In the wake of the recent interest in micronutrients, and the possible overdosing of them, I’ve noticed something in the conversation:
If you go to any of the common on-line fert calculators and look for the basic suggested EI dose, you get this:
"To reach your target of 0.5ppm Fe you will need to add 2.35 grams Plantex CSM+B to your 307L aquarium to yield:
Dose these levels 2-4 times a week for EI. Classic EI depends on good CO2, good circulation, and regular water changes."
There seems to be a disconnect here — the dosing is drastically different between these two plans. Was there a miscommunication with Wet or Zorfox, or whoever did the original dose calculator? Did they run off with the wrong value, and everyone else followed suit except those who really knew what they were doing?
As an uninitiated noob, I started up working from the calculators, figuring that I wouldn’t end up far astray. Chronically dosing a blend of CSM+B and Fe-DPTA to 1.6ppm-2ppm Fe per week got me to a totally stalled tank in about 6 months. The only thing that got it unstuck was a drastic reduction in Fe/micros. As I work through the problem, I’m getting back to where Tom’s quote above is about the right level, 0.6ppm or so Fe per week, from a blend of CSM+B, Fe-DPTA, and Fe-Gluconate.
Thoughts? Discuss...
Tom Barr said:Note, I think no one really needs to dose 0.5ppm a dose of Traces, .2ppm as a mix of CMS+B/DTPA/FeGluconate at 3:1:1 works dandy for even crazy high light systems if you dose it 3-4x a week.
Daily dosing of 0.1ppm as CMS+B was done for about 2 decades without any issues(Both PPS and PMDD), now suddenly there are issues for a few folks?
ADA also suggest a similar rate.
If you go to any of the common on-line fert calculators and look for the basic suggested EI dose, you get this:
"To reach your target of 0.5ppm Fe you will need to add 2.35 grams Plantex CSM+B to your 307L aquarium to yield:
Element | ppm/degree |
Fe | 0.5 |
Mn | 0.143 |
Cu | 0.007 |
Mg | 0.107 |
Zn | 0.028 |
Mo | 0.004 |
B | 0.061 |
dGH | 0.025 |
Dose these levels 2-4 times a week for EI. Classic EI depends on good CO2, good circulation, and regular water changes."
There seems to be a disconnect here — the dosing is drastically different between these two plans. Was there a miscommunication with Wet or Zorfox, or whoever did the original dose calculator? Did they run off with the wrong value, and everyone else followed suit except those who really knew what they were doing?
As an uninitiated noob, I started up working from the calculators, figuring that I wouldn’t end up far astray. Chronically dosing a blend of CSM+B and Fe-DPTA to 1.6ppm-2ppm Fe per week got me to a totally stalled tank in about 6 months. The only thing that got it unstuck was a drastic reduction in Fe/micros. As I work through the problem, I’m getting back to where Tom’s quote above is about the right level, 0.6ppm or so Fe per week, from a blend of CSM+B, Fe-DPTA, and Fe-Gluconate.
Thoughts? Discuss...