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Re: Serious ferilizers



I guess I am in the same boat as Rachel,  trying to get KH/GH right.
Michael Rubin's response leads to a couple of questions I have.  Background-
I have soft water 1-3 KH & 5 GH.  I add Seachem Equilibrium (old formula)
and baking soda at water change to maintain 3-4 KH & 7-8 GH.  High pressure
CO2, PO4, K2SO4, KNO3, and Fe/traces are all added as needed.

Michael Rubin wrote-
"For what it's worth, last year Seachem redesigned their Equilibrium
product.  the new version, now at least a year old, doesn't harden ito rock
while sitting on my shelf.  Additionally, the Ca:Mg ration has been reversed
from 1:2.5 to something like 2.5:1, which is just the right proportion, and
is a great GH builder. "

Should I deposit the old formula in the garden and pick up some new?

" I use bicarb for KH, and find that I need to adjust them separately from
time to time to hit my target.  There are supplements that will raise both
GH ad KH, such as Aragonite.  Rather than bothering to try to dissolve CaCO3
I just leave it in my sum in a nylon bag for awhile, removing it after the
target has been reached."

Adding CaCO3 is the issue I am confused about.  I thought what I have read
about increasing KH says to use either baking soda or CaCO3.  My tap water
has a range of 2.2 to 6.3 ppm Ca with an average of 3.3.  If I am only
adding baking soda could I have a shortage of Ca?  Water changes are 50%
every week or two.  Why do I ask?  Crypts have not done well (permanent
melt?) and Tropica "windelov" gets serious blackened leaves in the light,
but is very nice if buried under overhanging leaves.  Bolbitus h.  is
growing rapidly but does get blackened leaves.  I have monitored macros and
micros carefully so am only left with Ca and Mg.  Any thoughts?

Also, I do have a bottle of CaCO3 from the hydro store.  If I use this how
long does the cloudiness last?  Would putting it into a Diatom filter
dissolve it without the cloudiness and how long might that take?

Thanks for any help.
Regards,
Jay Reeves