miracle-grow for sw planted tank to increase phosphates and nitrates

[Samala]

I'm really shocked ebay allows that sort of auction.. saltpeter is highly, HIGHLY regulated here at my university for several reasons. You have to practically give them a DNA sample in order to get even a kilo of it.. which is about as much as they are selling on that auction. 900g of this will go a long way and last a long long time. Not that there is a real shelf-life crises with this, but you might want to check out gregwatson.com and compare amounts/prices/etc.

I dont think the plants are harder than coral, you just have to reset your head and get used to playing by some new rules. And with coral, since its so well established, people have a good general sense of what is right, whats off, whats going on general. We're not there yet with seagrass/macro growing.

I think most of the algae vendors simply use circulating salt systems to grow their products. I think most are situated on the coasts for this reason.

>Sarah

 

[DrBDC]

You can find it at most the lawn and garden shops. I got my last bottle at Medicine & More for 4.83 for 4 grams on a shelf. That's too much to pay buying that way though. And if you have teenagers you can slip it into their food.

 

[modemfox]

Saltpeter is regualated because you can make bombs out of it... Please don't ask how i know.

 

[Samala]

Hehehe.. modemfox.. I was going to say but held back because I'm already in trouble (most likely) for mentioning the US/Canada border a few threads back. Lol. Homeland security will now be adding your name to the blacklist. Expect to get hauled over to the bad-people lane at the airport... I ALWAYS do (over eighteen flights since 9/11.. sigh.. all of them I've been all but strip searched). Someday I pray people will look at my last name and not freak out.

>Sarah

 

[Plantbrain]

Originally posted by estrange I did a 100% water changed and the macros are starting to grow again.
What do you guys think about this?
I can't believe plants are harder to grow than corals.

Yes, they are in some ways.
KNO3 can be brought as well as KH2PO4 etc from www.gregwatson.com for cheap and will last you likely a lifetime for 2lbs or KNO3, 1/2 lb of the PO4.

add only KNO3, do not add anything with NH4 other than fish/invert critter bioload.

I never had issues with getting good growth with corals. I'm still clueless on what it takes to grow macros. I know nitrate and phosphate are key, but my macros grew right after my water change, which should have meant nitrates and phosphates were very low.

I'm also curious on what the algae vendors use to grow these suckers.

Hey plant, which UC do you research at? [/B]

The macros need good alk and Ca++ and also good aeration.
corals and macro's love water changes, bigger the better.

But if you dosed some KNO3, KH2PO4, traces back right afterwards, then it will do even better.

Ca
Alk
NO3
PO4
Traces
Aeration

UC Davis

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[modemfox]

I just used to "Dabbel" with "Fireworks" When i was a "kid" LOL!

But seriously i am going to try some saltpeter in my tank to bring nitrates up to see if i can get some more macro growth. I figure i need a little over a helf a teaspoon to get my target Trate level of 16. More then the safety level of 10 but I have .2 PPM of phosphates and its supposed to be 16 ppm or nitrates for 1 ppm of phosphate unless i misunderstood.

 

[Fredfish]

Cool, let us know how it goes.

My nitrates are holding at 10ish and phosphates at betwen .5 and 1. Marcros are growing nicely again. The cyano as stopped its die back at about 15% of what its total mass used to be.

Fred

 

[modemfox]

Well my cyano has been trying to come back. Readings on my trates was 7ppm and po4 was .2ppm but like i said cyano is fighting its way back.

 

[Plantbrain]

Get in there an attack it, fluff it, net it out, bother it, harass it, change the flow routine, blackout works pretty well on most all Cyano's(3days, covered).

I would not go PO4 at 1ppm and 16ppm, you might get away with lots of easy to grow weeds, but you risk more diatoms blooms. The risk decreases with less light to point where the macros will not grow well.

Regards,
Tom Barr