# Using EI without CO2 please help



## stan1973 (23 Oct 2011)

Hi
I'm new to all this EI dosing but can't wait to give it a try. I've had the tank set up a week with a few plants, i've been adding some nourish (trace ferts) but the new growth is yellow and small and have some brown algae on some of the leaves. I have some dry ferts on their way - potassium nitrate, potassium sulphate, potassium phosphate (mono basic) and trace mix.

As the title says I don't add CO2 to my tank, its a 5'x18"x18" so about 300L. The substrate is tesco cat litter on its own (the stuff recommended on here that looks like akadama). I have 3x58W T8s and a 1100L/hr working capacity external filter with spraybar

I want to know how much ferts I should add given that I'm not adding CO2, does it matter that I'm using a spray bar given there are no fish to produce CO2? Can I make a solution up and just add a daily amount? should I stick to a 50% water change per week? I don't have any fish at the moment, I was just planning to grow plants on their own for a month or two.
My tap water according to the Yorkshire water website has a GH of 11, full report below:


Water quality report

Substance.........Typical value....UK/European limit......Unit
Calcium............58.5000...................-...................mg Ca/l
Magnesium........6.4575....................- ..................mg Mg/l
Residual 
chlorine - free...0.20........................-...................mg/l Cl2
Residual 
chlorine - total..0.29.......................-...................mg/l Cl2
Coliforms.........0..........................0...................no/100ml
E-coli..............0..........................0...................no/100ml
Aluminium.......14.132...................200.................µg Al/l
Colour............1.04......................20...................mg/l Pt/Co Scale
Conductivity....287.14..................2500.................µS/cm
Fluoride.........0.062.....................1.5..................mg F/l
pH................7.68....................6.5 - 10.0 ...........pH Units
Iron..............25.71....................200..................µg Fe/l
Manganese.....2.22......................50 ...................µg Mn/l
Nitrate.........13.7633  ................50....................mg NO3/l
Nitrite..........0.0093..................0.5 ...................mg NO2/l
Sodium.........15.83...................200  ..................mg Na/l
Turbidity.......0.152   .................4  ................... NTU
Copper.........0.0230  .................2 ....................mg Cu/l
Lead............0.400  ..................25 ..................µg Pb/l


EDIT: Cleaned up column format to be more readable - ceg4048


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## stan1973 (24 Oct 2011)

Who does EI without CO2?


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## ceg4048 (24 Oct 2011)

Lots of people do. You just have to search the forum and you'll find data regarding low tech dosing schemes as discussed in Trying to get my head around non-CO2 methods

Cheers,


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## stan1973 (25 Oct 2011)

Thanks for the reply, sounds like I should be ok then, maybe too much light but i plan on having plenty of floating plants so should be ok.
Its interesting that Black Brush Algae is caused by spike in CO2 from too big a water change, I get it in one of my tanks and do big (75%) water changes. Next time I'll put an airstone on the water for a day to purge the CO2 beforehand and maybe switch the tank lights off at the same time.


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