Product and tank help

[LookinRound]

1) I currently have the following products: Seachem complete, excel, iron, replenish and just ordered Prime. Regarding the products, I want to keep them in smaller yorker bottles (http://www.vetrimark.com/YT1012-thru-YT1002.jpeg) for ease of use and the ability to draw them up in a syringe for dosing. Of the products I have (but also others that come in your pack #1 & #2) are they safe to have in a clear bottle? Do any of them need to be or benefit from being stored in a fridge (for long term [the part I don't put in the yorker] or short term [even the part in the yorker])? Reading through past posts I found the iron does not expire, can the same be said for the others? Thank you, I have been very pleased with the products thus far.

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2) Next part of my inquiry is in regards to my tanks. I have a Fluval spec V tank with 18" Finnex Ray2 lighting currently elevated a bit to decrease intensity until I get CO2. Inhabitants are 5 chili rasbora, 4 small mixed shrimp, and 2 horned nerite snails. Plants include 3 large dwarf water lettuce, Echinodorus 'vesuvius', and today added some red root floaters. I have been dosing 1 mL excel daily, 0.5mL complete twice weekly, and most recently started the iron as 0.5mL every other week (2 doses so far). I have been using RO water, 20% water change about every 2-4 weeks. My water parameters have been very stable (tested weekly past 2 months. Tests run before any water change. Tests are all accurate as they have been used with other (newer) tanks and show values over 0.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH ~7.5
Temp 75-78
gH 3 (4 now that I am using replenish at time of water change/topping off water level)
kH 3
phosphate 0-0.25

A few of my questions, regarding the tank:
a) Ideally what should I be aiming gH and kH to be? With replenish I am able to increase the gH, but how do I get kH up if I need to?
b) my nitrates are 0 and have never gone above that. I plan on adding more fish (chili and galaxy rasbora), but don't want to do that until I get the CO2 started and add in dwarf baby tears to start carpeting. From reading previous posts, it looks like a 10:1 ratio of nitrates:phosphates is recommend. Would it be better for me to aim for 5 or 10 for nitrates? or else?
c) would you recommend a difference dosing frequency for the iron? Also, when I dose the iron on one of the same days I dose the complete, any issue with this, or better to do it differently?

Sorry for typing so much, I hope giving more detail makes it easier to answer the questions. Any recommendations and info greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

[LookinRound]

Re: Product and tank help

Any help? Thank you

[Tech Support AH]

Re: Product and tank help

Thank you for your post. I will answer your questions in the order asked for clarity:

There should be no issue storing these in a separate container, however do keep in mind that if stored in a clear container products containing organics, vitamins, and trace minerals will maintain integrity longer if kept away from light sources as light can cause them to break down slightly. This will not cause them to expire, but instead may cause them to be less effective. If you use these containers, I would suggest to store under the tank away from light. Also, the supplements do not need to be stored in the refrigerator and may be stored at room temperature. Finally, none of the products including Flourish Iron have a finite life span and thus do not expire.

Regarding your tank:
a) You should aim for a GH and kH that will most benefit both the fish you are keeping as well as the plant species housed there. This will ensure that your inhabitants are healthy, happy and will live a prolonged life span due to replication of parameters that closely mirror the natural environment where you would find these organisms. You can increase kH through the addition of a carbonate based buffer system such as Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer or by using the product aquavitro carbonate.
b) The concentration will depend on whether your are reading nitrogen and phosphorous or nitrate and phosphate. The N:P ratio is 5:1, but if you are using a nitrate kit (testing total nitrogen sources) and a phosphate test kit, you will aim for a 10:1 ratio.
c) There is no issue dosing Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Iron on the same day. I would recommend to dose as recommended 2-3 times a week, or if you are using a dosing pump, you can spread the dosing out a little every day.

I hope this helps to answer your questions. Have a nice day!

[LookinRound]

Re: Product and tank help

Thank you. Though none of them need to be in the fridge, is there any problem keeping them there (I have a mini fridge in the room and it'd keep them dark).

a) For changing the kH, if my pH is currently at a good spot, it would be best not to use the Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer, correct? If I was to use one of those (even in another tank) does it tend to wear off with time even if no water change? That is, will I need to do it frequently to try to maintain that targeted pH? The aquavitro carbonate also adds potassium, how might I see this effecting my tanks?

b) Right now I have the nitrate and phosphate tests. Is there a benefit a nitrogen test over nitrate test? I couldn't find a nitrogen test by you guys either.

c) So, you recommend doing the iron twice weekly as well instead of the every 2 weeks I'm currently doing? Negative to doing too much?

and lastly, currently my tests are all API. Are there any papers you have that compare accuracy and consistency between theirs and yours? Any benefit of yours over API and vice versa?

Thank you so much for all your help.

[Tech Support AH]

Re: Product and tank help

a) If your pH is stable and KH is constant, then your pH should remain stable in the system without the addition of buffers at this time. I would suggest that you continue to monitor levels and buffer as needed when buffering capacity changes. The buffers do not simply "wear off", but rather buffering capacity changes upon the addition of acidifying sources such as organic acid which is produced in the presence of fish, plants, corals, fish food, fish waste, etc. Once your pH is locked in, typically you should only need to add buffer when performing water changes or once or twice a month for maintenance. The potassium will not harm your system, but will not be necessary or readily utilized if no plants are present.

b) No you may use either test. Typically you will not find "nitrogen" tests so you may test nitrate.

c) You can perform the iron test as needed to monitor your iron level in the system. Typically people will do this once a week to once a month to check to see that iron consumption rates are constant.

A benefit of our test kits to all other kits on the market are that they contain reference solutions hat you can use to validate results. If you get the proper reading when running a reference test using the included solution, you can be assured that your results are valid.