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Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pumps

A

andyseatrout

Member
Joined
5 Dec 2010
Messages
62
Hi All,

My head is about to explode having read far too many articles and posts about EI dosing; I am concerned about solubility issues, how many ppm of potassium comes from the potassium nitrate and how many comes from the potassium phosphate, how many grams 1/16th of a teaspoon equates to - you name it, I am now totally confused by it!

I have just converted my ex-reef aquarium into a planted tank and I am due to take delivery of the plants next Thursday. I am sorted with lighting (anything from 2 to 6 x 80W T5's - I am most likely going to start with and stick to 4), CO2 injection (5Kg FE fed through an in line atomiser - for the short term) and flow (a 5000lph eheim sump return pump and a Tunze 6045 powerhead of 4500lph) and I have fitted cover glass and sealed up the sump, but I am currently totally stumped with EI dosing. :?

The total volume of the tank and sump I estimate to be 600 litres. I have a 4 pump dosing unit, so the ability to automatically dose 4 different solutions independently and 4 x 5 litre bottles. It appears that the most suitable method of dosing would be to dose the macro nutrients on three alternate days, with the micro nutrients on the days in between, followed by two rest days and then a 50% water change (based on Clive's article).

I would really appreciate it if someone could produce me an idiot's guide that I could follow to get me started with this as I just appear to be chasing my tail here!

I don't even know how much of the dry ingredients to order and I need to do this really soon .....

Many thanks in anticipation :thumbup:
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi andyseatrout.

Now........take a deep breath and stop stressing :D .
First of all lets start with the ingredients.
You need
KN03 (Potassium Nitrate, also called Saltpetre if you're searching ebay, £3 a kilo, bargain :D )
KH2PO4 (Potassium Phosphate, no other name used for this)
Trace elements.
and possibly MgSO4, (commonly called Epsom Salts, 99p a kilo, another bargain :D :D )

On to your pumps.
If you want to use dosing pumps that's fine but you will only need two of them.
The KNO3, KH2PO4 and MgSO4 all go in the same bottle.
Trace goes in a separate bottle, That's it.

Now according to the calculations for a 600l tank (that's 158 US gallons, so call it 160 gallons to keep the sums simple)
160 gallons is 8 times the 20 gallon tank that the original EI post was based on, so we just multiply everything by 8.
I gave up worrying about 1/16th, 1/8ths, 1/4 of a teaspoon a while ago so I now go to the nearest half or whole teaspoon.
So for your tank you will need
18 tsp KNO3
6 tsp KH2PO4
48 tsp MgSO4
all into one bottle.

4 tsp Trace in the other bottle.
All of this will last you 4 weeks.

Now, whatever volume of water you decide to use for your mixtures, the target is to get that lot into your tank (in roughly equal doses) over a 4 week period. I'll let you do the maths for that bit as you know your pumps dosing rates etc.

A word on the MgSO4. A lot of people with hard water do not need to dose this as there is enough in their tap water.
So what I would recommend is that you start dosing with it, but gradually back it off. If your leaves are staying green by the time you get down to zero, you won't need it anymore. MgSO4 assists with the production of Chlorophyl in the leaves, so if they stay green, the plants have enough.

I would order a kilo of each KNO3, KH2PO4 and MgSO4 to start with. As you use different amounts of each you will be able gauge how much you'll need to order for future months.
As far as Trace elements go, to give you an idea, 100g lasted me over 12 months on a 180l. As your tank is 3 times bigger than mine I would maybe start with 250 or 500g. This is the most expensive of the powders.

Where's Paul (Flyfisherman) when you need him?, he usually does these calculations for people in a flash :lol:

Hope that's of some use to you.
Any other queries, just holler :D
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi Chris,

Thanks very much for that, I can certainly get started with that information although from what you have said about the magnesium sulphate I think I might start with litre bottles and go from there. :thumbup:
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi foxfish.

I totally agree with you. I know the all in one mixture works, as I use it in my 2 low tech tanks.
However, as Andy was struggling to get his head round the powders, I didn't want to introduce another 2 ingredients for him to get his head round :D.
Once his confidence grows with the dosing, I'm sure he'll tackle that.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Are yes good point mate however this is the link I posted http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/prod ... product=82 a forum sponsor who does all the mixing & dosing calculations for you :D
Maybe not the cheapest option but I have been buying the 2000ml for £16 so not really that expensive, certainly works...
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Foxfish - I definately prefer the idea of dosing macros and trace on different days to avoid precipitation. I would also like to make this as cost effective as possible, so I will be looking to go down the mixing my own powders route, but thatnks very much for the suggestion.

I think that our water is so hard here that I will not have to use any magnesium sulphate at all, but I would obviously start with it.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

That's cool Andy - I was mixing & dosing alternate days right up to a few months back & that worked well too.
I must say however, none of my plants tanks have ever been so lush & green as this one is now :)
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Andy,

Out of interest how are you doing to get the ferts form the dosing pump into the tank?

Piper
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Piper said:
Andy,

Out of interest how are you doing to get the ferts form the dosing pump into the tank?

Piper
Click to expand...

The ferts will be dosed into the last section of my sump and be fed to the display tank via the return pump. Why do you ask?
 
I'm looking to hard plumb my two filters in my next tank. I'm struggling to find a connection that will let me install the dilution line into the return pipe.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Piper said:
I'm looking to hard plumb my two filters in my next tank. I'm struggling to find a connection that will let me install the dilution line into the return pipe.
Click to expand...

Is there any reason that you couldn't have it dosing straight into the tank?
 
I'm just trying to hide all my equipment. I'm drilling the base of the tank for both filters flow and return. It would be a shame to then run a pair of dilution lines up to the tank. I'm after the super clean look.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

FYI, those Tom's aquarium pumps run 220 mls a minute, but head pressure reduces this some, so you need to measure each, but they cost about 15$ US, so that + a timer will automate any dosing if you are bad about it.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

OK, time to revive this thread as I really could do with a total idiots guide to this and I would like to start all this tomorrow!

I have a 4 pump dosing unit and I plan to dose Easycarbo at a rate of 20ml per day, every day which is what I have been doing manually.

I plan to make 2 other mixes, one macro and one micro and I would like to dose each daily for 6 days, with a day of rest, followed by a 50% water change and a dose after that on the same day.

I would like to make the solutions up to 5litres, to save having to make them up too often. I am looking for confirmation that I have understood the dosing regime correctly as I will be dosing the macros and micros at different times, to avoid precipitation.

I would also really appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to tell me exactly what mass of each chemical to put in each mix and what volume of mix to add on each of the 6 days.

Thanks in advance,

Andy.
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Can nobody help with this?
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi Andy,
It's not really clear what more data you're looking for. It appears CeeJay gave you the information you requested back in post #2. Wasn't that what you were looking for? If not, could you clarify what it is that you're trying to know?

Cheers,
 
Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi Ceg,

having re read post 2, you are right I do have all the information I need.

I think that it is the teaspoons that I am having trouble getting my head around as where I have been controlling several paramenters within a reef aquarium using "Balling", this has required incredibly precise measurements of salts and these have been dosed in very precise volumes.

I am just a little surprised that there is not a more up to date article on EI using masses, rather than teaspoons as I would find this far easier to work with and hopefully have more consistency and control with. In my head, 1 tsp of one salt is not the same mass as a tsp of another type of salt, so estimating the masses based on 1 tsp = 5g would be wildly inaccurate .....
 
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