(Help with Math) DIY ChaetoGro

[aquariusgine]

Hi, I live in a European country where it is hard to get ChaetoGro because of increased Import VAT (tariffs) and tighter regulations on fertilizers. I currently have enough to last me about a year.

I asked ChatGPT to put together a recipe for me based on the salts I can find and 10ml dose in 200liter to increase iron concentration by 0.1mg/l. I asked it twice just to make sure there wasn't a calculation error and only potassium sulfate came out different. The other recipe listed about 19grams.

The salts in ChaetoGro are easy for me to source but I do have a few concerns.

1. Does the math look roughly ok? I haven't done chemistry since high school.
2. Iodine and Nickel are not listed in guaranteed analysis even though they are being dosed so I settled for these values. Are they too high/ low? I will be dosing 0.1mg/l iron daily as that is how much is being used.
3. Are any of the salts particularly dangerous to handle for a hobbyist at home? Cobalt chloride needs extra precautions according to ChatGPT.
4. Can all these salts be mixed in the same solution?

That's all I got for now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Checking all that math is a lot of work, and I’ll make a few comments before doing so.

The calcium and magnesium is unnecessary. The addition is too low to be useful and I would not bother.

I’m not a fan or iron edta. It is too strongly chelated. It needs to break apart to be useful. Ferrous citrate or gluconate are better.

Are you already dosing any other trace supplement?

 

[aquariusgine]

Checking all that math is a lot of work, and I’ll make a few comments before doing so.

The calcium and magnesium is unnecessary. The addition is too low to be useful and I would not bother.

I’m not a fan or iron edta. It is too strongly chelated. It needs to break apart to be useful. Ferrous citrate or gluconate are better.

Are you already dosing any other trace supplement?

Oh no, I just meant skim through and see if anything look off. You don't have to check all of it unless you want to.

I do have ferrous gluconate on hand but the only traces I dose now are from ChaetoGro. I guess I could opt out of using EDTA and have it be traces + ferrous gluconate.

I used to dose All for Reef but recently switched to Tropic Marin's Balling Part B (Sodium carbonate/ bicarbonate) for KH. I only have a few soft corals, so most of the KH consumption comes from the green macroalgae.

What I'm dosing these days: sodium nitrate, monopotassium phosphate, ChaetoGro and Tropic Marin's Balling Part B. Occasionally, I use All for Reef to replenish traces.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just quick checked the potassium calculation and it looks correct for the dose.

 

[aquariusgine]

If so, then I think the rest of the math is fine.

About iodine, do you think this amount is good daily or should I increase it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My general thought on iodine is that it is ok to add a full 0.06 ppm once a week or so if growing macroalgae. In my old tank it depleted in a few days. The above dose is 0.04 ppm per week, which seems fine to me.

As to iron, I think there is a huge range of iron that is ok.

 

[aquariusgine]

Got it. Thank you Randy!

One last question, what kind of test did you use test for iodine? Right now I have the one by Red Sea.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Got it. Thank you Randy!

One last question, what kind of test did you use test for iodine? Right now I have the one by Red Sea.

I cannot recall what I used many years ago. Probably Salifert.

In my current tank I have only measured it by ICP. I was dosing it in addition to AFR since I grow a lot of macroalgae and thought there was a possibility it might help it grow, but an icp test shows I was dosing too much and I stopped.

 

[aquariusgine]

I cannot recall what I used many years ago. Probably Salifert.

In my current tank I have only measured it by ICP. I was dosing it in addition to AFR since I grow a lot of macroalgae and thought there was a possibility it might help it grow, but an icp test shows I was dosing too much and I stopped.

Is it normal for ferrous gluconate to turn the water cloudy immediately after dosing?

I have Seachem Flourish iron but I'm thinking of just making a new one myself.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have not noticed any cloudiness with the ferrous gluconate I use, but I have to admit I do not watch closely when I dose it. I would not chemically expect cloudiness.

 

[Koty]

I found that since I started adding Tropic Marin A and K elements at only 1/4 the recommended dosage, my Cheato has started to take off and, as a result, maintain the nitrate close to 0. This is in the background of a rather heavy bioload of well-fed fish. Phosphate, however, is another story: it has to be dealt with separately (GFO... and a lot of it)