# Can someone tell me how much iron (Fe) is in the EI dose. Thanks :-)



## Zak Rafik (13 Apr 2015)

Hi guys,
I have been dosing EI salts which I bought from aquariumplantfood.co.uk.

For the traces ( micro), I prepare a stock solution with 1 teaspoon of trace elements mixed in 500ml of water and dose 60ml for 3 times a week.

It's stated on the package that Fe is 8.2%

Under EI, one needs Iron (Fe) 0.5ppm per week and so I need to know if my above dosage of 60 ml meets this 0.5ppm requirement.

Thank you. 


http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/EI Fert/Trace fertz_zpsd9sym5nn.png


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## EnderUK (13 Apr 2015)

It should be there or there about, if you start seeing iron defiency then up the dosage to 70ml. It really doesn't need to be that accurate it's not lean a fertizlation method like PPS-PRO or PMDD


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## Zak Rafik (14 Apr 2015)

EnderUK said:


> It should be there or there about, if you start seeing iron deficiency then up the dosage to 70ml. It really doesn't need to be that accurate it's not lean a fertizlation method like PPS-PRO or PMDD


Hi
Thank for your input.
I need to know how much ppm of Fe is in my 60 ml stock solution ( 1 teaspoon of trace elements which has 8.2% of Fe mixed in 500ml of water) I have tried on-line calculators but none seem to calculate for iron.
I have seen many members here who can crunch the number.


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## EnderUK (14 Apr 2015)

http://calc.petalphile.com/

Use the plantedtanksuktrace, that's 8% FE. Can't really calculate it without tank size.


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## Zak Rafik (14 Apr 2015)

EnderUK said:


> http://calc.petalphile.com/
> 
> Use the plantedtanksuktrace, that's 8% FE. Can't really calculate it without tank size.


Oops! My tank is 300 Lt / 80 US gal.


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## Zak Rafik (14 Apr 2015)

EnderUK said:


> http://calc.petalphile.com/
> Use the plantedtanksuktrace, that's 8% FE. Can't really calculate it without tank size.



Thanks for the link.
OK, I tried the same scenario on the calculator as what I'm doing now with aquariumplantfood.co.uk's trace salts
This is what I got and I'm very surprised to see the results.

a) aquariumplantfood recommends to *mix 1 teaspoon with 500ml water and dose 60ml 3 X a week.*
b) petaphile.com recommends to *mix 14.88 grams ( approx 3 teaspoons) with 500ml and dose 60ml 3X a week* to get 0.50ppm Fe.

So does that mean I'm under dosing iron into my tank?
The main reason I started this post was due to my plants having dark vein but the leaf tissue is a slight yellow colour.

Cheers

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/EI Fert/traces iron_zps17cuzmxf.png


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## Andy Thurston (14 Apr 2015)

try this one and yes I think your underdosing
https://www.thenutrientcompany.com/aquarium/calculators/ei_calculator/
1/4tsp of trace every other day dry into tank


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## EnderUK (15 Apr 2015)

You're dosing about 20ppm per day so 60ppm per week which is normally enough. I dose a little higher at 25ppm but have low lights. Try upping it to around 70 or 80ml a day and see if you have an improvement, I don't think I would double the dosage just yet.


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## Zak Rafik (15 Apr 2015)

EnderUK said:


> You're dosing about 20ppm per day so 60ppm per week which is normally enough. I dose a little higher at 25ppm but have low lights. Try upping it to around 70 or 80ml a day and see if you have an improvement, I don't think I would double the dosage just yet.


Hi EnderUK,
I don't understand this "dosing about *20ppm* per day so *60ppm* per week which is normally enough." Are the number wrong?


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## sciencefiction (15 Apr 2015)

Zak Rafik said:


> Thanks for the link.
> OK, I tried the same scenario on the calculator as what I'm doing now with aquariumplantfood.co.uk's trace salts
> This is what I got and I'm very surprised to see the results.
> 
> ...



To reach your target of 0.5 ppm Fe you will need to add 1.786 g PlantedTanksUK Trace to your 300.0 L aquarium to yield
Elementppm/degree
B0.06
Cu0.01
Fe0.50
Mn0.11
Mo0.0089
Zn0.07

This means that the total dose spread over the course of the week must contain 1.786g of trace in it to reach a total target of 0.50ppm

You are dosing 60ml from a 500ml solution, presumably one dose of micro 3 times of week.
1.786g/3 doses = 0.60g of trace in each dose is required.  Your bottle contains 500/60=8.33 doses multiply by 0.60g=4.96g in total to be added to the 500ml solution,  which is roughly a teaspoon.

If you have water like mine totally disabling the iron, then for a lot less plants you'll need more iron than the recommended 0.50 weekly dose. Meaning, this is sometimes not enough.
Iron deficiency is easy to diagnose-pale new growth, sometimes pinkish and pale and mostly entire leaf, the veins don't remain green.

Pale leaves with green veins-try magnesium and phosphate.


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## Zak Rafik (15 Apr 2015)

Big clown said:


> try this one and yes I think your underdosing
> https://www.thenutrientcompany.com/aquarium/calculators/ei_calculator/
> 1/4tsp of trace every other day dry into tank


Hello,
If I calculate according to petalphile.com/, I have to use approx 14.88 grams which is about 3 teaspoons. So a 500ml stock with 60ml per dose give about a totals of 8 doses. 
So 3 teaspoons divided by 8 = 0.375 teaspoon. thats  slightly more than 1/4 teaspoon per dose. 
So inconclusion petalphile.com/ states 1/4 teaspoon dose for 3 time a week whereas thenutrientcompany.com says 1/4 teaspoon for 2 times a week.

So now please tell which is good to go.
Cheers


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## Zak Rafik (15 Apr 2015)

sciencefiction said:


> To reach your target of 0.5 ppm Fe you will need to add 1.786 g PlantedTanksUK Trace to your 300.0 L aquarium to yield
> Elementppm/degree
> B0.06
> Cu0.01
> ...



I notice my red plants are always struggling. The leaves are pale red.


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## Zak Rafik (15 Apr 2015)

sciencefiction said:


> You are dosing 60ml from a 500ml solution, presumably one dose of micro 3 times of week.
> 1.786g/3 doses = 0.60g of trace in each dose is required.  Your bottle contains 500/60=8.33 doses multiply by 0.60g=4.96g in total to be added to the 500ml solution,  which is roughly a* teaspoon.*


Thats exactly what I am dosing now. That is 1 teaspoon in 500ml water and 60ml per dose.


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## EnderUK (15 Apr 2015)

Zak Rafik said:


> Hello,
> If I calculate according to petalphile.com/, I have to use approx 14.88 grams which is about 3 teaspoons. So a 500ml stock with 60ml per dose give about a totals of 8 doses.
> So 3 teaspoons divided by 8 = 0.375 teaspoon. thats  slightly more than 1/4 teaspoon per dose.
> So inconclusion petalphile.com/ states 1/4 teaspoon dose for 3 time a week whereas thenutrientcompany.com says 1/4 teaspoon for 2 times a week.
> ...


 
Yet another dosage calculator is a very good tool but it's far from perfect and there are a lot of glitches in the calculations such as the above. Quite often when selecting the EI or the low light setting it will calculate the whole weekly dosage and say you need to dose that 3-4 times a week. It will also only calulate one element from the salt and says you have reached the right level.

EI was never a perfect system, and Barr never claimed it was. PPS and PMDD get away with much lower iron dosage in most cases. In this case your plants require more iron so give it to them. If you want to keep the 60ml dosage then throw in another 1/2 tsp into the mix which will get you into Clive's recommened levels of dosaging. See how it goes for a month, if it's not enough use 2 tps. Keep it simple as possible.


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## Zak Rafik (15 Apr 2015)

EnderUK said:


> Yet another dosage calculator is a very good tool but it's far from perfect and there are a lot of glitches in the calculations such as the above. Quite often when selecting the EI or the low light setting it will calculate the whole weekly dosage and say you need to dose that 3-4 times a week. It will also only calulate one element from the salt and says you have reached the right level.
> 
> EI was never a perfect system, and Barr never claimed it was. PPS and PMDD get away with much lower iron dosage in most cases. In this case your plants require more iron so give it to them. If you want to keep the 60ml dosage then throw in another 1/2 tsp into the mix which will get you into Clive's recommened levels of dosaging. See how it goes for a month, if it's not enough use 2 tps. Keep it simple as possible.


 Yup. Thats what I intend to do. 
BTW I hope Clive is not reading this post... if not it will be Matrix time.....


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## Andy Thurston (15 Apr 2015)

Zak Rafik said:


> Hello,
> If I calculate according to petalphile.com/, I have to use approx 14.88 grams which is about 3 teaspoons. So a 500ml stock with 60ml per dose give about a totals of 8 doses.
> So 3 teaspoons divided by 8 = 0.375 teaspoon. thats  slightly more than 1/4 teaspoon per dose.
> So inconclusion petalphile.com/ states 1/4 teaspoon dose for 3 time a week whereas thenutrientcompany.com says 1/4 teaspoon for 2 times a week.
> ...


the tnc calculator was written based on clives ei article which is why i use it. all other calculators seem to give much lower doses if your worried just dose a bit more and see what happens


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## Zak Rafik (16 Apr 2015)

Big clown said:


> the tnc calculator was written based on clives ei article which is why i use it. all other calculators seem to give much lower doses if your worried just dose a bit more and see what happens


Wow, you mean Clive will live longer than us in the form of an awesome fertz calculator. Splendid.
Now I know why Clive is so fixated with The Matrix.


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