What do you think about my ferts plan?

[Larry Grenier]

Short story: The upstairs tank was recently torn down and restarted. Both upstairs and downstairs tanks are about 95gals connected & heavily planted. Downstairs is basically a farm tank. Compressed CO2 added but I believe I loose alot as water passes between the 2 tanks. L. Aromatica is growing well and has reds. Fish/shrimp load is low (lotts of little guys but very small) I add extra Potassium because last attempt at H. Pinnatifida failed.

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[Larry Grenier]

I'm just looking for validation or caution or alternate 1st step suggestions.

[krisw]

Larry, the schedule looks reasonable. I don't have a strong chemistry background, though, so it's hard for me to say whether the amounts of the macros you're mentioning are optimal or not, but the part N to P ratio looks reasonable. If you see green spot, you may need more KH2PO4. If you're looking for alternatives (and I'm not suggesting you need to), I've been having good success for Ghazanfar's latest macro mix:

http://www.gwapa.org/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 0&start=20

[Ben Belton]

Your calicum and phosphorus could precipitate out in your marco mix. For that matter your Mg and phosphorus could as well, but Ca in particular has a high affinity for phosphorus.

[krisw]

Ben, I got the feeling that he was going to dose dry, rather than mix up a solution....

[Larry Grenier]

Ben, I got the feeling that he was going to dose dry, rather than mix up a solution....

Yes, that is correct. I have a side-sump in the lower tank and I just dump the dry ferts in there where they get kicked around and then sent to the upper tank.
Thanks Ben & Kris.