Dosing 240l - Advice needed

[ukco2guy]

Hi,

I have been EI dosing a 240ltr tank for the last 6 months with practically zero algae after joining UKAPS (I cannot thank you guys enough for everything so far) but i`m not sure if i`m really dosing enough ferts to my weekly regimen. Reason why i ask is that although i have zero algae and none of my plants ever die, growth is not great and i wonder if my dosing is a limiting factor in their potential growth. Setup as follows:

240l Hagen 1200
Eheim 2078
2x38w T8 (8hrs per day)
Koralia 1
Fluval 1+ (used to fire atomised co2 bubbles from a rhinox diffuser)
Hydor 300w inline heater
Pressurised CO2 5KG FE, set to 2b/sec
About 40-50 plants mainly made up of Crypts, staurogyne, vallis, anubias, cabomba and some moss.

Macros -
5tsp KNO3
3tsp KH2PO4
500ml Bottle
Dosed 3x60ml per week

Micros -
3tsp CSM+B trace
500ml bottle
Dosed 2x40ml per week

Checking James` EI calculator based on the above i`m dosing 9.2ppm Nitrate, 5.81ppm Potassium, 6.92ppm Phosphate. The guide mentions Nitrate 20-30ppm, Phosphate 1-3ppm and Potassium 20-30ppm as a guideline. Am i just completely wrong on the calculation?

Cheers,

 

[Dolly Sprint 16v]

Hi,

I have been EI dosing a 240ltr tank for the last 6 months with practically zero algae after joining UKAPS (I cannot thank you guys enough for everything so far) but i`m not sure if i`m really dosing enough ferts to my weekly regimen. Reason why i ask is that although i have zero algae and none of my plants ever die, growth is not great and i wonder if my dosing is a limiting factor in their potential growth. Setup as follows:

240l Hagen 1200
Eheim 2078
2x38w T8 (8hrs per day)
Koralia 1
Fluval 1+ (used to fire atomised co2 bubbles from a rhinox diffuser)
Hydor 300w inline heater
Pressurised CO2 5KG FE, set to 2b/sec
About 40-50 plants mainly made up of Crypts, staurogyne, vallis, anubias, cabomba and some moss.

Macros -
5tsp KNO3
3tsp KH2PO4
500ml Bottle
Dosed 3x60ml per week

Micros -
3tsp CSM+B trace
500ml bottle
Dosed 2x40ml per week

Checking James` EI calculator based on the above i`m dosing 9.2ppm Nitrate, 5.81ppm Potassium, 6.92ppm Phosphate. The guide mentions Nitrate 20-30ppm, Phosphate 1-3ppm and Potassium 20-30ppm as a guideline. Am i just completely wrong on the calculation?

Cheers,

Hi

If your plants / tank is as you say -

i have zero algae and none of my plants ever die

then you have hit the sweet spot - no need for calculation as your plants will tell you whether you have enough fertz been added. The plants will grow but it will be slow due to the quantity of light that T8's tube emit.

N.B - If you increase the lighting to T5's, water circulation/ fertz / co2 will have to be increased - if not the algae will appear - do you want this ?.

Regards
Paul.

 

[ukco2guy]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I`m guessing then i could try and reduce the dose but as above i really was not sure if my calculations from James`s calculator were right.

My plants look healthy enough but i do get slow growth and in turn some of the fish nip the leaves before they have time to develop plus some of the edges are not that great (i think i still need more flow anyhow). Should i be looking at using my spare arcadia 2x54w t5 lights instead of the t8`s to increase demand and get them growing quicker? I would of course increase co2, flow etc during that period.

Cheers,