You have more technical know how than me, but one little caution, especially in the south of England (low rainfall and little reservoir capacity but still lots of intensive fertilisation of fields for high yields of cereal) tap water levels of Nitrate and Phosphate can vary significantly from the water company report, especially in the summer when more river rather than bore water is being used. This summer I did a large water change, not something I normally do, I generally let the harvesting of Salvinia and top-ups with deionised water do much of the heavy lifting. My tank water then registered much higher levels of Nitrate. Great content, all very honest.
I buy EI fert's premixed into macro and micro sachets, just add 1litre boiled and cooled water to each sachet. There's a choice of two types with or without co2. They will also mix your own recipe. You do need to know your tank water Phosphate and nitrate levels. To many aquarium UA-camr's talk down to people you don't, nice.👍👍
And improve your editing with more consistent upload And remember the way i just gave you , you have to maintain it for atleast 4-12 years Then you will be able to get 1. Or 2 million subscribers I was once a part time analytical manager for mr beast Thats why i think you should follow these
Needs a PC/laptop I'm afraid. I know the creators specifically mentioned in the forum a while back that they wouldn't recommend uploading to the cloud and using via Google sheets as they couldn't guarantee all the formulas wouldn't break. I guess you could try MS Excel on your phone. But regardless, the sheets are pretty huge so would be easier on a laptop. 👍
@@AquariumShed cheers, I'll charge one up later. Also , if you're on the book of faces , I have setup a South Wales Aquascaping page . I'll post this on there , feel free to join if you are .
Hiya. Yeah, it's unfortunate that they stopped trading very soon after I made this video. Must've been one of their last customers and wish I'd bought up more stock tbf. I haven't really had to buy any more yet, but I did need calcium sulphate the other day and used AquaPlantsCare-UK who are trading on Ebay. It seems decent quality, and they have everything you'd need including their own trace elements mix! 👍
Because with EI you want to reset to reach desired nutrient parameters. You'll never know exactly what your plants are using and not. So it can create and imbalance in nutrients. Adding more nutrients without a water change can make the imbalance bigger and bigger over time. lets say you dose all in one fertiliser every week without doing water change(50%) and your plants are using way more phosphate than nitrate. than after a month you can test and have nitrate of 50ppm and a phospate of 0ppm wich is gonna create big imbalance. I highly recommend buyng a PO4 and NO3 test so you can test what your plants are using and maybe if you have a lot of fish you'll have already enough. heavily planted tanks with c02 need extra macro's usaly.
@@kanaalmenno I have heavily planted tanks, 2 of them dirted (1 is traditional Walstad, other is deep substrate) and a 3rd tank that has an UG filter. I don't change water, and have no worse algae issues than this guy. I also have fish, and the fishfood is a large part of the slow-release fertilization (I rarely clean substrate). The deep substrate tank may need root tabs in the not so distant future since I didn't add any ferts when I set it up, and I add a little N-P-K to the Walstad and UG tanks because they both have a heavy amount of emersed growth. As you can imagine, most of my fertilizer is added to the UG tank due to the lack of soil ecology, as well as the large amount of nutrient hungry syngonium arrowheads growing as marginals. BTW, as a point of contention, plants suck up nitrate/ammonium like crazy, and I've never had nitrate issues, except one time when I heavily fertilized a basket hanging down from the back of the aquarium, and there ended up being a hole in the basket that was leaking ferts. And anyway, 50ppm is not an issue, either for the fish, or even for algae growth if the algae don't have everything they need to grow, such as iron for instance. Anyway, perhaps all these guys with minimal fish with a high emphasis on growing plants should experiment with throwing small amounts of sinking fishfood into their tanks anyway as a slow release fertilizer, possibly even pushing the food into the substrate as if they were root tabs (bacteria will eat the food).
@@Businessmindedjamaijan actually I did want an answer, and I understand it better now. High tech tanks have certain advantages I didn't see at the time, but they simply come with higher maintenance.
I came to the conclusion that liquid ferts are probably the single biggest ripoff in the planted aquarium hobby on my own, and I don't get why so many people continue to buy this massively watered down product. I don't need to add fertilizer in my dirted tanks, but I do fert my tank that has a DIY UG filter. But even in that tank, I mostly just rely on fish food for the macro and micro nutrients, though I have recently been padding out the NPK with a generic fertilizer which I already have on hand that only has NPK, but is high in phosphate, then I add some ammonium hydroxide (janitorial cleaning solution) and potassium chloride powder (from a whole foods store) for extra N and K. Also, you realize that magnesium sulfate is just Epsom salt, right? I assume you can get that on the cheap in the UK without any extra ingredients. I don't bother calculating a whole lot, I just get a basic idea of what I need to add to stay on the safe side, and just keep adding until I get the effect I want. I have test strips that tell me how much nitite/nitrate and phosphate I have; I just don't have a test for potassium yet.
@@jl644 What do you mean by 'it' though... If you mean that liquid ferts work, yeah, liquid ferts will do the job, it's just that you're mostly paying for water. It really doesn't take that much time and energy to get some cheap powdered ferts and make your own liquid solution, if you prefer the liquid. I just add the individual ferts directly to the tank.
Honestly, while too much copper can indeed kill invertebrates, the trace amounts in lots of fertiliser won't harm then. (and might even be beneficial by providing much needed trace copper) It mostly just is a problem when it's not at trace levels.
I downloaded the calculator, but most of the options there look like they are locked, and I can't proceed much. If it's silly, and maybe obvious for others, I apologize. Maybe I need to pay somehow for the access? Thank you.
Hi Julia. It's definitely free to access, although some cells are just locked because they are outputs. I wonder if you just need to enable editing on the spreadsheet perhaps. Otherwise, there is a great manual here from Hufsa - www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ifc-calculator-short-guide.68967/
how long can i keep the salts in my cabin? since i need like 9grams a mix and only can buy it in like 750grams packages it would last me like 400weeks can it go bad?
Hiya. I believe that if you keep fertiliser salts in cool dry conditions they'll essentially last indefinitely. I keep all of mine in sealed bags within an air tight storage box. 👍
@@AquariumShed Aight, thats good to know, now i just have to figure out if my calculation is fine with salts for the clone. i might just ask in the forum for it i guess 😁
@@kleetaru929 yeah, the UKAPS forum will be more than happy to help. Its such a great community. If you've used the calculator, I'm sure you can't have gone far wrong. 👍
For those who have nothing better to do than monkey around with fertilizers, I only hope that you best know EXACTLY what you're playing with when it comes to mixing dry fertilizers. Remember kindly if you will, this is exactly how people accidentally make high explosives. Save your time and money and hopefully, your house by purchasing a properly (& safely) manufactured aquarium fertilizer!
just cause you're british dont mean you know what you're talking about you may have these clown fooled but not me boy! MERCA (also i'm just joking i'm sure you know what youre talking about lol)
You have more technical know how than me, but one little caution, especially in the south of England (low rainfall and little reservoir capacity but still lots of intensive fertilisation of fields for high yields of cereal) tap water levels of Nitrate and Phosphate can vary significantly from the water company report, especially in the summer when more river rather than bore water is being used. This summer I did a large water change, not something I normally do, I generally let the harvesting of Salvinia and top-ups with deionised water do much of the heavy lifting. My tank water then registered much higher levels of Nitrate.
Great content, all very honest.
this vid just confirmed how easy it i should keep it and buy the commercial fertilizer
lol
I buy EI fert's premixed into macro and micro sachets, just add 1litre boiled and cooled water to each sachet. There's a choice of two types with or without co2. They will also mix your own recipe. You do need to know your tank water Phosphate and nitrate levels.
To many aquarium UA-camr's talk down to people you don't, nice.👍👍
Aah nice, what company do you buy these from? Cheers for the positive feedback! 👍
I'm going to keep with premix
I remember Ribera! Thanks for totally confusing me with the rest of it lol❤️🇦🇺
🤣🤣🤣
This man will go places
Mark my word
Aah that's really nice of you to say! What did you like about the video? Do you have any ideas for future content you would like to see?
And improve your editing with more consistent upload
And remember the way i just gave you , you have to maintain it for atleast 4-12 years
Then you will be able to get 1. Or 2 million subscribers
I was once a part time analytical manager for mr beast
Thats why i think you should follow these
sick, dude. I'm new to aquaponics and this will help a great deal
Does the calculator work on a phone or does it have to be on a pc/ laptop ?
Great video , thanks for posting
Needs a PC/laptop I'm afraid. I know the creators specifically mentioned in the forum a while back that they wouldn't recommend uploading to the cloud and using via Google sheets as they couldn't guarantee all the formulas wouldn't break. I guess you could try MS Excel on your phone. But regardless, the sheets are pretty huge so would be easier on a laptop. 👍
@@AquariumShed cheers, I'll charge one up later. Also , if you're on the book of faces , I have setup a South Wales Aquascaping page . I'll post this on there , feel free to join if you are .
Happy to help, and thanks very much. Not a huge book of facer, but I'll be sure to check out the page! 👍
You're voice is amazing. You need to look into voice acting!
Ha. That's very kind of you to say. Sounds like fun!
Can you recommend any other company for the salts,as this company ceased trading in March 2022
Hiya. Yeah, it's unfortunate that they stopped trading very soon after I made this video. Must've been one of their last customers and wish I'd bought up more stock tbf. I haven't really had to buy any more yet, but I did need calcium sulphate the other day and used AquaPlantsCare-UK who are trading on Ebay. It seems decent quality, and they have everything you'd need including their own trace elements mix! 👍
Question: If you have heavily planted tanks, why do water changes? My whole goal is a no-water-change very low maintenance system.
Because with EI you want to reset to reach desired nutrient parameters. You'll never know exactly what your plants are using and not. So it can create and imbalance in nutrients. Adding more nutrients without a water change can make the imbalance bigger and bigger over time.
lets say you dose all in one fertiliser every week without doing water change(50%) and your plants are using way more phosphate than nitrate. than after a month you can test and have nitrate of 50ppm and a phospate of 0ppm wich is gonna create big imbalance.
I highly recommend buyng a PO4 and NO3 test so you can test what your plants are using and maybe if you have a lot of fish you'll have already enough. heavily planted tanks with c02 need extra macro's usaly.
@@kanaalmenno I have heavily planted tanks, 2 of them dirted (1 is traditional Walstad, other is deep substrate) and a 3rd tank that has an UG filter. I don't change water, and have no worse algae issues than this guy. I also have fish, and the fishfood is a large part of the slow-release fertilization (I rarely clean substrate). The deep substrate tank may need root tabs in the not so distant future since I didn't add any ferts when I set it up, and I add a little N-P-K to the Walstad and UG tanks because they both have a heavy amount of emersed growth. As you can imagine, most of my fertilizer is added to the UG tank due to the lack of soil ecology, as well as the large amount of nutrient hungry syngonium arrowheads growing as marginals. BTW, as a point of contention, plants suck up nitrate/ammonium like crazy, and I've never had nitrate issues, except one time when I heavily fertilized a basket hanging down from the back of the aquarium, and there ended up being a hole in the basket that was leaking ferts. And anyway, 50ppm is not an issue, either for the fish, or even for algae growth if the algae don't have everything they need to grow, such as iron for instance. Anyway, perhaps all these guys with minimal fish with a high emphasis on growing plants should experiment with throwing small amounts of sinking fishfood into their tanks anyway as a slow release fertilizer, possibly even pushing the food into the substrate as if they were root tabs (bacteria will eat the food).
Why ask a question if you really dont want an answer. Everyone has different goals
@@Businessmindedjamaijan actually I did want an answer, and I understand it better now. High tech tanks have certain advantages I didn't see at the time, but they simply come with higher maintenance.
New subscriber 🎉 u are really saved me from everything ❤❤❤❤❤
Aah thats awesome, thank you so much! 👍
what if I need to mix the compounds separately? how do I do it?
Nice one mate !
😁👍
I came to the conclusion that liquid ferts are probably the single biggest ripoff in the planted aquarium hobby on my own, and I don't get why so many people continue to buy this massively watered down product. I don't need to add fertilizer in my dirted tanks, but I do fert my tank that has a DIY UG filter. But even in that tank, I mostly just rely on fish food for the macro and micro nutrients, though I have recently been padding out the NPK with a generic fertilizer which I already have on hand that only has NPK, but is high in phosphate, then I add some ammonium hydroxide (janitorial cleaning solution) and potassium chloride powder (from a whole foods store) for extra N and K. Also, you realize that magnesium sulfate is just Epsom salt, right? I assume you can get that on the cheap in the UK without any extra ingredients. I don't bother calculating a whole lot, I just get a basic idea of what I need to add to stay on the safe side, and just keep adding until I get the effect I want. I have test strips that tell me how much nitite/nitrate and phosphate I have; I just don't have a test for potassium yet.
But it works for me.
@@jl644 What do you mean by 'it' though... If you mean that liquid ferts work, yeah, liquid ferts will do the job, it's just that you're mostly paying for water. It really doesn't take that much time and energy to get some cheap powdered ferts and make your own liquid solution, if you prefer the liquid. I just add the individual ferts directly to the tank.
I'm cheap. I buy crystals for hydroponic fert and mix that. They do contain copper and cobalt, but my fish, snails, mosquito larvae are all ok.
Honestly, while too much copper can indeed kill invertebrates, the trace amounts in lots of fertiliser won't harm then. (and might even be beneficial by providing much needed trace copper)
It mostly just is a problem when it's not at trace levels.
I downloaded the calculator, but most of the options there look like they are locked, and I can't proceed much. If it's silly, and maybe obvious for others, I apologize. Maybe I need to pay somehow for the access? Thank you.
Hi Julia. It's definitely free to access, although some cells are just locked because they are outputs. I wonder if you just need to enable editing on the spreadsheet perhaps. Otherwise, there is a great manual here from Hufsa - www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ifc-calculator-short-guide.68967/
@@AquariumShed thank you very much for the reply, I'll give it a go.
No problem at all, hope you manage to work it out! 👍
Are these EI starter kits still available?
No. The company ceases to exist anymore.
how long can i keep the salts in my cabin? since i need like 9grams a mix and only can buy it in like 750grams packages it would last me like 400weeks can it go bad?
Hiya. I believe that if you keep fertiliser salts in cool dry conditions they'll essentially last indefinitely. I keep all of mine in sealed bags within an air tight storage box. 👍
@@AquariumShed Aight, thats good to know, now i just have to figure out if my calculation is fine with salts for the clone. i might just ask in the forum for it i guess 😁
@@kleetaru929 yeah, the UKAPS forum will be more than happy to help. Its such a great community. If you've used the calculator, I'm sure you can't have gone far wrong. 👍
@@AquariumShed thanks a lot sir and for ur answers, keep on doing ur content its great!
I never used branded fertilizers. I made my own. 👍😅
Smashing it! Nice work! 👍
I never fertilize enough
Very clever
Diolch, tho it's the guys at UKAPS that deserve all the credit. Hope all is well up North!?
@@AquariumShed yep still going strong up here mate 👍🏻
The sheet is not opening up in Google Sheets. Please suggest buddy.
Hiya, there are some guidance documents on the UKAPS forum. I believe this has only been tested to work on Excel. Sorry about that. 👍
i cant find fry salt anywhere
Whereabouts in the world are you? In the UK we have a seller on Ebay called Aqua-Plants-Care-UK that sells all of the required dry salts.
Just add CO2 if you want fizzy Ribena.
It semestre to contain no magnesium in it that s à bit problematic...
I’ll just keep paying the chemists.
Cool!
wow
in america if we ordered those ingredients we would have the feds at our doors lol
😂😂
For those who have nothing better to do than monkey around with fertilizers, I only hope that you best know EXACTLY what you're playing with when it comes to mixing dry fertilizers.
Remember kindly if you will, this is exactly how people accidentally make high explosives.
Save your time and money and hopefully, your house by purchasing a properly (& safely) manufactured aquarium fertilizer!
just cause you're british dont mean you know what you're talking about you may have these clown fooled but not me boy! MERCA (also i'm just joking i'm sure you know what youre talking about lol)