# Confirmation on start-up dosing with EI



## KirstyF (31 Oct 2021)

Hi All

I’m planning on using Tropica Aquasoil in my new tank and I’ve currently got around 25 x 1-2 grow cups and about the same number of pots on my order list for a close to 700ltr tank (plus anything else I might pick up in the interim) A good percentage will be fairly slow growers and I’m compensating somewhat by also adding sacrificial weeds to start and floaters, which will likely stay with me.

What level of EI dosing would you recommend starting out with (100%, 50% etc) and do I need to adjust that dosing to account for multiple water changes in the early weeks or just dose the usual daily Macro or Micro after each water change?


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## KirstyF (31 Oct 2021)

This is a high tech tank btw. 😊

Now I’ll just go figure out how to ‘edit’ 😂


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## KirstyF (31 Oct 2021)

Think I found the ‘edit’ function! 😊


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## ceg4048 (1 Nov 2021)

KirstyF said:


> Hi All
> 
> I’m planning on using Tropica Aquasoil in my new tank and I’ve currently got around 25 x 1-2 grow cups and about the same number of pots on my order list for a close to 700ltr tank (plus anything else I might pick up in the interim) A good percentage will be fairly slow growers and I’m compensating somewhat by also adding sacrificial weeds to start and floaters, which will likely stay with me.
> 
> What level of EI dosing would you recommend starting out with (100%, 50% etc) and do I need to adjust that dosing to account for multiple water changes in the early weeks or just dose the usual daily Macro or Micro after each water change?


Hello,
         There is no need to make any adjustments. It's not clear why folks insist on making simple things more complicated. Just dose the suggested amounts and carry on. 

Whenever you do a water change dose the same amount that you would do when performing your normal water change. If the water change is performed twice a week then this is done twice a week. This keeps the nutrient concentration level high.
Normally, the way the normal schedule is written, after a water change the dosing cycle is reset, which means macros are dosed after the water change and micros the following day.

Cheers,


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## KirstyF (1 Nov 2021)

ceg4048 said:


> Hello,
> There is no need to make any adjustments. It's not clear why folks insist on making simple things more complicated. Just dose the suggested amounts and carry on.
> 
> Whenever you do a water change dose the same amount that you would do when performing your normal water change. If the water change is performed twice a week then this is done twice a week. This keeps the nutrient concentration level high.
> ...


Well simple works for me so I’m good with that. 

Easy to overthink things when they are new to you so appreciate the advice. 

Many thanks 😊


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## MattFrancis (18 Nov 2021)

ceg4048 said:


> Hello,
> There is no need to make any adjustments. It's not clear why folks insist on making simple things more complicated. Just dose the suggested amounts and carry on.
> 
> Whenever you do a water change dose the same amount that you would do when performing your normal water change. If the water change is performed twice a week then this is done twice a week. This keeps the nutrient concentration level high.
> ...


I'm starting off a low tech scape, no Co2 and the standard lighting although its quite heavily planted. If using EI dosing if i did say a 1/4 of the dosage would that be suffient, but sitlck to the same alternating macro/micro days. That seems quite straight forward and make sense


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## MichaelJ (19 Nov 2021)

MattFrancis said:


> I'm starting off a low tech scape, no Co2 and the standard lighting although its quite heavily planted. If using EI dosing if i did say a 1/4 of the dosage would that be suffient, but sitlck to the same alternating macro/micro days. That seems quite straight forward and make sense


Hi @MattFrancis, What product are you dosing? I use the full (more than full actually) EI dosing in my two ridiculously densely planted low-tech tanks, (probably unnecessary) and without any negative side effects at all...  zero algae to speak of  (contrary to what I've always believed...)  and plants and livestock are doing great, but I DIY my fertilizer so cost is no real concern - all the compounds that I mix (remineralizers, NPK and traces) are probably less than $50 in total and will last a couple of years for my two 150 L tanks.

You will probably be ok with 1/4 - depending on the product... (TNC Complete is a good option), but without considering cost, I would go full. There are no drawbacks and it takes out the guesswork and any nagging feelings that your plants may starve on any particular compound.  An abundance of fertilizer just removes a factor to be worried about in case you encounter issues... which usually boils down to too much light vs. CO2, of which you will have almost none of in a low-tech tank.


Cheers,
Michael


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## Karmicnull (19 Nov 2021)

I use 25% EI in one low tech tank and 30% in the other (second is in brightly lit room and gets direct sunlight). Both based on APFUK EI kit, so cheap as chips.


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## MattFrancis (19 Nov 2021)

Karmicnull said:


> I use 25% EI in one low tech tank and 30% in the other (second is in brightly lit room and gets direct sunlight). Both based on APFUK EI kit, so cheap as chips.


Thats the kit that i have so thats great to know. I bought it on the recommendation that mixing your own was cost effective but then read a lot that i was only really good if you were using CO2. 

Seeing as i already have it, i might as well use i.


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## John q (19 Nov 2021)

MattFrancis said:


> I'm starting off a low tech scape, no Co2 and the standard lighting although its quite heavily planted


Having seen your tank and the plant species in said tank (mainly slow growers) I'd say 25% ei would be more than enough, I dosed that amount (same product) in a much more densely low tech planted tank (fast growing stems) and didn't encounter any issues. 

Dosing higher levels than this won't cause any issues like Michael points out and tinkering with percentages maybe adds a level of complication that's not needed. 

Probably get lambasted by some but you'll be fine with 25% ei in your tank.


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## Wookii (19 Nov 2021)

MattFrancis said:


> Thats the kit that i have so thats great to know. I bought it on the recommendation that mixing your own was cost effective but then read a lot that i was only really good if you were using CO2.
> 
> Seeing as i already have it, i might as well use i.



Ferts are ferts, so the same ferts work regardless of whether your are injecting CO2 or not. Your APFUK kit will be great for any planted tank you set up.

The only difference is you may not need to dose as much if you are not injecting CO2, as the plants simply can’t grow fast enough to use all those ferts in the absence of CO2.

I dose 25% EI on my low tech tanks too as others have said. If you have faster growing stem plants in there, then you could consider dosing a little more, but at least with a low tech the rate of change is much slower than high tech so you can spot any deficiencies in fast growers or floaters and adjust the ferts as needed.

EDIT: one thing I should have added is if you have a lot of floating plants, you might need to keep an eye on the fert levels as they have free access to 400ppm CO2 and many of them suck up ferts like a sponge. I throw away a litre of floating plants a week from my low tech tank, but 25% EI is still enough for me as my other plants are all very slow growers (epiphytes and crypts).


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## MichaelJ (19 Nov 2021)

Wookii said:


> one thing I should have added is if you have a lot of floating plants, you might need to keep an eye on the fert levels as they have free access to 400ppm CO2 and many of them suck up ferts like a sponge. I throw away a litre of floating plants a week from my low tech tank, but 25% EI is still enough for me as my other plants are all very slow growers (epiphytes and crypts).


I don't know if it's because of my mega dosing of fertilizer, but my floating plants (frogbit/duckweed/pennyworth) are growing so rampant at this stage that I have to weed out both tanks on a weekly basis. I used to be really particular about which plants I would toss, but now I just randomly grab a few fistfuls. 

Cheers,
Michael


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## Karmicnull (20 Nov 2021)

Yeah I'm in exactly the same boat. The floaters are rampant!


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