# do you turn off filter prior to dosing ferts??



## gsxr310 (Jul 23, 2014)

or leave it on??


----------



## junglefowl (Oct 30, 2012)

Leave it on! The flow makes the ferts spread out evenly...


----------



## theknight (Jun 25, 2014)

junglefowl said:


> Leave it on! The flow makes the ferts spread out evenly...


+1 Leave it on


----------



## DayOlder (Jul 12, 2014)

I leave it on also but I have wondered about turning if off. I think it's a good question.


----------



## DGarone (Apr 26, 2013)

I leave mine on. I drop in the powder right in front of my outflow pipe. It immediately gets sucked into the pipe or a moment and then dispersed out into the tank. Takes half of a second more me to not be able to see most of it anymore.

I imagine that's a good thing. haha.


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

I would definitely recommend leaving the pumps on in the general case. Our fertilizers are fairly low-hazard, but there's no reason to risk exposing fish/inverts to a concentrated burst of fertilizer that may irritate their skin and gills. Let the pumps dilute them out quickly to a point where they won't bother anything.

The only time I would turn the pumps off would be if you were spot-treating excel to control algae. 

You could try spot-treating plants with fertilizers in a pipette, but I'd have to guess that exposure to the concentrated liquid fertilizers would really do more harm than good (but little of either).


----------



## Mark13 (Mar 11, 2009)

Keep the filter running, but permanently remove the carbon, if you are using it. Many planted tank owners don't use carbon. Carbon will absorb and hold many (not all) of the ingredients of fert's. It will also absorb some of the vital and helpful trace metals the plants and fish need. It also absorbs harmful metals. A Catch-22. Oh, and carbon can remove CO2 from the water, fighting the injection we work so hard to achieve.
.
Remove the carbon, but maybe replace it with a pad that can remove ONLY phenols, which is what gives aquarium water its bad smell.


----------



## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

Mark13 said:


> Keep the filter running, but permanently remove the carbon, if you are using it. Many planted tank owners don't use carbon. Carbon will absorb and hold many (not all) of the ingredients of fert's. It will also absorb some of the vital and helpful trace metals the plants and fish need. It also absorbs harmful metals. A Catch-22. Oh, and carbon can remove CO2 from the water, fighting the injection we work so hard to achieve.
> .
> Remove the carbon, but maybe replace it with a pad that can remove ONLY phenols, which is what gives aquarium water its bad smell.


Now that is a misunderstanding of how carbon works. Carbon locks up molecules based upon the pore size created during the manufacturing process. Although laboratory grade carbon can remove all of those things aquarium carbon only traps very large molecules. All of the ferts we use are relatively small molecules (even chelated iron). Aquarium charcoal usually traps organic molecules of a significantly large size like many medications. There is always a chance of having a few small pores but the amount they will adsorp is miniscule. 

You really don't need to use carbon but it does make the water very clear. It will also remove any pond smell from forming in the tank. 

Back to the OP... I dump dry ferts directly into the HOB filter for my small tanks. Best way to spread them without getting any burn on delicate plants.


----------

