using ro water,how much ,ma,ca should i use

naz

Junior Poster
Dec 29, 2008
21
0
1
46
croydon
im starting a planted discus tank using ro water ,1/4 tap/3/4 ro , im use pmdd fert,i can under stand the first routine,but i cant work out how much magnesium and calcium to add to my tank as i am a total beginner at this planted tank stuff and it seems very complicated,

240l tank,high 4x39w t5 bulbs,fully planted,eco complete,co2 2 bubbles a sec

first routine

kn03 3/4 tops 3xweek
kh2po4 3/16tps 3xweek
trace 1/4 3xweek
50%w change week

ro water once mixed
7.0 ph
8.0 gh
5.0 kh

could u tell me how many tea spoons off ,mag,cal, each per week,because i don't get a lot of the technical stuff only bin doing the plants stuff for 2 mouth
 

Wet

Lifetime Members
Lifetime Member
Aug 25, 2006
395
0
16
USA
When reconstituting RO you can still use EI's standard/approximate range of GH Booster. The point of the 50% water changes is it matters very little what you start with and whats in the tank.

Are your numbers right, though? 8dGH and 5dKH after a 1:4 dilution indicates your tap is silly high in hardness. Regardless, with that kind of GH you either have a lot of Ca, Mg, or both. Can you contact some governing body in the UK for your local tap water report? For example, in the US we can get a water report from our water company at any time (often this is posted as a pdf on their site) which lists GH and Ca and Mg ppm (mg/L).

With 8dGH, if it were my tank, I'd assume I was fine on Mg and Ca unless the plants told me I'm not. I might throw in a little Mg into my trace mix if I saw holes on my oldest darkest leaved plants, from past experience reconstituting RO. I've yet to see what difference there is in lots vs moderate CA (and I've tried).

Hope this helps.
 

naz

Junior Poster
Dec 29, 2008
21
0
1
46
croydon
cheer czado,gonna try to cheek with the government water board to see if I'm doing test write, iv done some tests on tap water before

tap water
ph7.4
kh160mg.l ppm
gh 240

if the gh is this high does that mean that i have a lot of ca,mg,it the water already,and i should not have to add any,it just that 1 or 2 off my plant don't look like they are doing to well,some rusty leaves at the bottom of plant ,and some off the leaves look abit wrinkly,what sort off reading do you wont the gh and kh too be.....
 

Tom Barr

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Jan 23, 2005
18,699
786
113
You only might be low in Mg at worst I would think with those numbers.
So MgSO4, epsom salt is all you might consider adding, maybe 1/2 teaspoon after each water change.

Thank + the other nutrients should take of the rest, also, use Tropica for a trace element's mix. It'll be better at the higher KH's you have. Also, no pH adjustors(CO2 only here).

That should take care of most issues, Tropica also has some Mg already in it.

Regards,
Tom Barr