# Yet another noob looking for help



## ivydree (20 Jan 2014)

Hey people!

This is it! I'm starting EI dosing in my newly installed tank! 






So, tank is a Juwel Rio 125 - with external filtration (say 120L net)

Chemicals are on their way, i ordered:

KNO3, KH2PO4, MgSO4 and trace mix

Trace mix is as follows: Fe 8.2% ; Mn 1.82% ; Zn 1.16% ; B 1.05% ; Cu 0.23% ; Mo 0.15%

So after using about 247 different calculations, I end up with this:

KNO3 - 6 grams
KH2PO4 - 0.3 grams
MgSO4 -5 grams

With this, I end up with 30.7ppm NO3 - 1.7ppm PO4 - 20ppm K - 4ppm Mg According to different calculators.

Assuming this is concentration for a week, I wish to dose daily (easier for me)
I dose from Monday to Friday so 5 days a week, 4 weeks per month, that's 20 doses:
So, each dose, divided by five and multiplied by 20:

KNO3 - 24 grams
KH2PO4 - 1.2 grams
MgSO4 - 20 grams

I have a 500ml bottle with pump, so if I had the previous quantities to my bottle and dose 500/20 = 20ml per day from Monday to Friday I should end up with the correct amount.

Is this correct? Or am I mistaking somewhere?

Then, traces..... And here it's a bit tricky...

As I said, trace is as follows: Fe 8.2% ; Mn 1.82% ; Zn 1.16% ; B 1.05% ; Cu 0.23% ; Mo 0.15%

Is it then correct to say that if I add 1gram of trace mix, I add 1*8.2% = 0.082gram of Fe
Which, in my tank end up to be 0.082*1000/120 = 0.68ppm

Is this correct?

Moreover, are my concentrations correct? Which concentration should I aim for for traces?
Can I dose as follows: NPK every day (Monday to Friday) Traces on Saturday, Water Change on Sundays?
Is it a good idea to start dosing before the tank is cycled?


Lots of questions, I know, I'm wishing to do things the correct way...


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## ceg4048 (20 Jan 2014)

ivydree said:


> Is this correct?


No this is not correct.

The correct path is to simply follow the basic guidelines listed in the Tutorial EI DOSING USING DRY SALTS | UK Aquatic Plant Society That way you only have to worry about a couple of calculations instead of studying for a science degree.

As mentioned in the Tutorial, the reference 20 USG tank receives roughly 2 teaspoons of KNO3 weekly, roughly 1 teaspoon of KH2PO4 weekly, roughly 1 teaspoon of trace weekly and about 6 teaspoons of MgSO4 weekly.

Your tank is roughly 30 US gallons, and so you can pretend that it's a 40 gallon and simply double everything, or you can pretend it's a 20 gallon use the same numbers, or you can just add another 50% of everything so that you add 3 teaspoons KNO3, 1.5 teaspoons each of KH2PO4 and Trace, and then 9 teaspoons weekly of the Epsom Salt.

Any one of these three options will work fine for starters and then you can make adjustments from there.

Worrying about ppm is the absolute worst thing that you can do and is a complete time waster. The template given works. Full stop. Accuracy does not matter.

How you want to distribute the powders on a weekly basis is up to you. If you want to make a 1 month supply and then dose every day then just  multiply the above teaspoons by 4 weeks, dump all the powders except for the traces in any bottle and divide that volume of the bottle by 30 days. Dose that amount every day. If you only want to add the macros 3 times per week then divide the volume by 12 and add that amount 3 times per week.

Do the same calculation with the Trace mix knowing that you can add some every day or just twice a week.

Cheers,


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## ian_m (20 Jan 2014)

Or simply buy this...
Ei Starter Kit - Starter Kits - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers

And for your tank dose 20-30ml of each 3 times a week, job done.


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## ivydree (20 Jan 2014)

Thanks for your help! I'll go for that then....
I guess I was trying to get too scientific there... 

One teaspoon is about 5grams, is that correct?


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## ceg4048 (20 Jan 2014)

ivydree said:


> Thanks for your help! I'll go for that then.... I guess I was trying to get too scientific there...


Yep. This is science, but it never has to be rocket science. We keep things like dosing very simple because there is a massively wide range of nutrient levels that will work. That's why accuracy is irrelevant.
You never have to worry about using too much, and when you use the standard numbers you are almost certainly will never run low.

The complicated things are CO2 and flow/distribution, and that's enough complexity to drive us mad.




ivydree said:


> One teaspoon is about 5grams, is that correct?


Depending on the powder, it ranges from about 5 grams to about 6 grams. Pick your favorite of the two and go with that.

Cheers,


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## ivydree (22 Jan 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> No this is not correct.
> 
> The correct path is to simply follow the basic guidelines listed in the Tutorial EI DOSING USING DRY SALTS | UK Aquatic Plant Society That way you only have to worry about a couple of calculations instead of studying for a science degree.
> 
> ...


 
Hang on! You're confusing me!

Tutorial says:



> Sunday 50% or more Water Change then dose [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
> Monday 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
> Tuesday - [3/16 teaspoon KNO3] + [1/16 teaspoon KH2PO4] + [½ teaspoon MgSO4]
> Wednesday - 1/16 teaspoon CSM+B
> ...


 
Then, that's 9/16 tsp KNO3, 3/16 tsp KH2PO4 and 3/2 MgSO4
We're far from the 2 - 1 - 1 stated in your post.... :/

Am I being a pain?


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## ceg4048 (22 Jan 2014)

Yes, this is painful because I specifically stated:



ceg4048 said:


> We keep things like dosing very simple because there is a massively wide range of nutrient levels that will work. That's why accuracy is irrelevant.


The data in the Tutorial is for a 20 USG tank. As I mentioned, you can simply double the numbers for your 30USG tank by pretending it was twice as big and it will make life easier because you only have to use simple numbers like 1 teaspoon or 2 teaspoons.

Do you really want to measure 9/16th teaspoon, or 18/16th teaspoon?

The idea of EI is to avoid starvation. Any number greater than starvation values will work.

One can also ask; Is it a level teaspoon? Is it a full heaping teaspoon? No one really cares.

When the tires on my car are low I just eyeball the pressure readings until the number on the gauge looks about right. I really do not care if one tire is 3 psi low while the other is 2 psi high.

Cheers,


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## ivydree (22 Jan 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> Yes, this is painful


 
Ok.. Sorry


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## ceg4048 (23 Jan 2014)

Hi,

Always endeavor to make nutrient dosing the easiest part of your tank life. Whenever someone says they are doing 246 calculations then this is a sure sign that their focus is in the wrong place.

Click this Mar Evans video and see how easy dosing should be. The product being used in this short clip is the same as Ian mentioned in post #3 above.


Cheers,


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## Tomfish (24 Jan 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> As mentioned in the Tutorial, the reference 20 USG tank receives roughly 2 teaspoons of KNO3 weekly, roughly 1 teaspoon of KH2PO4 weekly, roughly 1 teaspoon of trace weekly and about 6 teaspoons of MgSO4 weekly.


I think you mean monthly. Sorry i had to mention it as i'v have spent the last 10 minutes happily deluding myself that my persistent co2 issues are actually reflecting a simple ei miscalculation. Unfortunately my problems are going to be harder to fix after all .


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## ceg4048 (24 Jan 2014)

Yes, sorry about that, I meant monthly.

CO2...CO2...CO2....
The Bane.

Cheers,


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