# Pre-Charging Coir With Fertilizers



## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

I have added 1 cup each of the following into about 75 gallons of water in a stock tank. It takes an hour or two of intermittent stirring to dissolve. The coir mat will go into the mixture for a few days to pre-charge with fertilizers. I’m not sure how long to leave it in the mixture to absorb as much as possible.
*PreCharge Formula:*
KCl: Muriate of Potash
MgSO4: Epsom Salts
Calcium Nitrate: YaraLiva CALCINIT 15.5-0-0 | Yara
Dolomite Lime: Amazon.com : Espoma GL6 Garden Lime Soil Amendment, 6.75-Pound : Soil And Soil Amendments : Patio, Lawn & Garden
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I will add fully chelated iron, FeEDDHA, phosphorus and possibly other trace like MnSO4, directly to the aquariums after water changes.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

When I precharge STS I use TDS pen & pH pen.
Monitor until it will take no more.

When charging STS I run with it for 1 week.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

Maryland Guppy said:


> When I precharge STS I use TDS pen & pH pen.
> Monitor until it will take no more.
> 
> When charging STS I run with it for 1 week.


What is STS?

Oh, I see, it's Safe T Sorb.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

Maryland Guppy said:


> When I precharge STS I use TDS pen & pH pen.
> Monitor until it will take no more.
> 
> When charging STS I run with it for 1 week.


Do you rinse your precharged STS with water before putting into the aquarium? I have never done this before and assume that I will be doing a bit of rinsing before I put the coir into an aquarium full of fish. I'm going to lay it on top of the broken up coir already in the tanks, and attach plants to it with weight. I can release all of the water into my garden and give it a good fertilizer with the leftover nitrogen, etc.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

AWolf said:


> Do you rinse your precharged STS with water before putting into the aquarium?


I rinse STS once before I precharge. Lots of dust etc...
All the real rinsing after it is charged.
I figured if it has become saturated with all compounds rinsing should not release them.
That is using same water source that I charged with.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

*June 6, 2016*

June 6, 2016

The coir appears to be releasing tannins. When I've soaked the coir in water for a couple days to release the salts, the water has stay mostly clear, maybe a very slight tinge of color. The mix of fertilizers probably has something to do with this reddish color being pulled out of the coir.

I've kept coir in all of my tanks for many months, and have seen no tannin effects.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

*Coir In Place*

I've moved the LED's to 2.5 ft. over the tanks. The coir is rinsed and in the 55g. I lost 1 White Mtn. Minnow within 2hrs. of adding the coir. All other fish doing fine. If they live overnight, I'll plant the coir tomorrow. (6 rummy nose tetra, 1 gourami, 2 White Mtn. Minnows.) I've added some floating Parrot Feather.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

*Coir 'Planted'*

Just a quick link to my work on the precharged coir and plants today. It's Martini Time. 5 olives please.
https://aquariumexperiments.com/2016/06/11/day-2-of-precharged-coir-in-55g/


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

AWolf said:


> It's Martini Time. 5 olives please.


Shaken or stirred?


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Shaken or stirred?


Shake that baby up!


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

The name is Bond!


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

Maryland Guppy said:


> The name is Bond!


So we meet again.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

So now that the precharged coir is in the tank, and the plants are held down with rocks, what do I expect? I'm hoping the roots of the plants grab the coir like they have in the past, and can feed from it. 

Here are my questions:

Which nutrients does the coir hold after all of that rinsing before putting into tank?
Will the Potash (KCl) in the charging formula be enough Potassium, or will I need to add it along with iron, PO4, and other trace, and how often?

If I start to see holes in my plants, I will assume I need Potassium and will start adding it along with other trace. 

I'm currently tracking down some Manganese Sulfate to add to my dry ferts because I have read it is necessary in certain amounts for proper iron uptake.

Video link to my tank:
https://aquariumexperiments.com/2016/06/11/day-3-of-precharged-coir/


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

*Eight Days In*

A quick link:
https://aquariumexperiments.com/2016/06/19/eight-days-of-precharged-coir/


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

*July 13, 2016 Update*

I've lowered the lights to about 9 inches from the surface. The plants are looking like they need more light and growth is very slow, except for the Dwarf Sagittaria. It has really gone from being a single half dead plant, to numerous plants. They are rooting into the coir nicely. The Hygrophilia Difformis has also grown nice roots into the coir, but has been very slow growing. Again, because the lights were so high. The Lysimachia Nummularia is holding it's own, but growing tall to reach light, but is also now rooted in the coir. The two Ludwigia lost most of their leaves after being submersed from emersed. The roots won't grow into the coir, and the plants are barely holding on. Maybe the stronger light will brighten them up, otherwise they are going back outside to the planter pond. The dwarf Lily melted away except for a few leafs. Again....lighting was not enough. There is a bit of fuzzy bacteria growing on some plants, but I pull it off with a toothbrush. The water lettuce is staying very small. All fish are doing well. So it's been a very slow growing start in general. But now that I have some good roots, I kicking it up a notch with stronger light. 

I pulled all the Parrot Feather once the other plants started rooting.

An interesting note: After about two weeks of adding this precharged coir, the pH has gone back down to 6.8. The dolomite used to precharge (along with the other ferts) pushed the pH over 7.6, but now it's back down and steady. And the peace Lilies that I added to all of my tanks are now about 6 months submersed, and growing babies at their base. The leaves are curled however. I like that because it is a perfect fish house.


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## AWolf (Jun 13, 2014)

July 21, 2016: The coir is stiff and not becoming 'fluffy', like it did before I precharged. I am thinking it is from the calcium in the dolomite? At any rate, I think that is fantastic, because now when I move it around a bit for cleaning, it stays stiff (like it's starched) and doesn't break apart. This is a game changer.

Ah, wait, didn't someone tell me that dolomite is used in concrete?
It is still pliable. So I can bend it. But by this time, it usually has softened up and by 6 months, it is so fluffy that I usually removed it and replace.


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