# Forgetful dosing



## Piper (6 Feb 2011)

Hi All,

I do regular water changes and try and maintain my tank the best I can. CO2 and lights are on timers which makes life easy but I’m awful at remembering to dose EI every day. 

Would I be better just dosing the full weeks worth on a Sunday (with Trace in a Monday) rather than frequently missing doses during the week?

My plants don’t pearl so I think its either my poor dosing or not having enough light. Tanks specs as below. 

160L (120*30*45)
Eheim 2076 to the spray bar the length of the tank with a hydor external heater
Aqua One Aquis CF1000 with an Aquamedic 1000 reactor (balls removed and a nano diffuser inserted into it). This discharges at the bottom of the tank for max C02 dispersion. C02 starts and ends and hour before the lights going on/off.
I also have a Hydro Koralia at the other end of the tank to draw C02 down that end. Turn over is upto 26 times any hour. 

Lighting is 2xT5 54W Arcadia over the tank luminaire. (I have the option of running 4 tubes). Lights are on 8 hrs a day.

Dosing is meant to be the below 3 times a week
1/2 tsp KNO3
1/8 tsp KH2PO4
1/8 tsp traces

Thanks for your help. Piper


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## George Farmer (6 Feb 2011)

It is better to dose daily.

Try to get into a routine.  For me I dose first thing every morning, before I even put the kettle on.  I've done it that way for so long, it's become a habit and I never forget.

If you're really struggling why not set a reminder on your mobile phone?


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## AverageWhiteBloke (6 Feb 2011)

I'm very forgetful, I dose in the morning before I leave for work because I don't get in till latish and the lights are already on. Problem here I often leave the house at 6am like a bag of washing and can't remember whether I put it in or not when I get home   I got round this by buying one of them medication keepers from the chemist with Mon to Sun on it and fill them all up on water change day with the right ferts for the right day.
A quick check to see if the days empty jogs my memory if I dosed or not and if not just add it at night, better late than never.
My tank is similar in size to yours so the the ferts should fit in the compartment. BTW while I'm in here I've been dosing 1/2 tspoon KNO3 3 times and 1/8 of traces 3 times. Anyone got a suggestion on what days and how much mgso4 and pottasium sulphate to add?

So far I've been adding 1/8 tspoon of both for the 6 days prior to rest an WC.


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## ceg4048 (8 Feb 2011)

AWB,
       Analyse what has been the result of your forgetfulness. Do you have nutrient deficient algae or other syndromes? is there a loss of performance? Dosing EI means not having to worry too much about your dosing regimen assuming you don't have too much light and that your flow/distribution is good and so forth. That's because your nutrient levels are high enough to not fall below the critical values even if you miss a day or two. On the other hand, if some of these other factors are problematic then it can become an issue.

This is one of those cases where having a nutritious substrate helps a lot. If water column values decline but the substrate is rich then the plants have a "buffer" against falling nutrient levels until you get around to replenishment.

Secondly, if you can't remember whether you put some in this morning then there is no harm in putting some in that night, remember, because nutrients don't cause algae, so double dosing is not a problem.

You don't need Potassium Sulphate if you are already dosing KNO3 and KH2PO4. You can also just dose a teaspoon or two of MgSO4 at water change and call it good. Play with the amount and see if there are any improvements when you add more. If not then you don't need to add any more.

Cheers,


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## plantbrain (8 Feb 2011)

Some use dosing pumps
Some do 2x week water change and dose after only.
If you use sediment ferts+ lower lighting, then its less critical also.

Not an issue in the UK(lighting), but a big issue in the USA.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Feb 2011)

Thanks for the advice, I have moved onto EI because I often work away and it's the easiest method for my 8 y.o daughter to keep up with. Measuring mls into a cap of both traces and macros didn't prove too successful   As well as helping my forgetfulness the medicine dispenser has proved to be a success. I just put the ferts in one compartment and the food in another which I have to PAY! my daughter to do   

Leaves plenty of room for error for both of us I guess. I'm not suffering from any deficiencies that I can see. Still having a battle with the BBA which was brought on just when I was getting on top of it by a lengthy stay away. As soon as I get back home for a definite couple of weeks I'm going to have a big easy carbo and EI with big changes and try and get things back on track.


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## peaches (22 Feb 2011)

Why hasnt someone invented an autofeeder or a drip to do this for you?


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## Garuf (23 Feb 2011)

They have! They're just super expensive, there was a DIY one on ada's online magazine example but alas that's now long since way to haunting the way back machine. 

The sort of drips you get in hospitals are suitable too I'd imagine!


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## plantbrain (23 Feb 2011)

I use a Tom's dosing pump, 15$ and then a 10$ timer.

Works fairly well, not good for smaller tanks under say 30 liters.


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## peaches (8 Mar 2011)

What's a Tom's dosing pump please?  Do we have a UK equivalent?


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## AverageWhiteBloke (13 Mar 2011)

Same as, I couldn't find a UK supplier. They are on Amazon but always out of stock.


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## steveninaster (16 Mar 2011)

For reptiles they have a device called a little dripper & a big dripper to maintain humidity, they are basically a bottle with a tube and a adjustable valve.  I guess you could fill it and workout an approximate drip rate for it to continuously dose the tank.  Maybe add a weekly dose to it and see how long it takes to empty, too quick then dilute the solution and reduce the drip rate.  I guess it's quite likely someone has already done this.


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## niru (21 Mar 2011)

Hi AWB

I faced similar problem like you. So I did a small DIY using "indoor fountain pumps" you get on mainland Europe, an airline tubing, and an adjustable valve from a garden shop. Simply make the EI solutions in 2 jars that last a few weeks, connect the airline tube to the pump output (used a plastic dropper for this) along with the adjustment valve. The other end of the tube is taped inside the tank. Adjust the valve to get a desired flow (80 ml per minute in my case). This dose will determine how much water to add to your EI jars. I attached 2 digital timers with 1 minute ON times 3 times (actually now I have it 2 times with a more concentrated EI dosing) a week. Alternate between macro and micro days. 

With this, it took me about 2-3 hrs total time to set everything (spread over 2 weeks, spare time permitting). Now I have to rarely look at the dosing. my jars are big enough to make a 3 month + does. For the micro fert, I added an additional T-valve to the tube that sits within the jar, and adjusted the flow. This way, the solution is stirred (by the return flow) each time the pump is on. 

I am in Switzerland where things are a BIT (read very much) expensive than UK. But I got both fert auto-dosers within CHF 100 all included. Thats a cheap bargain here!

Hope it helps.

-niru


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