Mixing Dry Chemicals for Seachem’s macro dosing

Hi my fellow fish keepers,

I was browsing the web regarding seachem macros, and I found this info.

Sure I can mix this up and use it instead of Seachem macros, I know it will be much cheaper.

Does anyone do this,

Using – Mixing Dry Chemicals for Seachem’s Dosing

Seachem’s products are a little expensive, but they are very good. I know some people would like to cut the cost some and use some of the dry fertilizers that are available.

The following dosing solutions will be practically the same strength as Seachem's macronutrient products according to the online calculators. You then go by Seachem's recommended dosing amounts on the calculator.

Dosing Solutions
- Add 62.2 grams or 11⅛ tsp of KNO3 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Nitrogen Substitute
- Add 3.5 grams or ¾ tsp of KH2PO4 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Phosphorus Substitute
- Add 51.0 grams or 8½ tsp of K2SO4 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Potassium Substitute*

*(This amount approaches the maximum solubility of K2SO4 of 12 grams per 100 mL of distilled water. You will probably need to shake the container each time prior to dosing.)

Online Calculators Used:
http://www.fishfriend.com/fertfriend.html
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_p...osage_calc.htm
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...fertilator.php

IMO, you may omit F. Trace even though it is included in the calculator.

I do not have a substitute for Flourish, F. Excel and F. Iron at this time.

NB!!! Don't confuse this dosing plan with EI, PPS, PPS-Pro, etc. It is a separate dosing plan altogether different that Seachem has provided using their ferts. I just used the online calculators to use dry ferts for their liquid ferts in the Using – Mixing Dry Chemicals for Seachem’s Dosing part of this thread.


I hope this helps you. Let me know if it works well.

Left C

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/70769-seachem-macro-3-pack-where-get.html

 

That dosing is exactly EI dosing.

why dont you just add it straight to the tank?

 

NB!!! Don't confuse this dosing plan with EI, PPS, PPS-Pro, etc. It is a separate dosing plan altogether different that Seachem has provided using their ferts. I just used the online calculators to use dry ferts for their liquid ferts in the Using – Mixing Dry Chemicals for Seachem’s Dosing part of this thread.

The dude that came up with this said the above, it is not EI dosing.

You cannot just add it straight to the tank dude:laugh:

 

Why cant you add it to your tank? Work out the mass for the volume of your tank to get the desired ppm, dissolve it in a bucket using water taken from your tank and add it. Or make a more concentrated solution and then dose so that the tank volume ends up diluting the dose to the required ppm.

 

going to be to difficult to measure.

I also found this.

Seems to be better

Perpetual Preservation System[SUP]TM[/SUP]
The most accurate Aquatic plant fertilizers

​

[h=4]PPS-Pro[/h] PPS-Pro system is very easy to use and is the least expensive system in comparison to any other fertilizer. It is designed especially for aquascapers who want a system that is performing well, doesn’t need testing and tweaking and also works with all [FONT=arial,sans-serif]lights[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] and [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]substrates[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif], no water changes and large water changes. Entirely 100% planted aquariums with reasonable fish load.

Chemicals: Can be [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]ordered[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] from any supplier of choice.
Digital scale: Can be [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]ordered[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] from eBay, Office Depot, Staples, etc. very inexpensive, just a basic one in grams.
Bottles: Find some used two same size bottles, plastic or glass. Soft drink, Coke, shampoo etc.
Formula: We use [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]PPS-Pro Solutions Recipe Calculator[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] to find chemicals going into each bottle. Download [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]here[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif].

Example of 1 litre bottles.[/FONT]
Pour into bottle #1, 59 grams of K2SO4, 65 grams of KNO3, 6 grams of KH2PO4 and 41 grams of MgSO4.
Pour into bottle #2, 80 grams of dry Trace Element mix.
Fill up both bottles with soft water to the 1 litre size and shake. Wait over night until dissolved.

Testing: We do not [FONT=arial,sans-serif]test[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] for water parameters on settled aquariums. There is no need when levels become consistent.
Dosing: The proper [/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif]dosing[/FONT][FONT=arial,sans-serif] quantity is 1 ml of each solution per 10 gallon or 40 litre of aquarium size. Dose prior to lights turning on.

Examples:
5 gallon or 20 litre dose 10 drops
10 gallon or 40 litre dose 1 ml
50 gallon or 200 litre dose 5 ml
100 gallon or 400 litre dose 10 ml

[/FONT]https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro[FONT=arial,sans-serif]
[/FONT]

 

What you have described is exactly what I am talking about. What volume is your tank? I think the PPS system is less work but dry weighing will also work. I have a 250 L and I think it worked out to between 5 and 15 g respectively for each of the chemicals I was looking at. With an electronic balance this can be weighed. The question is do you want to weigh each time you dose or twice a month and then dilute into the tank.

PS - Im the chemist on the other forum. What I said here is pretty much what i would say there. Just watch your Nitrate and phosphate levels as these will cause algae and be harmful to your fish. Overfeeding and waste from the fish also add to these levels.

 

Yes it looks like the pps system is less work, I have a 680 liter tank and this will just be so much easier. Looks like everyone is just using the ei index these days. If the PPS pro system worked back in the day, then why would it not work now. No I dont want to weight the each time, I will rather use the liquid method of PPS pro.

 

Their is a PPS-Pro solutions recipe calculator,

You add the bottle size of say 1 litre and then it works out how much of what you need to add to the bottle

K2S04 = 59grams
KN03 = 65grams
KH2P04 = 6grams
MgS04 = 41 grams

then a seperate bottle for TE = 80grams

 

@TheGrissom are you Lloydster on APSA?

 

Go look at this site it also tells you exactly how much of what you need to add for you tank volume

Yet Another Nutrient Calculator

Please advise if this is correct.

According to the PPS-Pro Solutions Recipe I only need to add 59grams of K2S04 but on the above site it says for my tank volume of 680 litres I need to add 118 grams.

This is for 1 liter bottle mix

all the rest are exactly right for my tank.

 

No. Cardinalsrule. I think you need to check those calculations. If I just have a look at your MgSO4. 41 g into a liter = 41000 ppm. Now you dilute 10 to 400 ml = 1025 ppm. molecular mass Mg = 24.3 g/mol. MM MgSO4 = 120.4. mm MgSo4.7H20 = 246.4 (this is the most common form) so now 24.3/246.4 x 100 = 9.8 %. So roughly 10 % is Mg2+ so therefore you will have 102.5 ppm Mg which is way too much. I think its supposed to be 2 -5 ppm or something like that. even if I adjust for 700 liters (your tank volume) you end up with 59 ppm.

 

LOL all this is greek to me, I am just looking at something different the the ei dosing, as I cannot do 50% on my tank weekly that is 340 liters. This is why I am googling for a alternative.

For my tank volume seachem ferts will cost me a arm and a leg monthly.

Okay then to go to the first post of this thread they said I must add the following to 500ml of distilled water

Dosing Solutions
- Add 62.2 grams or 11⅛ tsp of KNO3 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Nitrogen Substitute
- Add 3.5 grams or ¾ tsp of KH2PO4 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Phosphorus Substitute
- Add 51.0 grams or 8½ tsp of K2SO4 to 500 mL of distilled water for F. Potassium Substitute*

 

Okay - quick chem lesson.
You want 5 ppm Mg2+ in your tank. ppm = mg/L. So 5 mg/L x 680L = 3400 mg or 3.4g. Now you need to use the molecular masses (found on a periodic table) Mg is24.3, S is 32.1, O =16. H = 1 so MgSo4.7H2O = 246.1. This makes Mg 9.8 % of 1 molecule of MgSO4.7H2O so 3.4 g needs to be 9.8 % of the total mass you must weigh (34.7g). This gives you exactly what you need in your tank. If you want to dilute into your tank then you will have to increase the concentration of the solution you are preparing to take the dilution into account.

 

Okay I dont have a lot of time. i am just going to look at the KNO3. MM K = 39.1, MM N = 14.0, MM O =16, MM KNO3 = 101.1. So 62.2 g = 62200 mg in 500 ml or 124400 ppm (mg/L) KNO3.
For K this = 38.7 % or 48123 ppm and for NO3 it = 61.3 % or 76257 ppm. The only dilution I recall is 10 ml into 400 so if we do this it ends up with 1203 ppm K+ and 1906 ppm NO3. Do this and your fish will be dead. I think both K and NO3 should be between 10 and 30 ppm.

 

Okay thanks a mil for your input, looks like I will be using the ei index rather more stable and everyone seems to be using it.

 

Well this is embarrassing - something didnt seem right so I checked my calculations and found a ml where it should have been L. So the results I gave you are 1000 times too high. This means that the 1203 ppm is actually 1.2 ppm and the 1906 is 1.9 ppm.:embarrest: this is good news for you. It means that you can prepare these solutions and dilute into your tank saving you time and money. Apologies for the incorrect answers.

 

LOL no worries dude, I understand that makes more sense then at the end of the day. So I can rather use this then the ei index?

 

Yes. Just dont overdose or you will have to do the water changes anyway

 

Okay cool then If I can get away with the 40-50% at one go then it will be cool.

 

@TheGrissom.

Okay I did my own calculations and came up with this.

KN03
If I dose 16.75ml for my 670 liters I get 1.9ppm
If I dose 33.5ml I get 3.8ppm
If I dose 50ml I get 5ppm

The 50ml dosage will then obviously increase my potassium to 3.6ppm

So If I dose 50ml KNO3 twice a week I will get 10ppm Nitrates plus my nitrates in my tank which is also 10ppm so I will end up with 20ppm but with the 2 x 20% wc I do weekly it will obviously bring it down a bit maybe to 15 or 17. I will start dosing the 50ml twice a week on Mondays and on Thursdays.

I do my water changes on Wednesdays and Saturdays so the extra nitrates will be in the tank for at least 2 days before I remove some of it with the wc.

Will start with the bigger dosage on Monday. I will test my nitrates the Sunday evening and will then dose the 50ml kn03 on Monday morning will then test again Monday evening I use the sera liquid test kit so the color should be a little bit darker then it was on Sunday evening.