Wookii
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Double checking full EI dosing as per calc
- Thread starter kschyff
- Start date
GhostVoice
Seedling
It would be easy for admin to check the exact location of Marcel vs Maq based on IP. Marcel lives in Lysa nad Labem, Maq does not. Marcel and Maq were working together on some experiments. They were collegues. Marcel then quit the aquarium hobby, Maq does not and continued to do other experiments by himself. I think Maq is much smarter than Marcel, and he definitely is not his disciple. Marcel was the one who learned from Maq. That's just for clarification.
_Maq_
Member
I'd like to clarify that I run most of my tanks with near zero alkalinity.
The original statement was this:
The original statement was this:
It says nothing on whether pH moves are dangerous or not, it simply states that low KH does not lead to pH crashes. To that, I said that pH is indeed volatile. Nothing more.
I’ve changed my view in the middle of a post 😂 … as I think through a problem.
_Maq_
Member
Are pH controllers reliable in water with very low conductivity? (Just asking, I've never used them, I don't inject CO2.) From my experience, pH metering in low conductivity (< 25 µS/cm) is a bit tricky.
GreggZ
Member
I buy good quality equipment and calibrate it frequently. I've been using an American Pinpoint Marine unit for many, many years now. The probes eventually do need to be replaced but I usually get about three years out of them. I calibrate once a month and rarely is it off my more than 0.03.
I also use a flow meter to keep my flow rate just slightly higher than the controller needs to keep my pH at my target. So if there were a failure it would be less of a disaster. But that has never happened.
In general I would be more worried about adverse changes in things like surface agitation and needle valve drift than a good pH controller. Even changes in plant mass and light levels can change demand for CO2. For me safety of my fish is not the only reason I use one. I also like to keep my pH drop at an optimized level regardless of other changes in the tank. It makes every other thing easier.
I also use a flow meter to keep my flow rate just slightly higher than the controller needs to keep my pH at my target. So if there were a failure it would be less of a disaster. But that has never happened.
In general I would be more worried about adverse changes in things like surface agitation and needle valve drift than a good pH controller. Even changes in plant mass and light levels can change demand for CO2. For me safety of my fish is not the only reason I use one. I also like to keep my pH drop at an optimized level regardless of other changes in the tank. It makes every other thing easier.
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kschyff
Member
@GreggZ thank you very much for the detail about your pH readings. I just read the article about tanks with low pH values (2HrAquarist) and I now think I may know what may have gone wrong way back when I started (and eventually stopped) using EI. Initially my CO2 never reached a point where it the pH was below 6.4 and I suspect that my micros may not have been used optimally as I am using CSM+B, where the Iron chelate works optimally below or around a pH of 6. Is my reading around this correct?
Additionally, I always assumed that if my drop checker was slightly yellow my plants would suffer tremendously. After reading the above article this is clearly not necessarily the case. In short, thanks for all the insight.
Additionally, I always assumed that if my drop checker was slightly yellow my plants would suffer tremendously. After reading the above article this is clearly not necessarily the case. In short, thanks for all the insight.
GreggZ
Member
Yes CSM+B uses EDTA and is better for very low pH tanks. DTPA is a better choice when pH is higher. Now was that your problem? Who knows?
A planted tank has a lot of moving parts and the first thing folks tend to blame is fertilization. Many times issues are not tied to fert dosing at all. In fact a well run tank can get by on a pretty wide range of dosing.
As to drop checkers if I used one it would be pretty much pure yellow. Remember a drop checker is nothing but a liquid pH test and liquid pH tests in general are not very accurate. Of course much depends on ones ambitions in the hobby. The more light you provide and the more difficult plants you choose dialing in CO2 becomes more important.
Good question. TBH I cant remember ATM 😬, I've even ask @Hanuman if he can remember
Since we are in a new era, we decided to removed the dKH values from the pre-set EI regimes in the latest update.
kschyff
Member
Apologies for resurrecting this thread again, but for some reason I can't get hold of the CSM+B micros anymore. I will have to order from abroad or come up with an alternative. I can get the GLA Micromix (EDTA 42%+DTPA 14%) in the US. I am reluctant as I can't see on rotalabutterfly where I would select this as my micro mixture. Any suggestions that might not require so much expense?
Zeus.
Fertz Calc Meister
Just choose 7% Fe and your done done
Some of the EDTA and DTPA will be other elements also
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It is actually in the IFC Calculator so you can make all the calculations you want there
. But looking at the backend now I noticed some slight changes in the composition compared to the website. Some of these companies like to modify their recipes for no apparent reason other than screwing with the IFC calculator 😂. GLA is a company that never answered either of my emails, sms or support question. Poor service indeed, but their product is probably just fine.