bought some ferts for my macros.....

[mr. bojangsjang]

Hi, this is my first post on RC I recently bought a ten gallon tank plus lighting, sand, powerheads, and LR. I want to make this a planted macro algae tank. I did not think you had to dose ferts but my friend said you did so I went out and bought som ferts for my future macros. My questions is what types of ferts are needed, how often to dose, and how much?

 

[noschmo]

What is a fert?

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

fertilizer

 

[graveyardworm]

Possibly you should've come here before spending money. Any idea what kind of macros you intend to keep? I sthis going to be a stand alone tank, or will be a refugium to help support a reef or FO display. Are you ready? Cause you got some reading to do brotha. Its alot to absorb all at once, but in the end you'll find it to be fairly easy. Start slow and work your into it.

Miracle grow for SW planteds to increase N or P

N vs. P uptake ratios

Iron dosing

Nitrate dosing

Alternate iron source (and more Fe discussion)

This is what happens when you overdose P

CO2 Magic

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

Possibly you should've come here before spending money. Any idea what kind of macros you intend to keep? I sthis going to be a stand alone tank, or will be a refugium to help support a reef or FO display. Are you ready? Cause you got some reading to do brotha. Its alot to absorb all at once, but in the end you'll find it to be fairly easy. Start slow and work your into it.

No ida what type of macros I want to keep. It is a "stand alone" tank. I have been reading up a ton about reef tanks, but before I start a reef I thought it would be best to "practice" on a small ten gallon macro-planted tank and learn to mix SW figure out the RO unit ect ect. first before jumping into a 24 gallon reef.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

So basically I just need to dose Nitrogen from Seachem's Fluorish Nitrogen right?

For a macro-planted tank what should be the appropiate levels of nitrates, phosphates, iron, nitrogen, etc. ect.?

 

[graveyardworm]

Hmm well in that case I would just keep it simple, 10 gallon tank, PC lights, substrate 2 or 3 inches, a few pieces of LR ( about 10 lbs. ), a powerhead, and some macro. If its legal where you are then caulerpa prolifera is nice, halymenia might be better, cheato may or may not be something for this type setup( more of a utility macro rather than decorative ). Add a small fish, and daily fish feeding may be enough nutrients to support abit of macro. Check through the links here to see if any macros catch your eye, and then we can discuss care requirements.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=316328

 

[graveyardworm]

Nitrates if you maintain up to 5 ppm would be good. Phosphates you want very near to undetectable or else you'll have nuisance algae. Iron folow dosing recomendations proper levels are virtually undetectable on a hobby test kit, your tank will let you know if there is too much with an algae bloom.

If I remeber correctly Seachems flourish is geared more toward freshwater rather than salt, but I could be wrong. I can try to find the reference.

 

[graveyardworm]

A thread which mentions seachem flourish nitrogen. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=846675&highlight=seachem+flourish

Looks like I had it mixed with seachem flourish excel

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

graveyardworm you have been a huge help!!! What happens if there is too much nitrates, micro-algae bloom? So phosban would be a good thing to invest in? I got the seachem flourish nitrogen idea from the first link you gave me. Also what if there is ZERO nitrates, will the macros die?

Thanks!!!

 

[graveyardworm]

I would'nt be too concerned about phosphates if dosing is your method choice. Yes too much nitrogen can mean algae bloom. Yes zero nitrogen can mean death to macros. You'll have to monitor the rate at which your macros are using the nutrients and dose accordingly. Too much = algae bloom, and too little = death or sporalation in the case of caulerpa.

 

[graveyardworm]

The link I provide for macros is getting kinda old so here are some newer links.

Florida pets

Bills reef

IPSF

Seacrop

You'll also find macros for sale here at RC in the sale forums.

 

[graveyardworm]

You havent mentioned seagrasses yet, they can be a little more demanding than macros, but they are true plants and much more fun, and interesting IMO.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

I dont want seagrass as I hate the way the DSP looks

 

[graveyardworm]

There are some seagrasses which will do quite well with a shallow sand bed of just a couple inches.

 

[mr. bojangsjang]

I may be willing to try seagrass in the future, but not now at least. Another question, i read that macros can survive in waters with an SG of 1.010, is this true? What s the minimmum SG for macros?

 

[graveyardworm]

Most of the readily available macros will prefer reef sg. 1.026.