# Overdosing EI, much point?



## Rob P (4 Mar 2014)

Is there? 

Theoretically if I dose the standard amounts i'm providing above and beyond my plants maximum uptake at lighting levels way higher than I have, yet I still find myself sticking more in as a) it doesn't have a negative impact b) it feels reassuring c) it's cheap enough to do it.

I read often people with healthy plants mention part of their success is 'lots of ferts' so presumably more than a standard prescribed amount. 

But I have to ask, is there really any point?


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## Vazkez (4 Mar 2014)

Hi Rob,

I was actually thinking the same few days ago 
I think only on one point. You do not have to worry abou deficiency and you can concentrate more on CO2 and flow.
What I did not release when I started with EI was that if you stick to do numbers ( it's general guide anyway) you end up with deficiency as plants grow you will have more uptake. Silly me 

So yes it cheap so worry about x things if you can worry just about one CO2.

Vaz


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## Sacha (4 Mar 2014)

I currently dose 1.5 x the recommended dose of EI. I used to dose the recommended amount, but I had algae issues related to a lack of phosphate.


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## ceg4048 (4 Mar 2014)

There really is no point in overdosing, but this assumes that everything else is optimized. So it's entirely possible, for example that if flow/distribution is marginal then adding more can make up for the poor flow/distribution. Therefore, if you see an improvement by dosing larger than standard EI values then that tells you that there is a distribution issue in the tank. If there is a flow/distribution issue that affects nutrient uptake, then it also is likely that the plants will be exposed to a CO2 distribution issue as well, because gasses are much more difficult to distribute than solids.


Cheers,


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## Rob P (4 Mar 2014)

Ah ok, well I don't put that much extra in, maybe 50ml macro instead of 40ml and 30ml micro instead of 25ml and maybe an extra dribble on a rest day  lol, it makes me feel better that it covers any shortfall such as when I clean my cannister and end up replacing approx 15 litres of water with fresh mid week, that kind of thing.

Where's the best link for checking i'm using a suitable recipe?

Cheers,
Rob


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## Jafooli (4 Mar 2014)

If the flow/distribution is not great, why does adding more nutrients cover it up? I thought we put more than enough in with EI its not like we have 6wpg which is the driving force. So there should be enough for the plant? Its not like the water around the plant is not moving, because the filter turns over the whole tank volume a certain amount of times in less than an hour.

I can understand that if the flow is better the plant can take the nutrients better as it sways side to side etc, but if the water around the plant is moving and we have enough of a certain nutrient in the water column why does it struggle and why does adding more solve the issue? same thing with CO2, I think you once told me adding more nutrients also cover this up, but how?

I want to make a thread about flow in my tank later but I'm not very good at drawing diagrams or explaining but I am having a real hard time trying to improve flow in my tank as I use 2 internal filters, that push the flow across my tank horizontally to the other side, so my flow has to travel across more of a distance where most people on here use spray bars that direct the flow to the front of the tank and down and then across the substrate. Its hard to explain how mine works here, so will wait till I can make a good diagram of some sort but I'm terrible at it. I made some changes and can now see that my CO2 is being pushed down and across my tank much better, but my plants are not moving as much as the current is less concentrated now and more wide spread, how ever the water is moving around each plant in the tank much better. I just find flow complicated, can someone have better flow/distribution in there tank than compared to someone who's flow is just pushing the plants all over the place?


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## Rob P (4 Mar 2014)

Jafooli said:


> I use 2 internal filters, that push the flow across my tank horizontally to the other side, so my flow has to travel across more of a distance where most people on here use spray bars that direct the flow to the front of the tank and down and then across the substrate.



Can you not just attach some pipe to the outlet nozzles of your internals and then attach these to some spraybar section on the rear pane facing forward?


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## Jafooli (4 Mar 2014)

I guess I could but I'm not that great at DIY so not sure what fittings/connections or pipes I would require or even how to make a spray bar lol as from reading threads on here I see it can be a bit complicated with the holes etc, if I could achieve that then I guess that would work much better, but it might make my tank look even more cluttered.

I've created a thread now as I didn't want to paste images etc here, but hopefully it may explain my flow a bit better, I think my filters are adequate enough to provide flow one end to the other, its just tall plants seem to bend.. nearly snap! Where with a spray bar it goes down and across the foreground plants then works its way to the midground/back plants.


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