Which dry ferts to order?

I am thinking about switching to dry fertilizer for my 40g breeder heavily planted low-medium light NO co2 aquarium. 6 months ago I switched from the seachem ferts to easy green all in one fert. Overall I saw much better results with easy green but the nitrogen in it had me doing extra water changes. Also now that my plants are grown in I am dosing much more which can get expensive if I keep using it. If I switch to dry ferts will csm+b and potassium sulfate be enough to start? I keep my aquarium around 20ppm nitrate and I am assuming I have enough phosphate due to the aquarium being heavily stocked and heavily fed(this is just a guess I've never tested phosphate). Also the shipping is expensive so I want to order enough for at least a few years. How much will 400grams of say csm+b or 400 grams of potassium last? Should I get 2 bags? Lastly should I also get some iron because I will be getting red plants in the future and what type or iron should I get?any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

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You will likely still want to dose nitrogen and phosphorus if it is heavily planted as you say. The great thing about dry fertilizers is you can formulate it yourself, and combine the powders into a ratio you like.
Nilocg sells several dry fertilizer packages, with options for EI or non-EI, either CSM+B or Microplex, plus with the option to add on GH booster or extra iron.

Note that iron does not cause plants to turn red and red plants use the same amount of iron as green plants. Red coloration is caused by intense lighting, and in some species, nitrate limitation. Adding extra iron will not do anything if the micro mix already has enough. There are three types of iron, EDTA, DTPA, and ferrous gluconate. EDTA and DTPA work at certain pHs, while ferrous gluconate breaks down very fast and will need to be dosed much more often.

You can find guides on mixing on advancedplantedtank or Barr Report. Rotala Butterfly is a useful calculator. I hope this is a good starting point for your research!

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I think I will hold off on the iron for now... I still have a full bottle of seachem iron I was testing but stopped using it because I don't think my plants needed it. Still a little unsure about the nitrogen and phosphate. I can't see adding aditional nitrates when I do 1-2 water changes a week to keep the levels around 20. As for the phosphate I have no idea, should I get a phosphate test kit?

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I think I will hold off on the iron for now... I still have a full bottle of seachem iron I was testing but stopped using it because I don't think my plants needed it. Still a little unsure about the nitrogen and phosphate. I can't see adding aditional nitrates when I do 1-2 water changes a week to keep the levels around 20. As for the phosphate I have no idea, should I get a phosphate test kit?

You can, but also a lot of EI users avoid test kits because they are hobbyist grade and you have no way of knowing if it's accurate or not. You can calibrate your test kit if you'd really like to know. You're probably not going the EI route but this is something to note. You can always get a complete dry package, then hold off on N and P if you don't think you need it. Dry ferts last so long and you might use them down the road.
The iron in Seachem Iron is ferrous gluconate, if that helps with your dosing schedule