Description
Dry Fertiliser for the Low Tech Aquarium (Not injected with Co2) – As with ALL fertilisers for aquariums, use alongside Flourish Excel as your carbon source so the plants are able to consume the fertiliser in order to grow quickly and look healthy. API Co2 booster can be substituted for Flourish Excel but follow bottle directions.
1 x Sachet of Macro powder – Makes 1 litres worth
1 x Sachet of Micro powder – Makes 1 litres worth
Levels: The recipe we use is based on the ‘EI method’. Producing 10:1 nitrate to phosphate ratio and sufficient amounts of potassium for the overall health and reproduction of the plants. Magnesium is also added to help with nutrient absorption. Depending on fish load, you will end up with around 1-2 phosphate and 10-20 nitrate. Micro fertiliser contains all necessary trace elements including iron. Levels of iron within Micro fertiliser are sufficient for red plants as well, therefore, no extra iron supplementation is necessary. If your tap water (water you use to fill your aquarium with) is high in nitrate or phosphate then please email us with your test results in ppm so we can customise your fert.
Directions:
Mix Macro Sachet with 1 litre of cooled boiled water, shake well and let sit for 12 hours to completely dissolve.
Mix Micro Sachet with 1 litre of cooled boiled water, shake well and let sit for 12 hours to completely dissolve.
NB: Do not mix them together. They must be in separate bottles and stored in a dark cool place.
Dosing instructions per 50L: 5mls of macro and 5mls of micro every second day. See below for dosing schedule.
Dosing Schedule Based on 50L aquarium: Always dose your ferts and liquid carbon in the morning before lights turn on
Day 1: 5mls of macro, 5 mls of micro – 5 to 6mls of excel (dose all this after your weekly 50% water change) + GH booster (If needed)
Day 2: 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 3: 5mls of macro, 5 mls of micro – 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 4: 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 5: 5mls of macro, 5 mls of micro – 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 6: 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 7: 5mls of macro, 5 mls of micro – 1.25 to 1.5 mls of excel
Day 1: Start over as day 1 above with 50% water change plus 5mls of macro, 5 mls of micro and 5 to 6mls of excel. + GH Booster (If needed)
If you are one of these people who is not keen on doing weekly water changes. You can skip on your water change after day 7 and dose a maintenance dose after your first week of normal dosing (as above). For low light maintenance dose, dose once a week and medium to high light maintenance dose, dose twice a week. You will still need to dose excel daily or every second day at a minimum according to bottle directions.
Note: Ideally you want to own a phosphate and nitrate test kit so that you can monitor your levels for the first few weeks to determine exact dosing rates for your tank specifically. If you find nitrate is above 40ppm and phosphate is above 2ppm then bring your dosing down a little. The more hungry plants you have the more you dose! There are no ideal nitrate or phosphate levels as such, just an ideal range of the two. Nitrate can happily sit between 5ppm and 40ppm and phosphate .5-2ppm. However, if you notice your ranges are at the top of the ideal ranges than you can comfortably dose a little less to save on fertilisers and keep your TDS in check. Remember that nitrate, phosphate and potassium are classed as ‘primary fertilisers’ for plants so therefore must always be available for the plants to consume in order to avoid deficiencies and unwanted algae. If you struggle with algae, chances are your plants are lacking something and/or your carbon levels are too low for the amount of light you are running. Another important thing to remember is your biological filtration (beneficial bacteria present in your substrate and filter) must be well established if you want your tank to run smoothly with little to no algae present.
Important:
- Store your ferts in a dark cool place
- Never skimp on excel, daily doses are essential
- Dose in the morning before lights turn on, never allow lights to run without excel and ferts in the water
- Run your lights between 8 and 10 hours a day. Use a timer to do this
- Do not let natural sunlight into your aquarium as this light is extremely bright and you will risk getting algae
- If your aquarium is lightly stocked with plants, consider adding some fast growing plants, even if they are temporary until your favourite more harder to grow plants “bush out” and establish themselves. Broad leaf Indian fern left to float around is an excellent choice. It seems to be the more plants you have, the better all your plants will grow and the less chance you will have of algae occurring. We are unsure of the science behind this but from much experience this seems to be a sure way to succeed
- Do not overfeed your fish as you do not want left over food rotting in your aquarium. This will have a negative affect on plants by allowing algae to germinate
- Never let JBL root balls or any root balls/tabs escape out of the substrate and into the water column. Unfortunately this will create unwanted algae. If this does happen, do a large water change as soon as possible
- Please contact us via our facebook page if you are feeling uncertain
Offers: If you want us to make you up a custom fertiliser please email us with your recipe in grams. Price will depend on the amount of ingredient used. PPS-Pro method for example is more expensive but will last longer. We are happy to send a quote.
Ingredients available if making up custom recipe:
- Potassium Sulphate
- Potassium Bicarbonate
- Potassium Nitrate
- Monopotassium phosphate
- Sodium Bicarbonate
- Calcium Sulphate
- Magnesium Sulphate
- Trace Elements for aquatic plants – Contains iron and necessary trace elements and is safe for fish
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