'm not sure if I'm doing EI, PMDD, PPS-P, or what yet. I just want to help my plants thrive and grow and not add too much work. Right now I'm just adding a small amount once a week and doing a 50% water change. I'd love to do smaller water changes, but still use ferts.

 

Pps is very straight forward and good for low tech setups. I believe co2 and moderate-high light is recommended when doing EI since your providing so much ferts. I have not researched pmdd at all.

 

The only thing I recommend dosing for low-tech tanks is Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel (if you don't have vals). I've tried dosing potassium which caused a staghorn type of algae to grow on plants and also tried dosing iron which caused string/thread algae that was like floss that grew around all plants. I have very hard water w/ a lot of iron and other stuff in it, it this is the case I would do just what I do now. 40-70% water changes every 7-10 days. No dosing of anything.

 

IMO it is the light that drives the need for nutrient (and CO2)
If OP has low light and he doesn't want to change 50% water weekly, why is he overdosing nutrients (EI method)?
Speaking of Flourish: N-P-K is 0.07-0.01-0.37. That gives you an idea about the proportion between the three macros

 

Thanks all. My ferts arrived today. I will be taking them to the post office in the morning to return. So I'm back to trying to figure out what I do need to order. Sounds like PPS-Pro might fit best with my low-light, low tech just getting started tank. So I will order the components separate and mix them myself. I have to say I hope all this effort will turn into a beautiful tank.

 

I dose PPS-pro and I already stated my "ingredients". I used to measure the ferts using a scale accurate to the decimal point. Now, I am using my un-calibrated eyeball and a teaspoon (1 teaspoonful= 5 grams)
You already have Plantex CSM+Boron. That's your micro. New recommendation is to target your iron to a safer zone of 0.01 ppm TE (Fe), not 0.1ppm.
I believe 1.08 grams of Plantex/90 gallon tank to be excessive. Last time I overdose micros, I ended up with all my MTS's out of the substrate, crawling on the glass.
You can purchase all your macros from Greenleafaquarium. All 4 for $12. You can skip KNO3 if you already have more than 20ppm nitrates in your tank.
Do not use more ferts if plants are not growing (they probably need carbon or better light)

 

My ferts arrived in today. I've decided to go with PPS-Pro as it seems simple and easy to follow. I will be mixing them up as soon as I get some distilled water.