Epsom Salt & Plants

[carsten]

Does anyone know what the impact (if any) of using 1-2 teaspoons / 10 gallons of epsom salt in a heavily planted tank?

Thanks

Carsten

[ChloroPhil]

Epsom Salts are Magnesium Sulfate and is beneficial for plants. I would recommend using 1 tbsp per 50g. I was able to get some under the label "EpsoGrow" for under two dollars at Lowe's. The price to volume is cheaper than buying it at your drug store.

[Paulio]

Yeah it is good for plants. Are you intending to use it medicinaly or for trace for plants?

Paul

[carsten]

I had to use it medicinaly. Should continue to add it on a regular basis as trace for the plants?

Thanks for the relpy.

Carsten

[ChloroPhil]

Yes, a maintenance dose of my above recommendation is a good idea. BTW, what were you treating with the salts?

[Paulio]

You can learn about making your own fertilizer/nutirent dosing drops here:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/

Epsom is one of the ingredients. Another excellent page on plant nutrients is here:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/


HTH
Paul

[BlueDolphin055]

Two questions:

Why are epsom salts good for plants?

Is Canning & Pickling salts good for plants?

[ChloroPhil]

Epsom salts are Magnesium Sulfate and plants need a good deal of Mg.

[BlueDolphin055]

Then would canning and pickling salt be the same thing? And if so, how much would you use in a ten gallon tank?

[ChloroPhil]

Sorry, I didn't answer the second question. No, canning/pickling salts wouldn't be good. They can be used in the same manner as Aquarium Salts, but Magnesium Sulfate/Epsom Salts are a totally different creature and are what you need for plants.

[BlueDolphin055]

;D How much of the epsom salts would I use for a 10 gallon plant tank? :)

[chavez720]

Watch out for the Canning Pickling salt! They main ingredient is usually Calcium Hydroxide and some other trace amounts of salts. You will sky rocket your pH to about 14 and make it unlivable for any fish.

Reefers use this salt to raise Alkalinity and Calcium levels for coral growth.

[ChloroPhil]

Try a small pinch to start with. It won't take much for that stuff to hurt a small tank.

[BlueDolphin055]

Well what about a 29 to begin with? You see, I have a 29 gallon plant/Discus tank and what I do is I'll take 10 gallons out and put 10 gallons back in that has had peat in it.

[chavez720]

The first question you should ask yourself is do you really need to add Epsom Salt (MgSO4).

Do you have any measurable hardness (GH) in your tank?
How are the plants doing?

I have actually stopped adding Mg to my discus tank. No effect on the plants. My Gh is around 2-3 (Depending on the rain). There is more than enough Mg in the water for the plants, no supplemental amount is needed. To replace the Mg that is used by the plants I just do a water change of 50% every week.

By adding more Mg I was just raising the GH in my tank. There was no effect (Better growth, robustness, algae) of either adding or not adding to the water column.

Would not add Mg in my case unless I switched to pure RO or did not do regular water changes. In any rate just add some - 1/4 tablespoon (adding on full tablespoon to to a 75gal)