Monday, July 9, 2007

Trying a new fertilization regime, Estimative Index

I am going to give the estimative index fertilization a try. I do not want to do such large weekly water changes though so my doses are going to be a bit lower than recommended. I am planning on weekly 30% water changes on my 60 gallon tank (so roughly 18-20 gallons a week). Estimative Index recommends 50% weekly water changes. I do not think my crypts will like that, and I just don't want to do that much.

Tank stats: 60 gallon heavily planted 110 watts PC and 64 watts of normal output (regular) fluorescent lighting (2.9 watts per gallon, but 1.8 of it is PC light) - 12 hours a day 3 Hagen yeast CO2 systems, changed every 3 weeks Substrate is 4-5 inch gravel bed with 60 grams of laterite

My fertilizer regime is going to go like this:

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday : 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/16 tsp of KH2PO4, 1 capful flourish excel

Monday, Wednesday, Friday : 1/16tsp of trace elements (CSM+B Plantex), 1 capful flourish excel

Sunday am : 18-20 gallon water change, 1/4 tsp GH booster (has Potassium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate and Magnesium Sulfate). Start over with dosing regime.

Every 3 months : 3 flourish tabs (at the base of swords and crypts)

I just purchased my fertilizers from www.aquariumfertilizer.com, so I will be starting once they get here. I may find I need to up my doses a bit, but we shall see how this goes. I am concerned I may need to add extra iron, but again we will see. If it is needed I will probably just use Flourish Iron and start at 1/3 the dose they recommend since the trace elements should have some iron in it. I may also find I do not need the GH booster. I plan to test my GH weekly for awhile and see what it does. This should be an interesting experiment.

Links about estimative index:
The Barr Report - Estimative Index
Greg Watson's Aquatic Plant News - Estimative Index

Aquatic Plant Central - Estimative Index Dosing Guide


I also posted some of this on aquariphiles.com and google's TFA group

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