Fertilizers

Thanks got it

 

is there anything one can buy from nursery that might be a bit more less expensive and that will work and can you give me the name

 

less expensive?
the prof's druppels are actually affordable and well priced, the stuff in shops would be flourish excell etc, but if you've been following threads, you'd have heard that flourish should come with a caveat emptor, its bad for your fish in the longrun

those ferts from the prof, are two 500ml bottles fert and hardner together

 

But the profs druppels are formulated for Cape Town water conditions. It is not formulated for us up here. Cape Town water is much softer than the water up here, and Potch water is hard. Very hard...

And no, you can't use ferts for outdoor plants in your tank. Unless you want dead fish.

 

The prof's druppels should be fine for Jhb water conditions - just contact Dirk directly and he will give directions on the use for your water conditions. This is the reason why Dirk will be dealing with the Jhb members directly so that he can give them instructions etc for the water conditions there.

 

I've tried it and it doesn't work up here... He needs to re-look the formula for the JHB conditions.

 

Slagter, here's a thought, something to try in your hard water: get a good quality trace mix and a packet of KNO3. I don't think you need to add PO4 if you have high fish density and feed well. In a thread by Christian Rubilar on a Spanish fish forum, he describes a method where he resets the tank with 50% WC (much like EI), and then only dose KNO3 every day at 1mg per 200L until he sees GSA appear on the glass. Then that is what he calls the tank's consumption point and if you add up all the values you get your weekly dose, which you can then divide in 3 equal parts and dose every alternate day. Days in between, you dose a tiny amount of tracemix, similar to what they do in EI. But in your hard water you already have a lot of traces, so you may not even have to dose any at all. You may find that it is out of balance, though. I guess the advantage of soft water is that you are in control of what you add and in the correct balance.

I found the thread on the Spanish Forum pretty interesting, although google translator is not that great and it ends up being a difficult read, but well worth it. If you want the link, look at the thread http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=1042

 

The amount of misinformation floating around here is quite frighting.

Seachem Flourish only contains trace elements and is not "bad for your fish", nor is Seachem Flourish Excel when dosed within the recommended dosage. The active inqredient is Polycycloglutaracetal which is a stable and safe formulation of aqueous glutaraldehyde and does not have the same toxic potency as G-Side used in medical applications.

 

I have read this article before. I'm sure you posted it on APSA already. It's a very interesting read. But I must admit, that the EI method is extremely interesting to me at the moment. After a lengthy chat, on numerous occasions, with Gus (Algae Wizard), I have decided to go the EI route. After looking at the results of his tank, it is extremely successful. So I have a months supply of the dosing from Gus. And when I do my major water change tomorrow, I will start with a half dose and see how it goes.

Even without the EI dosing, my plants are pearling. All I'm using is Seachem Flourish. But tomorrow, that changes...

 

@johan008 the only thing that I have found that seem ok is Trelmix - but in this thread http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=1063 Prof Dirk said "Trelmix does not contain an optimal ratio of all the trace elements as needed in an aquatic environment." EI seems to work. So does "Diana Walstad Aquarium" I think it comes down to what works for you ... do you want to spend your weekends pruning or want a tank that needs less frequent water changes but still have healthy plants and fish. Let YOUR MTS guide you - do a tank of each ;-)

BTW adding KN03 in JHB water does work a charm ... but keep an eye on your fish / algae.
BTW2 yes I currently do use trelmix - 2 - 3 ml per 100l but only after a 30 % water change. Water changes are 3 - 4 weeks apart. Older tanks longer. Medium fish stock. No overfeeding.