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All in one solution & Auto dosing with pump

LondonDragon

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21 Feb 2008
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Hi guys,

I have purchased a dosing pump and before I start using it, I want to do some tests for a couple of weeks to make sure the dosing amounts are correct first, using just water.

But I wanted to get started in this all in one solution so will need some help with quantities.

At present I dose:

KNO3 = 1.77 grams 3x a week
K2S04 = 0.8 grams 3x a week
KH2PO4 = 0.5 grams 3x a week
MgSO4 = 4.6 grams 3x a week
Trace from AE = 0.5 3x a week

The pump can dose 50ml in one minute which is my plan, if I were to mix this into 2 liters of water and dose 50ml per day, how would I work out the quantities I need of each for the 2 liter mixture??

Also I know I need E300 Ascorbic Acid and E202 Potassium Sorbate, how much would I need of these two aswell??

I also plan to place an air stone at the bottom of the bottle and 5 minutes before dosing I will run it for 2 minutes to mix the contents properly before dosing.

Other question is could I mix EasyCarbo in this solution? I dose at present 5ml per day or 10 ml every couple of days. If so what quantity would I need?


...:: Edit Start::...

My calculations for EI are made using NutriCalc which you Windows users can download here: http://www.cherniaksoftware.com/homepag ... riCalc.exe

In my final solution I added an extra 20% on top of what is recommended by NutriCalc. This was suggested to me by Matt Holbrook-Bull when I first joined the forum and works a treat for me.

...:: Edit End::...

Many thanks
Paulo
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

OK, you have 2,000ml and dose 50ml per time. So that's 2,000/50 = 40 doses.

So the amount you need to mix up in the 2 litres for a daily dose is:
KNO3 = (1.77x40x3)/7 = 30.3g
K2S04 = (0.8x40x3)/7 = 13.7g
KH2PO4 = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g
MgSO4 = (4.6x40x3)/7 = 78.9g
Trace from AE = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g

For the Ascorbic I use 0.5g in 500ml, so for 2,000ml you would need 0.5x4 = 2g
For the Pot Sorbate I use 0.2g in 500ml, so for 2,000ml you would need 0.2x4 = 0.8g or 1g is near enough.

These two figures are a guess only. I have tended to add a bit more as I use measuring spoons as it's easier with the small amounts.

With regard to easy carbo I haven't got a clue, but I'd guess you can't do it. Once dosed in the tank it has fairly quick half life of several hours, so possibly if added to the dosing solution it could also start to break down. But if you did want to test it then if you normally dose 5ml daily you'd need to add 5x40 = 200ml to the 2 litre solution.

Hopefully my maths are correct.
James
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

JamesC said:
KNO3 = (1.77x40x3)/7 = 30.3g
K2S04 = (0.8x40x3)/7 = 13.7g
KH2PO4 = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g
MgSO4 = (4.6x40x3)/7 = 78.9g
Trace from AE = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g

James,

Out of interest may i ask where these values come from?

I realise the 40 is for 40 doses, but cannot make sense of the others. :lol:

Cheers Gordon.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

BINKSY1973 said:
JamesC said:
KNO3 = (1.77x40x3)/7 = 30.3g
K2S04 = (0.8x40x3)/7 = 13.7g
KH2PO4 = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g
MgSO4 = (4.6x40x3)/7 = 78.9g
Trace from AE = (0.5x40x3)/7 = 8.6g

James,

Out of interest may i ask where these values come from?

I realise the 40 is for 40 doses, but cannot make sense of the others. :lol:

Cheers Gordon.

For a tank the size of LD's you would "normally" dose 1.77g of KNO3, three times a week, but since LD is dosing daily you take the usual dose (1.77g) times 3, which gives you the weekly dose and divide it by the number of days per week (7).
I write "normally" as EI needs to be tweaked to fit your specific setup once you've run the tank for a few weeks on the amount suggested in the EI article.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

Thanks for clearing that up. Im sure others will find that useful too.

Cheers Gordon.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

After doing some tests with the pump this evening, it actually does 40ml per minute and not 50ml. I have done severall 5 minute tests and it always doses 200ml acurately.
So I need to change my misture a little, instead of 2 liters I am going to use 1.4 liters for 35 doses. So like this I create a solution once a month.

So see if I get this right:

1,400ml and dose 40ml per time. So that's 1,400/40 = 35 doses.

So daily dose using JamesC calculations:
KNO3 = (1.77x35x3)/7 = 26.6g
K2S04 = (0.8x35x3)/7 = 12g
KH2PO4 = (0.5x35x3)/7 = 7.5g
MgSO4 = (4.6x35x3)/7 = 69g
Trace from AE = (0.5x35x3)/7 = 7.5g

Ascorbic 0.5x3 = 1.5g
Sorbate 0.2x3 = 0.6g

Sounds about right I guess???

Also about the container being sealed is it a problem if its not air tight? Will it loose its strenght?
Cheers
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

LondonDragon said:
Also about the container being sealed is it a problem if its not air tight? Will it loose its strenght?

I believe a few people keep their solutions in the 500ml pop bottles.

So why not use one of the 2l bottles, drill two holes for your lines to go through in the top (two as your planning on using an air pump too) and if needs be seal them up.

Just a thought.

Cheers Gordon.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

Superman said:
I'll be really interested in to see how this goes on.
I'd love to auto dose the ferts.
Where do you expect to drop the solution into? Would you pump it into the filter?
I will make a journal out of it here, I just planted glosso too for this reason, so I have some fast demanding plant in there so that I can see the effects of the auto dosing.
I would drip the solution in a region with lots of flow so it will get spread around the tank quicker, maybe just before lights on.

BINKSY1973 said:
I believe a few people keep their solutions in the 500ml pop bottles.
So why not use one of the 2l bottles, drill two holes for your lines to go through in the top (two as your planning on using an air pump too) and if needs be seal them up.
Just a thought.
Cheers Gordon.
The thing is if I seal it and pump air into it to mix it up the air must escape somewhere, maybe silicone a one way valve in the bottle too?? but when the pump operated and removes the mixture again air needs to come into the bottle I guess??
Hmm this is getting complicated LOL
Maybe two valves, one in and one out??
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

LondonDragon said:
The thing is if I seal it and pump air into it to mix it up the air must escape somewhere

Hmmm yes sorry was't thinking straight.

LondonDragon said:
Maybe two valves, one in and one out??

But if you do this surely you may as well just have a small hole in the top of your container?

Hopefully some one else may have a beter idea. :lol:

Cheers Gordon.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

Can i just ask i have got all the things together now to mix my all in one solution apart from my Pottassium Sulphate.

The dry ferts came today in the post but one bag missing and a note on the advice slip saying this will follow next week.

My Question is can i make a solution with out the Potassium Sulphate to get me going?

Or am i just being impatient? :lol:

Sorry for the hijack Paulo.

Cheers Gordon.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

BINKSY1973 said:
But if you do this surely you may as well just have a small hole in the top of your container?
Hopefully some one else may have a beter idea. :lol:
Cheers Gordon.
Well I was thinking if there is no pressure to bring something in or out then nothing would pass through I guess!!

Also about the dry ferts, since you ordered it I would rather wait and use the complete set ;)
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

After a lot of tests over the last few days it works very well, now I just have to wait for the E300 Ascorbic Acid and E202 Potassium Sorbate to arrive tomorrow or tuesday and then create the all-in-one solution :) and start testing with that.
Will be nice to get this right before rescaping the tank, that way I can make mistakes without drastic results.
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

Got all the stuff through the post today :) so I have everything ready to start with the all-in-one solution.
At the moment I have some spot alguae on my anubias, should I increase the dosage quantities?
 
Re: Help with all in one solution

increased quantities by 20% and started auto dosing from today :) now just have to keep an eye on the plants and see if they doing well still after a couple of weeks. I will report back on any issues.
 
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