# Garden Micronutrients for aquarium plants



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Hi,

I'm thinking about getting micronutrients from this pack and fertilize based on EI.
The boxes can be sold separately. _Potassium Nitrate_ and_ Mono Potassium Phosphate_ from the pack are what I need. I also need a _trace elements_.

This #6 TE looks like this same that are used in aquariums. But it can have different dosage of trace elements. It can have a lot of copper, which can be harmful for shrimp.

Have anyone used this stuff? Thoughts?


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## Russgro (Apr 14, 2010)

I got some from Second Nature Hydro on Royal Windsor, N,P,K it was reffered to from Rex Grigg's sites and other have used it as well from this forum as well as, APC, and Planted Tank's forum. As long as it doesn't have dyes, I believe it's all good. If I'm wrong please correct me.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Russgro said:


> I got some from Second Nature Hydro on Royal Windsor, N,P,K it was reffered to from Rex Grigg's sites and other have used it as well from this forum as well as, APC, and Planted Tank's forum. As long as it doesn't have dyes, I believe it's all good. If I'm wrong please correct me.


Thank you for thea answer.
N, P and K should work without any problems, they are all the same.

Have you tried micronutrients from that source?


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## Russgro (Apr 14, 2010)

I bought 2,3,4,5, & 6. The 6 I'm unsure off, I'm trying to learn more about it before I use it myself, the guy at the shop said its been known to kill shrimp, but i dunno maybe that's if your dry dosing it, and not mixing up in a diluted formula like PPS pro or classic. It contains everything one needs tho for trace.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

I wouldn't be too concerned about trace elements, unless you see symptoms in your plants. Every time you do a water change, you are bringing in trace elements, as well as every time you feed. The only trace element really likely to be insufficient is iron.

Here's a link to a diagram showing common deficiency symptoms: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/62876-plant-deficiency-picture-diagram.html

Note that any food ingredient that comes from the sea will have a good assortment of trace elements, even the most obscure.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Thanks, but tap water might not have all elements plants need. 
I've adding iron for red amazon swords and different in color are visible.

It would be good to find out dozing of those garden micro-nutrients.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

I've been using the trace mix from Homegrown for over a year now. I dose EI and add enough to add about .2-.25ppm of Fe in my 75G, 2-3x a week and the shrimps (Amano) and snails in there never reacted visibly or negatively in any way that am aware of. It's basically a CSM+B mix.

For dosing calculations, I use the CSM+B settings on APC fertilator.

I do see a difference in the reds in the tank when I keep dosing up to speed - a day or two of missed doses and the reds fade quickly. Feeding in the water column only is a bit of a pain, so if you're trying to provide iron and nutrients for red plants consider root tabs or freezing cubes of organic top soil and inserting it into the substrate near your reds. There is a ton of iron available for the long term and it stays "locked" away in the substrate as long as you don't uproot or have fish that dig.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Thank you for answers.

Ok. Finally, I've found a store. It was Homegrown Hydroponics Inc. and got KNO3, KH2P04 and *micronutrients* from there.

Micronutrients looks good, they have a lot of Iron, some Manganese, Boron and other stuff. It's has a very small part of Copper.

There is another problem here. *How to doze it?*
My box says that there is 7% or Iron there. The rest elements together are 4.5%
This is a dry mix. *What is other 88.5% of the mix?*

I think that you, Mr Fishies and I have the same mix.
*Are you sure that it's CSM+B substitute and its dozing calculation can be used?*


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

igor.kanshyn said:


> There is another problem here. *How to doze it?*
> My box says that there is 7% or Iron there. The rest elements together are 4.5%
> 
> This is a dry mix. *What is other 88.5% of the mix?*
> ...


Just discussing this in another thread...FYI.

Sounds like the same thing, one of the Six Pack nutrient containers from any of the Homegrown Hydroponics "affiliates". I am not "sure" it's CSM+B in the sense I have independently confirmed it, but after discussing with the employee at the shop I bought it from, they said it was a mix they buy and add some "other elements" to. Which from what I have read is standard...CSM + Boric Acid = CSM+B. Obviously, they didn't want to go into details and tell me how to make it myself - not good business practice to give away your secrets!

Basically, most people does traces and use Fe as a "proxy", as I understand it (and practise it) as long as you don't OD on Fe you are not going to add enough of anything else in the trace mix to harm your livestock. I have been using it for well over a year, and I dose enough traces to add .2 ppm of Fe to my 75G tank, 3x a week and have never had any issues with shrimp or snails.

To calculate doses for all my ferts, I use the APC Fertilator and follow Tom Barr's EI guidelines - but I double up traces and add about 25-30% more KH2PO4. Fe and P are used up quickly in my tank.

Maybe someone with more chemistry knowledge can confirm, but I think the other XX% of the mix are chelators and ingredients to make the trace elements bio available...I could be spewing hot air so don't quote me.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Mr Fishies said:


> Maybe someone with more chemistry knowledge can confirm, but I think the other XX% of the mix are chelators and ingredients to make the trace elements bio available...I could be spewing hot air so don't quote me.


This is possible. I believe the iron and copper is EDTA chelated, which would probably make a (relatively) large percentage of the "CSM+B".


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