# Such a Thing as Too Much Fertilizer?



## sidefunk (Apr 22, 2010)

I think that EI dosing is based upon the principal of having no limiting factors with respect to nutrients. However, is there such a thing as too much fertilizer? I know that some of my house plants don't like to be over-fertilized, but does the same apply for aquatic plants?

I ask because I have been dosing the recommended EI for my 32G tank and lately my vals have been melting and certain plants have not been growing much at all. I am going to reduce my ferts and see what happens.

Does anyone else have experience with over fertilizing?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

If you are following the recommended dosages as outlined by EI dosing, and are doing the 50% water changes every week, there should be no problem with over fertilization.

Of course, if you don't do the water changes, there will be issues.

As for your _Vallisneria_ melting, it may be due to a variety of factors. Are you dosing Excel?


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

HERE:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/f...658-there-chart-too-much-nutrients-water.html


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

^ that thread pretty well covers it.

I've been accidentally WAY WAY overdosing KNO3 for about 8 months. Just found out I was reading my test equipment wrong. Turns out I was maintaining about 150-200ppm of NO3. No problems with livestock.


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

Oreo said:


> ^ that thread pretty well covers it.
> 
> I've been accidentally WAY WAY overdosing KNO3 for about 8 months. Just found out I was reading my test equipment wrong. Turns out I was maintaining about 150-200ppm of NO3. No problems with livestock.


wow that is way too much nitrate, i know that fish could handle most of that but am sure you must have lost some shrimps with such a high nitrate.


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

I don't have shrimp. Snails & crab were OK though.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

happi said:


> wow that is way too much nitrate, i know that fish could handle most of that but am sure you must have lost some shrimps with such a high nitrate.


At 160ppm, I lost some Amano's, but...........they may had died from something else, I had no way to rule out some other cause, but..........they did fine at 80-100ppm for several months, same for RCS. CRS did fine with typical EI dosing and bred with other fish present, going from 12 to 50 after 1 year at 79F.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I read somewhere on the BarrReport that the salts are more likely to cause an issue than the actual fert itself.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Fertilizers are salts...


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Darkblade48 said:


> Fertilizers are salts...


Not on my chicken thank you:redface:


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

plantbrain said:


> Not on my chicken thank you:redface:


:flick:

For those that need clarification, what we call "salt" is sodium chloride, but in the chemistry sense, a salt is any kind of ionic species, which would include (say) potassium nitrate or potassium sulfate.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Do they raise the salinity of the water if you get too much? Thats the way I understood it, but im clearly no genius.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

chad320 said:


> Do they raise the salinity of the water if you get too much? Thats the way I understood it, but im clearly no genius.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinity so yes, they do. But, the amounts we use as fertilizers are really small, compared to the amount of sodium chloride in sea water.


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