Maybe I’m not smart enough..

[Wildwhimsy]

Just spent a little while browsing through this thread list. Was hoping to figure out a solution for fertilizing all of my tanks without spending so much money. I currently have 8 tanks at varying levels of complexity and am also brainstorming a bowl and at least 4 other tanks. So- lots of fertilizer. But man!! I feel like apt3 will not last me long. Especially if I’m front dosing (I think that’s what Rocco called it) like was recommended in my journal post.
After reading through some of these posts I wonder if I have the comprehension skills to be able to do some of these things I see resources for! I’m so glad to have found this site. Def wish the app worked for me though.

 

[Pepere]

It is a learning curve, but once you get into it, you find it is easier than you thought.

I use dry salts to mix my own macros and micros.

I have two 75 gallons tanks, two 29 gallon tanks and two 20 high tanks that see weekly 66% water changes with front loading after water change, and then daily dosing through the week to replenish nutrients consumed in the prior day..

My fertilizer cost for these tanks is about $5.00 a month.. so there are cheaper options..

I have a dosing bottle for macronutrients and another for trace nutrients. I use the same two bottles of solutions for tanks with co2 supplementation and tanks without. The tanks without end up getting about 1/2 the volume of fertilizer per 10 gallons than the co2 enriched tanks..

There are all sorts of dosing regimens and philosophies out there. And there are lots of people here willing to help you out in getting over the learning curve..

 

[JayP]

Another option to save money but still keep things simple, is to go with @Burr740's COMP-LE all-in-one dry mix and get the gallon pack. It should last you a long time. Joe includes instructions with the packs.
Burr Aqua COMP-LE

 

[JacksonL]

Another option to save money but still keep things simple, is to go with @Burr740's COMP-LE all-in-one dry mix and get the gallon pack. It should last you a long time. Joe includes instructions with the packs.
Burr Aqua COMP-LE

Something like this or even his split macro/micro mixes are a good first step as you learn about fertilisers.
You can experiment with front loading and different dosing levels, get an idea how it all works, then later on if you wish you can move to DIY.
Of course you can also dive right into DIY and you will find plenty of help here to do so!

 

[Minorhero]

The cheap solution as mentioned is mixing fertilizer yourself from the dry salts. Various people/companies have salts you can buy. NilocG and GLA are the two companies I am familiar with. Both have salts you can buy to dose Estimative Index fertilizer. To be able to do it yourself you will need a small scale capable of measuring grams (a small kitchen scale is fine), and some distilled or RODI water, and two containers to hold the mixed solutions. That's it.

It feels more complicated then it really is. After you do it once you will be able to repeat the process pretty easily. Good luck!

 

[Koan]

After reading through some of these posts I wonder if I have the comprehension skills to be able to do some of these things I see resources for

custom mixing dry ferts makes my head hurt too.

I use Joe's @Burr740 premixed macro and micro dry ferts, that you dump into a 1 gallon bottle of distilled water, and it lasts a really long time. Very cost-effective and the plants love it

BurrAqua Post in thread '**Plants In Stock @ BurrAqua.com** - Complete Plant List - Updated In Real Time!'

Apr 30, 2025

Can you put information about your dry salts here too? I’m out of MgSO4, partway through everything else, so trying to figure out the best way to switch over.

Thanks for asking about this. Ive been waiting to list the ferts until retail packaging is ready to roll, that should be done in a couple of weeks. I dont have individual salts, like the MgSO4 you mentioned

What I have is the popular pre-mixed packs of both micros and macros to make your own solution. You just add the entire pack to your dosing container and mix using distilled or RO water

Spoiler: Read More

The micros has Fe DTPA+ Fe...

• Burr740

• 

 

[Pepere]

custom mixing dry ferts makes my head hurt too.

The concept can seem overwhelming initially.

In practice on an ongoing basis, meh…

If you can follow a recipe to make muffins, then mixing your own ferts is simple

I have five 1 liter dosing bottles. 1 bottle holds my secondary micro solution. It has chemical formula of the compounds that go in it and the weight of them all written on a piece of paper that is covered with packing tape taped to the bottle. I mix up a bottle of this once a year. The weights and compounds are all written out. I never need to calculate it.

I have 2 Macro bottles and 2 Micro bottles. 1 of each is an active bottle with solution in it, the others I clean well after use and then use to mix up replacement solutions about a week before needing them to let the compounds dissolve fully.

Each Macro bottle and each micro bottle has the recipe written on paper taped to the bottle in the same manner.. again, I dont have to calculate anything or look it up from bottle to bottle…. I just weigh out the compound and pour it into a bottle using distilled water, cap and shake. I then shake it several times a day as I walk by it until everything is dissolved,

For the numbers and gallonage of tanks I have I mix up a bottle of Macros every other week, and a bottle of Micros monthly. Everything is written up like a recipe and on the dosing bottles weigh and pour. Takes 10 minutes per bottle tops…. If you can make muffins, you can make fertilizer solutions. If anything the ferts are easier, no cracking eggs, no having to wash off gooey mixed batter sticking to stuff…

A bottle of Macros involves me weighing out 3 compounds, and i throw in a tiny amount of potassium sorbate as a preservative and a tiny amount of ascorbic acid..

My micro solution involves weighing out 5 compounds and the potassium sorbate and ascobic acid. Adding water to the 800 ml mk. Shaking it a bit to disperse and then adding 30 mls of secondary solution that is mixed up once a year…. Shake a bit and then top off the bottle with distilled water. Shake it 3-4 times a day for a day or two,.. done for a month…

I didnt even come up with the recipe myself.

I happily used @GreggZ micro recipe which he was so generous to share, and got my Macro recipe from the PPS Pro recipe on Green Leaf Aquariums website, though I have since then increased the phosphates KH2PO4 to 15 grams from the 5.4 in their recipe..

A milligram scale can be bought from Amazon for under $30.00.

Joe’s mixes certainly adds convenience and are without question a good formulation and pour and fill convenient…



Yes the handwriting is Rather uneven. I have struggled with dysgraphia my whole life and writing is a struggle for me andgetting harder as I age. I really concentrated on writing that out and went really slow…. Its not pretty but it gets the job done..

Every morning at the same time my phone gives an alarm to dose the tanks. On my co2 supplemented tanks I dose 2 mls per 10 gallons of water daily, on my tanks without co2 I dose 1 ml per 10 gallons daily.. and after dosing I feed the fish.

Every day I feed the fish and feed the plants. Its easier that way for me. I never really forget to feed the fish, honestly the alarm is mostly superfluous… the idea of having to remember to dose macros on Monday , Wednesday and Friday and micros on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday is not conducive to my ADHD brain….

I do 66% water changes on the weekend usually. Could be Saturday, could be Sunday.. sometimes when family obligations interfere it is done a weeknight.. but usually and most often on Saturdays…. After refilling the tank with water, dechlor and Calcium and Magnesium, .I add 6 times daily dose of macros (Front loading) to tank to raise the Macros fertilizer level back up to what it was before I changed the water and I add a daily dose of Micros…. The daily doses throughout the week replenishes what the plants utilized the previous day…

Learning to use Rotala Butterfly calculator is well worthwhile, but isnt so much used on a day to day basis mixing up your ferts. Mostly your just following the recipe. If you can follow directions and weigh accurately and fill water to the line accurately you have all the skills needed.

Within a month or two, you will be left wondering why it was so overwhelming in concept…