# can i safely "pre-mix" Floursih fertilizers?



## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

*can i safely "pre-mix" Flourish fertilizers?*

so i'm trying to get back into the habit of dosing ferts for my plants.

on my shelf currently:
flourish potassium
flourish nitrogen
flourish phosphorous
flourish

i'm going to need to buy some flourish excel at some point.

i find it extremely tedious to dose each separately.

so... to my question. can i pre-mix flourish, potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous in the correct proportions and just dose from one pre-mixed bottle?

my worry is if all the various stuff in the frets will interact and do something funky like start to smoke or something.

a while ago, i think trashion and JOM told me that i should dose flourish excel separately from the rest. i think i can handle that one.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

It is generally not a good idea to premix aquarium chemicals. If it were okay to do so, then no doubt the market would already be flooded with convenient single-bottle wonder solutions that do everything. 
Naturally, there are indeed many things that can be mixed, but just as many more cannot. In some cases their properties will change significantly when added to water, which is what allows them to be mixed in the tank, but until then they are too reactive with each other. 
I would guess that somebody somewhere has already figured out a lot of things which can and can't be mixed and made a chart out of them. I don't know of any such charts, but there's so darned many of them that one of them is bound to be the one you want. I would search the plant specialty sites for them, or maybe even the manufacturer's sites for the products you wish to blend.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

go: you asked what time it was which i shall answer but with modifications getting toward the construction of a Swiss Chronometer.



gil_ong said:


> so i'm trying to get back into the habit of dosing ferts for my plants.
> 
> on my shelf currently:
> flourish potassium
> ...


You can mix the K and Ph.

Do not even think about dosing the nitrogen if your nitrates are above 5ppm.

Also do no mix the Flourish and Excel or either with the other liquid ferts.

And lastly you appear to be in desperate need (just kidding of course :lol: :lol: :lol of *a quick course in plants for our aquariums* and using *dry ferts.*

Please do not start dosing with the concentrations set forth at Rex's site or you will be seeing green. Should you decide to go the dry fert route after you have used up you liquid ferts please post with the appropriate parameters.

TR


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

thanks, TOS and jones.


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

so, jones......

if i were to buy from aquariumfertilizer.com, what kinds of ferts should i be looking at?

is that why you wanted me to post my parameters? when should i test the water? right before my bi-weekly water change?


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

gil_ong said:


> if i were to buy from aquariumfertilizer.com, what kinds of ferts should i be looking at?


go: Well..... kinda depends on if you just want to try them out or get in for the long haul (as I did).

The short term is the PMDD Pre-Mix which I cannot recommend due to the inclusion of the Potassium Nitrate.

For the long term Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Sulfate,and CSM+B Plantex (note that you may later [like six or twelve months after you gain experience] need to order Iron Chelate 10% and Mono Potassium Phosphate).




gil_ong said:


> is that why you wanted me to post my parameters? when should i test the water? right before my bi-weekly water change?


go:

If your ammonia and nitrites concentration is zero and your nitrates concentration is less than 20 prior to a WC then you are in good shape.

TR


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

thanks, jones. my ammonia, nirtrites and nitrates are almost always zero.


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