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[Aquaholic]

Hi I am expat working  and Staying in Thailand, being aquarium  enthusiast , from  time to time I have  maintained couple of different types of reef /planted aquariums in my home country as well as in Bangkok , , I am big fan of both the sites siamreefclub.com and aqua.c1ub.net , they both are great sites

 what I  have observed   in Thailand is,  ADA  products are more famous  among Thai’s , almost every LFS (local fish shop) at Jatujak market sells and promotes ADA products and ADA methodology  for growing plants, they recommend  very high light as well,  while there other famous  theories and methodology for grown aquatic plants like PPS – Pro method, Walstad Method ,PPMD method, and the most popular Estimative Index  (EI dosing) method , I have never seen anyone  practicing  these methods nor any LFS  sells dry Salts like Kno3, k2so4,Kh2po4, Mgso4, etc  at least I have not seen any one at JJ market .
ADA , Seachem, Ferka, Tropica , Aquamania  this is  what they all have on their shelf’s, while Thai’s being  great DIY guys my Question is
why these alternative methods are not famous in Thailand?
 

[cherryinsiam]

 hey aquaholic
what are you currentlyy on?
 i am  dosing a kind of PPMD for  18 inches  no test kits though , i am using seachem line of products ,plants are less though so i really don't need much,  looking forward  to switch to  El dosing

[Aquaholic]

hi Cherryinsiam ,
i  have been using dry Salts and i have created my own NPK solutions from it , and i am following EI dosing regime ,
Not really a big fan of Branded Fertz, for Macro (NPK) i use dry salts they are easily available in Bangkok , while Micro(trace elements)  i still have to relay on tropica, and flourish iron, unable to find something similar to plantex  CSM+B,  importing chemicals  requires a certificate in Thailand so i cannot import it, , for  DTPA chelated iron i found a source in bkk but unfortunately they are selling not less then 25 kgs which is too much for me,  so for now i have given up on micro's ,
may be we should start a new  thread on dry fertz and EI dosing method,  i can do the initial "Get started" and list my sources , let's try to find more people who are interested, if this could catch the attention of  our Thai hobbyist friends then sourcing of fertz will become easy and all of us can save money and grow plants with confidence while keep algae's to minimum

[cherryinsiam]

Not at all a  bad idea

[บัง!]

Why these alternative methods are not famous in Thailand?

It's too complicated. Most of them come into this hobby because they like planted aquarium as a piece of art.
They don't want to do something like reading, planning, calculating or measuring. They just have fun with it. You'll face a lot of these "Thai styles" many....many more if you stay here longer.

Still, Some of us take this hobby kinda more "serious" way and practice Walstad, PMDD and EI Dosing too.

Not really a big fan of Branded Fertz, for Macro (NPK) i use dry salts they are easily available in Bangkok , while Micro(trace elements)  i still have to relay on tropica, and flourish iron, unable to find something similar to plantex  CSM+B,  importing chemicals  requires a certificate in Thailand so i cannot import it, , for  DTPA chelated iron i found a source in bkk but unfortunately they are selling not less then 25 kgs which is too much for me,  so for now i have given up on micro's

Micro or trace elements can be found at some gardening store, a little bit harder in Bangkok though.

This one called "Nic-Spray" are easiest to find.




You can get more information here. wesco.co.th



This one was also very popular back then.

But...as you can see, All of the label are in Thai. You may have a hard time.

[Aquaholic]

got it
so better to leave the fun guys with branded stuff, 555
by the way thanks for the references,
http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=27
looks interesting, 13%  Fe,
i don't know if they sell it in small quantities, 500 grams or 1 kg
 

[cherryinsiam]

got it
so better to leave the fun guys with branded stuff, 555
by the way thanks for the references,
http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=27
looks interesting, 13%  Fe,
i don't know if they sell it in small quantities, 500 grams or 1 kg

nic-spray
http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=61
is this good enough,  has some one used this before as micro's?

[บัง!]

nic-spray
http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=61
is this good enough,  has some one used this before as micro's?

It works quite well. I used it in my 48" tank for more than half a years.
But I lost it to humidity after that, You've got to be carefully about moisture in Thailand.
Everything can go damp and get mold. Keep it in air-tight box with silica gel.

[cherryinsiam]

It works quite well. I used it in my 48" tank for more than half a years.
But I lost it to humidity after that, You've got to be carefully about moisture in Thailand.
Everything can go damp and get mold. Keep it in air-tight box with silica gel.

Wow that's great ,how much do you add (grams) in your 48 each week and or Per dose

[บัง!]

1-2 grams, But I didn't pay much attention to how regular. Just when I notice a symptom of micro nutrient lagging.  That happen sometime if I don't change the water for a long period.
This tank is kinda Walstad or Low-tech...may be (112w T5 light and fish feeding but no filter, no CO₂, no cooling device and minimum fertilization.) so it do not require much and regular water change.

This tank age is around 2-3 years old. pruning and 20% water change half or once a year.

This is after I re-do the planting last time. It's a tank for keeping unused plant propose, so please don't pay attention to floating anubias and the basket.  [อื่มมม...]

[cherryinsiam]

1-2 grams, But I didn't pay much attention to how regular. Just when I notice a symptom of micro nutrient lagging.  That happen sometime if I don't change the water for a long period.
This tank is kinda Walstad or Low-tech...may be (112w T5 light and fish feeding but no filter, no CO₂, no cooling device and minimum fertilization.) so it do not require much and regular water change.

This tank age is around 2-3 years old. pruning and 20% water change half or once a year.

This is after I re-do the planting last time. It's a tank for keeping unused plant propose, so please don't pay attention to floating anubias and the basket.  [อื่มมม...]

low tech, won't give much of headaches , unless you know how to balance , great job keep it up

[Aquaholic]

nic-spray
http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=61
is this good enough,  has some one used this before as micro's?

wanna  to try it, didn't get time to hunt for these fertz


MgO 8.97%

Fe 3.74%. Fe  is low but mix with( http://www.wesco.co.th/product/product_detail.php?chkID=62) with ratio
1(Nic Spray) :3 Librel Fe-Lo  should work

Mn 4.16%.
Cu 1.59%.  (copper is   high ) i don't know if that level of Cu might create copper toxicity   
Zn 1.78%.
B 0.54%.
Mo 0.10%.
use in quantity of CSM-B or bit less should be fine i guess ,

[บัง!]

Taken today with my cell. Not much of a change inside except more fishs [เหะๆ]

But It's not low-tech anymore after I replaced T5 with LED strip light 144w and canister filter equiped for new 50 Cardinal tetras and 4 ฺBlue ram platinum short body, Cooling fan, DIY Automatic water change and top-off system, so it's kinda high-tech now [lol] But still no CO₂.

[Aquaholic]

Taken today with my cell. Not much of a change inside except more fishs [เหะๆ]

But It's not low-tech anymore after I replaced T5 with LED strip light 144w and canister filter equiped for new 50 Cardinal tetras and 4 ฺBlue ram platinum short body, Cooling fan, DIY Automatic water change and top-off system, so it's kinda high-tech now [lol] But still no CO₂.

DIY automatic water change and top-off, interesting ,  how do you do that?