# When is Magnesium and Calcium necessary to dose?



## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

After looking at the fertilator (APC) I realized I have never dosed either of these by them self. I understand the TPN+ I use in my nano has it (Magnesium) but in my 37g where I dose KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, Flourish Iron and Flourish there probly isnt too much in there. As far as the Calcium I dont think ANY thing I dose has it.

The main reson I have been doing more research on dosing is that I cant seem to get my needle leaf stellatus to color up yet, granted it isnt even half way up my 24" tall tank and this could be the problem but I just though I would be seeing some by now.

Thanks.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Why not add GH booster and see?

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Im sure like you we dont put things in our tanks unless we are a) expirementing ot b) sure it will improve the situation. This time im not interested in an experiment. 



plantbrain said:


> Why not add GH booster and see?
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Im sure like you we dont put things in our tanks unless we are a) expirementing ot b) sure it will improve the situation. This time im not interested in an experiment.


Plants require magnesium and calcium why would adding GH Booster be an "experiment"? If you have little to no GH seems like it would be a good idea to add it. If Tom recommends it that would be good enough for me.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Well I dont follow blindly, I like making my own decisions based on the need.  With that being said, I have no problem growing plants. My GH is ~5 and my KH is ~12. So im not sure if it is necessary.



MarkMc said:


> Plants require magnesium and calcium why would adding GH Booster be an "experiment"? If you have little to no GH seems like it would be a good idea to add it. If Tom recommends it that would be good enough for me.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Well I dont follow blindly, I like making my own decisions based on the need.  With that being said, I have no problem growing plants. My GH is ~5 and my KH is ~12. So im not sure if it is necessary.


Are your levels in degrees? 5 degrees general hardness and 12 degrees carbonate hardness? If that is so, that seems like a very large amount of carbonate hardness. Perhaps that is why your needle leaf stellatus is not growing to your satisfaction? At any rate adding GH booster with the GH level you have doesn't seem like it would have a detrimental effect on you plants. Personally I'd be looking at your KH as a suspect in your situation.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I seriously could have switched the two, I do that all of the time. Just for accuracy sake I will test them later tonight to see what they are.

They usually are higher though, and I thought that Ca and Mg were sufficiently present when these readings were higher??? This is why I never thought about dosing them. Hope that makes sense.



MarkMc said:


> Are your levels in degrees? 5 degrees general hardness and 12 degrees carbonate hardness? If that is so, that seems like a very large amount of carbonate hardness. Perhaps that is why your needle leaf stellatus is not growing to your satisfaction? At any rate adding GH booster with the GH level you have doesn't seem like it would have a detrimental effect on you plants. Personally I'd be looking at your KH as a suspect in your situation.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

Calcium and magnesium are the general hardness component. I really think if it's only at 5 degrees it could only help to dose some. I never have until recently and I think it's helped with oddly shaped, new growth leaves that I've had in the past.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Dosing calcium regularly will likely not be needed. Calcium doesn't seem to be utilized as readily by plants. If you have a high CEC substrate like SMS, Florite, or Turface, you'll lose some KH to that, but it sounds like you're pretty steady.

Your tank has plenty of KH, regardless of whether it is 5 deg or 12 deg. If GH is 12 deg, you're fine, but if it's 5 you may want to give GH booster a try. 

My GH was consistently 4-5 deg. For 6 months I could not get L. aromatica to grow quite how I wanted. I increased lighting, changed iron levels, changed NO3 levels, changed substrate.....I did everything I could think of. (To note, I did all of these separately over a long period so that I could rule each one out). When I started adding GH booster, upping GH to 8, is when I really started to see the growth I wanted. Growth had always been good before, but the color really started to come out after increasing GH.


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## jjp2 (May 24, 2008)

The thing with GH is that you don't know how much of it is magnesium and how much is calcium. Because of that, tossing a little GH booster in will ensure that you have enough of each. I found this true with my tank and my Gh was 12. adding 2 tsp to 125 gallons didn't even raise it to 13, but the plants showed response to it.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Well I feel kinda foolish (maybe my test kit is bad). Just got done testing and here are the results.

KH-1 (maybe less)
GH-6

Like I said I think the test kit (AP) is a year to six months old, dont know if they go bad. The tank also has AS I and is injected with with co2.

Comments, suggestions...


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

If I remember correctly, the word from API is that GH/KH test is good for 2 years.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

Do you use RO water for water changes?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

You probably already know that Seachem's Equilibrium is a GH Booster too.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

What about Kents R/O right. I use pure RO water and need to up both my GH and KH abit.

Will backing soda up the KH?

Craig


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Baking soda does raise KH, that's what I use


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

jmhart said:


> Baking soda does raise KH, that's what I use


 
Thanks just added ~1/4 tsp of Kent RO Right and Baking soda to my tank. I will need to get a GH/ KH test kit to see what happens. Or atleast watch the fish.

I had been using pure RO water along with AS Amazonia I. Had a few random deaths that looked like Molt problems so time to up the GH/ KH abit. Problem got worse after adding some wood.

Craig


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Craigthor said:


> Thanks just added ~1/4 tsp of Kent RO Right and Baking soda to my tank. I will need to get a GH/ KH test kit to see what happens. Or atleast watch the fish.
> 
> I had been using pure RO water along with AS Amazonia I. Had a few random deaths that looked like Molt problems so time to up the GH/ KH abit. Problem got worse after adding some wood.
> 
> Craig



IME, GH will drop due to plant consumption, but KH will not....I think this same reasoning went into the design of PPS.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> ... just added ~1/4 tsp of Baking soda to my tank. I will need to get a GH/ KH test kit to see what happens. Or at least watch the fish. ...


Here are some Baking Soda/KH calculators.

http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp
http://www.cnykoi.com/calculators/calckh.asp
http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html and its home site: http://reef.diesyst.com/


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

left is there any calculators out that show adjusting GH like hte KH ones. 

According to the KH I need to add about another 1/4 tsp too my tank to get the KH up to 5 from 0-1

Craig


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

There are two recent strings I started here (water parameters) where the membership 'schooled' me on GH / KH.
Kents R O right does both. Seachem or Grumpy's does GH only. Grumpy's dissolves better for me.
Reading GH on a test kit you can still end up short for the plants. (I did) Once the water was reset in three day's I saw big GH drop in one tank. What ever was lacking the plants pulled right out.

Found and post links

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/water-parameters/84800-gh-plants.html

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/water-parameters/85357-kh-hazards.html


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

wkndracer said:


> There are two resent strings I started here (water parameters) where the membership 'schooled' me on GH / KH.
> Kents R O right does both. Seachem or Grumpy's does GH only. Grumpy's dissolves better for me.
> Reading GH on a test kit you can still end up short for the plants. (I did) Once the water was reset in three day's I saw big GH drop in one tank. What ever was lacking the plants pulled right out.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks for the info.

I actually started a seach and came up with this. It is based upon a Natural Planted Tank Walstad style but the info is perfect. 

Copied this from the link:



> This is a very interesting and informative thread. Thanks to all for contributing.
> 
> I live in an area with <2 dGH water and very recently being trying to determine the best way to increase it to approach the recommended value of 8 dGH.
> 
> ...


Here is the link:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...-wet-thumb-forum-calcium-dosing-increase.html

Walstad wrote that it is better to use CaCL2 and MgSO4 rather than Equilibrium. After reading it all and the post above that I qouted it makes sense as the Equilibrium adds alot of K to the tank. Not a problem if your dosing EI but for lower tech tanks it could cause an algae outbreak.

I think I will order some of both and make my own mix. The GH Booster from GLA has the same ingredients as Equilibrium as the K comes from K2SO4

Also Diana's mix isn't susposed to affect PH at all atlesat that is what I got out of reading the thread.

Craig


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Well I went and visited the Fertilator. Here is what I need help clarifing.

Tank is 5g

Base water is RO so GH/KH 0 or 1

1 gram CaCL2 = 19.08 ppm/ 17.86 = (1.07 dGH)
1 gram MgSO4.7H2O= 5.21 ppm/ 17.86 = (0.29 dGH)

Now do I add both together to get total ppm (dGH) added to tank?

If so 1 gram of each added to my RO water will give me 24.21 ppm (1.36 dGH) to my water.

So if I want to get my dGH to 5 I need to add 

4g CaCL2 = 4.27 dGH
4g MgSO4.7H2O = 1.17 dGH
Total added would be = 5.44 dGH

Close enough I could get a gram scale and get it more exact but whole numbers are easier.

Also to get my dKH to 5 I can add .48 TSP of baking soda.

If I this is tossing this thread too far off I will go start a new one. Figure some might like the equations though.

Craig


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Good to know, I guess they are really that low then. :icon_eek:



jmhart said:


> If I remember correctly, the word from API is that GH/KH test is good for 2 years.


Sure dont.



MarkMc said:


> Do you use RO water for water changes?


Yes. What would you recommend Equilibrium or GH booster from rex or someone else?



Left C said:


> You probably already know that Seachem's Equilibrium is a GH Booster too.
> http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html


Baking soda can change things alot, I think with everything that is on the line ill trust a pre mixed product.



Craigthor said:


> What about Kents R/O right. I use pure RO water and need to up both my GH and KH abit.
> 
> Will backing soda up the KH?
> 
> Craig


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Dang, what should I do here?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Dang, what should I do here?


 
You can get a pound of GH booster from aquariumfertilizer.com or GLA for around $5 plus shipping. More than likely will also add to you K dosing as well.

You can buy seperate packages of CaCL2 and MgSO4 from aquariumfertilizer.com which is what I did. $16 shipped for 2# of each. Mixed 1-1 with each other will give you a GH booster with out added K. That is the route that I am going as I don't need any extra K at this point.

Equilibrium is just over priced.

Baking Soda will only affect KH and PH repectively.

Kents RO Right will adjust both up but I can't say I would recommend it as they don't tell you whats in it.

Craig


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> left is there any calculators out that show adjusting GH like hte KH ones. ...


This is probably a little late, but Seachem has a GH calculator for Equilibrium.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html

various Seachem product calculators: http://www.seachem.com/Library/Calculators.html


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

How much K does it add per dose, and I assume this would be dosed on Macro dosing days?



Craigthor said:


> You can get a pound of GH booster from aquariumfertilizer.com or GLA for around $5 plus shipping. More than likely will also add to you K dosing as well.
> 
> You can buy seperate packages of CaCL2 and MgSO4 from aquariumfertilizer.com which is what I did. $16 shipped for 2# of each. Mixed 1-1 with each other will give you a GH booster with out added K. That is the route that I am going as I don't need any extra K at this point.
> 
> ...


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

According to Seachem, Equilibrium is 23% Potassium.

Here is the gauranteed analasys from seachem:

Soluble Potassium (K20) 23.0% 
Calcium (Ca) 8.06% 
Magnesium (Mg) 2.41% 
Soluble Iron (Fe) 0.11% 
Soluble Manganese (Mn) 0.06% 

Ingredients:

Derived from: potassium sulfate, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ferric sulfate, manganese sulfate.

Craig


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Sorry Craig, I was meanining the gh booster. But I looked and I can get just Calcium and Magnesium for the same price as GH booster with no worry of the added K. :thumbsup:



jmhart said:


> If I remember correctly, the word from API is that GH/KH test is good for 2 years.





MarkMc said:


> Do you use RO water for water changes?





Left C said:


> You probably already know that Seachem's Equilibrium is a GH Booster too.
> http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html





Craigthor said:


> What about Kents R/O right. I use pure RO water and need to up both my GH and KH abit.
> 
> Will backing soda up the KH?
> 
> Craig





Craigthor said:


> According to Seachem, Equilibrium is 23% Potassium.
> 
> Here is the gauranteed analasys from seachem:
> 
> ...


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

GLA's blend:

The Ultimate GH Booster.

2 (K2SO4) : 2 (CaSO4) : 1 (MgSO4) 
trace amounts of MnSO4 and FeSO4 
Contains:

Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4) 
Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4) 
Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4) 
Iron Sulfate (FeSO4) 
Manganese Sulfate (MnSO4) 


aquarium fertilizer.com blend:

This is Tom Barr's Poor Man's GH Builder/Booster. Barr's GH Booster contains: Potassium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate

I would say they are all similar to teh equilibrium in contents.

If you read the thread I posted from Diana Walstad there is alot fo good info in that page.

Craig


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Sorry Craig, I was meanining the gh booster. But I looked and I can get just Calcium and Magnesium for the same price as GH booster with no worry of the added K. :thumbsup:


Yeah sorry I realized that after I posted to list the other two products. :redface:


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Isn't calcium chloride more commonly found in its dihydrate form: CaCl2·2H2O?


Isn't the ratio of Ca to Mg ~ 3:1 to 4:1 commonly used? Equilibrium has 3.34 parts of Ca to Mg according to the fertfriend calculator.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I dont know about dihydrates but, I just found that I would need 2tsp of Ca and .5tsp of Mg so satisfy my 37g. I think I am just going to get 2 lbs of Ca and 1lb of Mg and see how it goes. 

So would I dose on Macro day?





Left C said:


> Isn't calcium chloride more commonly found in its dihydrate form: CaCl2·2H2O?
> 
> 
> Isn't the ratio of Ca to Mg ~ 3:1 to 4:1 commonly used? Equilibrium has 3.34 parts of Ca to Mg according to the fertfriend calculator.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Left C said:


> Isn't calcium chloride more commonly found in its dihydrate form: CaCl2·2H2O?
> 
> 
> Isn't the ratio of Ca to Mg ~ 3:1 to 4:1 commonly used? Equilibrium has 3.34 parts of Ca to Mg according to the fertfriend calculator.


 
It may be the CaCL2-2H2O. But sold as CaCL2. Just as the MgSO4 I ordered is probably the same as MgSO4.7H2O They may have shorted it. Not 100% certain on this though.

Also the ratio is 4:1 on the CaCL2 to the MgSO4. But it is mixed 1:1 to get that ratio.

See post #4 here: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...forum-calcium-dosing-increase.html#post118623



> Quote:
> _Originally posted by Diana Walstad:_
> _I'm continuing Javalee's discussion started in "My newly replanted 10g". He last wrote the following :_
> 
> ...


Craig


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> I dont know about dihydrates but, I just found that I would need 2tsp of Ca and .5tsp of Mg so satisfy my 37g. I think I am just going to get 2 lbs of Ca and 1lb of Mg and see how it goes.
> 
> So would I dose on Macro day?


Sorry can't help you wiht what day to dose. Maybe there is some info in the EI post. I know Tom has talked about it before. Maybe check out barreport.com

Craig


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> According to Seachem, Equilibrium is 23% Potassium.
> 
> Here is the Guaranteed Analysis from Seachem:
> 
> Soluble Potassium (K20) 23.0%


There is actually a little less K in Equilibrium. It is expressed as the % of K2O and not K. This comes from the bottle: "Elemental potassium is present at a concentration of 195,000 ppm (19.5%). Archaic fertilizer laws force us to list potassium in terms of equivalence to a material that is not present (K2O) rather than the more scientificaly sound method of simple elemental equivalence."


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Left C said:


> There is actually a little less K in Equilibrium. It is expressed as the % of K2O and not K. This comes from the bottle: "Elemental potassium is present at a concentration of 195,000 ppm (19.5%). Archaic fertilizer laws force us to list potassium in terms of equivalence to a material that is not present (K2O) rather than the more scientificaly sound method of simple elemental equivalence."


 
Thanks I read that part just didn't click in my head. :confused1: Still alot of K though...


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

It sure is alot of K.

I used the fertilator to calculate the Ca:Mg ratio using CaCl2·2H2O and MgSO4·7H2O. The ratio is 2.76 parts of Ca to 1 part of Mg by weight.

If you use CaCl2 and MgSO4·7H2O in equal weights; the ratio is 3.66 to 1.

Are you planning on weighing them out or using a spoon? CaCl2·2H2O is very fine grained and MgSO4·7H2O is like rock salt.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Left C said:


> It sure is alot of K.
> 
> I used the fertilator to calculate the Ca:Mg ratio using CaCl2·2H2O and MgSO4·7H2O. The ratio is 2.76 parts of Ca to 1 part of Mg by weight.
> 
> ...


I have a couple of small kitchen scales and have access to a dgital scale if I need it.

I'll have to see what shows up. According to the site I order the ferts it is just CaCL2 not CaCL2-2H2O. That will change the ratio I'm sure. I see fertilator has several variations on the CaCL2.

Also for Mg it only lists MgSO4-7H2O and not jsut MgSO4. May have to do some digging for formulas or go get some Epsom Salts for the MgSO4-7H2O

Becasue if you do the fertilator at 5g which is what I will use you get:

CaCL2 at 1g- 19.08ppm
CaCL2-2H2O at 1g- 14.4ppm

So they are definitely 2 different mixes and will give different readings depending on which I use.

What setting did you use in the fertilator to get the Ca:Mg ratio?

Craig


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

I simply entered 100 grams of each in 100 liters of water to get the numbers. Then I divided the Ca concentration by the Mg concentration to get the ratio.

I just picked the numbers "out of the air." As long as you use the same number for each, you can find the ratio for this math problem.

Then you can play around with the numbers to come up with whatever ratio that you want to use.

As an example, using CaCl2·2H2O and MgSO4·7H2O to get a 4:1 Ca:Mg ratio by weight, you would use 1.45 parts of CaCl2·2H2O to 1 part of MgSO4·7H2O by weight.

Does this make sense?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Left C said:


> I simply entered 100 grams of each in 100 liters of water to get the numbers. Then I divided the Ca concentration by the Mg concentration to get the ratio.
> 
> I just picked the numbers "out of the air." As long as you use the same number for each, you can find the ratio for this math problem.
> 
> ...


Yeah but the same is ture if you mix in 100L of water:

100g CaCL2 361.12 ppm and 100g MgSO4.7H2O 98.61 give a 3.66 ratio

Same as if using 5g of water:

1g CaCL2 19.08ppm and 1g MgSO4.7H2O 5.21ppm gives 3.66 ratio

3.66:1 ratio is 3.66g ca: 1g Mg

sure I'm making this hard I need some sleep as I have to be up in 5 hours.

Craig


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> Yeah but the same is ture if you mix in 100L of water:
> 
> 100g CaCL2 361.12 ppm and 100g MgSO4.7H2O 98.61 give a 3.66 ratio
> 
> ...


That's right. You have it.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Okay scientists. Which day do I dose on????


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

If you are dosing EI, and you want to add this into your routine, you can dose on macro days.

Depending on how strong your EI solutions are, you may be able to add in GH booster to it. However, if your EI macro solutions are already heavily concentrated, it's unlikely that MgSO4 in the amount that you need will dissolve.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I dose with tsp's. I ordered 1lb of Mg and 2lbs of Ca last night since I already dose K with my EI routine. 



jmhart said:


> If you are dosing EI, and you want to add this into your routine, you can dose on macro days.
> 
> Depending on how strong your EI solutions are, you may be able to add in GH booster to it. However, if your EI macro solutions are already heavily concentrated, it's unlikely that MgSO4 in the amount that you need will dissolve.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Well, that being the case, macro day


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

I went to the hardware store and had them give me a small bag of CaCL2 for free  (98% pure)

It's what the really high grade ice melters are made out of. It did take a lot of label reading to find one that was nearly pure CaCl2 and not a mixed concoction.

MgSO4 can be had at WalMart in the guise of Epsom Salt

just sayin.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

For $2.50/lb ill just get it from a supplier. I hate running around.  

Good info though.


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

Is calcium carbonate ok to use as the source of calcium to make a GH booster? I ask because my wife works in a lab and has that and magnesium sulfate readily available.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Calcium carbonate will raise both the GH and the KH, and it is hard to dissolve. Think chalk!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

What if I criush it up and put it in a cup with hot tap water?



Hoppy said:


> Calcium carbonate will raise both the GH and the KH, and it is hard to dissolve. Think chalk!


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

bsmith782 said:


> What if I criush it up and put it in a cup with hot tap water?


The calcium carbonate she brought home was super super fine. Seems to feel a lot like corn starch. Haven't tried disolving it yet, haven't had a chance to work out the math yet to see how much I need to dose.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Yeah thats the tuff part about using substances from an un-measured source. What I mean by that is you dont know how mch a given amount will effect your parameters.



idontknow said:


> The calcium carbonate she brought home was super super fine. Seems to feel a lot like corn starch. Haven't tried disolving it yet, haven't had a chance to work out the math yet to see how much I need to dose.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Man the calcium is like flour and the magnesium is like salt. The Mg dissolves okay but the Ca, whew. im just going to have to get a cup or something and swirl it around it shouldnt be too bad.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> Man the calcium is like flour and the magnesium is like salt. The Mg dissolves okay but the Ca, whew. im just going to have to get a cup or something and swirl it around it shouldnt be too bad.


What Calcium form did you end up getting. Just curious.

Craig


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

Craigthor said:


> What Calcium form did you end up getting. Just curious.
> 
> Craig


Same question cuz I haven't tried mine yet.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

CaSO4


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

Did you know you can get mg at your local drug store by just picking up a bag of epsom salt? Pretty cheap stuff.

I kinda skimmed through the thread so if this was said already please disregard.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> CaSO4


Same thing I use. Right now trying to dose around 20ppm weekly.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Is it just me or does the fertilator contradict what Tom outlined in the EI dosing regime for KH2PO4 for phosphate??? If I dose what im supposed to I end up with a ~3.5x OD. I have been doing this for a couple of years with no real side effects but WTF.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I dosed the recommended amounts of Ca (1.5 tsp) and MG (.5 tsp) last night and checked my readings just now. The DKh is still one but the DGh is at 9.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> I dosed the recommended amounts of Ca (1.5 tsp) and MG (.5 tsp) last night and checked my readings just now. The DKh is still one but the DGh is at 9.


Sounds perfect.:thumbsup:


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

PRESTON4479 said:


> Sounds perfect.:thumbsup:


What form of Ca are you dosing.

Craig


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

I just tested my tap and tank water with api test kit I just got from drsfostersmith today. 

GH - 17 degrees
KH - 12 degrees

This is unsoftened water from the tap.

Do I not need to worry about dosing the ca and mg?


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

idontknow said:


> I just tested my tap and tank water with api test kit I just got from drsfostersmith today.
> 
> GH - 17 degrees
> KH - 12 degrees
> ...


Definitely no need for ca or mg assuming the kit is accurate. Will probably need to consider doing something to bring down your kh thougn.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

Craigthor said:


> What form of Ca are you dosing.
> 
> Craig


caso4 calcium sulfate

http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/calcium-sulfate.html


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

PRESTON4479 said:


> Definitely no need for ca or mg assuming the kit is accurate. Will probably need to consider doing something to bring down your kh thougn.


I'm picking up some distilled water tomorrow to test my kit.


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

PRESTON4479 said:


> Definitely no need for ca or mg assuming the kit is accurate. Will probably need to consider doing something to bring down your kh thougn.


Only way I am gonna lower my kh is using peatmoss in my filter if I am not mistaken. And lowering my kh will also lower my ph won't it? My ph is right now is 7.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Witht he Kh Gh readings you gave your ph should be higher then 7.



idontknow said:


> Only way I am gonna lower my kh is using peatmoss in my filter if I am not mistaken. And lowering my kh will also lower my ph won't it? My ph is right now is 7.


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## idontknow (May 9, 2008)

bsmith782 said:


> Witht he Kh Gh readings you gave your ph should be higher then 7.


I have tested the ph with several differet kits so I am almost 100% sure on it. I will have to check my kh gh kit.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

idontknow said:


> I have tested the pH with several different kits so I am almost 100% sure on it. I will have to check my KH GH kit.


Check the pH of your tap water after it has set out for around 24 to 48 hours or either when it has been completely aerated over a period of time so that there is no or very little CO2 in your sample. Water out of the tap usually has a high CO2 level and causes the pH to be low and not a true indicator of what your tap water actually is. Letting it sit out or aerating it allows the test sample of water to reach equilibrium with the atmosphere.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Should still be dosing Ca and Mg???

After dosing for a week after my last Sunday WC here are my readings.

DKh-1

DGh-12.5

As you can see from my Gh reading I even used 10ml of water to get a more accurate reading. 

So after this, should I still be dosing both of these or just one???

Im just confused by this. I dont understand how they can be so far apart. My co2 has been off for ~12 hours too so it shouldnt have too big of an effect on the readings,


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