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I'm in complete agreement with Darrel. When I see post like these I cringe because newcomers will inevitably read this stuff and will start worrying about things that absolutely don't matter at all, and that's when they get into real trouble because their attention and energy is spent on useless...

Hi, The concentration can be anything you want, low, high, Astronomical - whatever you choose. Were you aware that ADA Aquasoil has approximately 100X EI concentration level? It just doesn't matter. This is not something to worry about. The idea of having a rich sediment is that you can be...

Wow, I speak really excellent Vietnamese! Anyway DuyHung, the idea is that when you push the ice cubes deep into the substrate the ice melts and the nutrients are released into the sediment. If the nutrient content of the sediment is high then yes, some nutrients wil find its way into the water...

No, sorry, high pH water has nothing to do with the free CO2 in water. This false doctrine persists despite all the obvious evidence and information to the contrary. Gases typically follow Henrys Law, which states that at a given temperature the solubility of a gas in a solvent is a function of...

Hi, It's really not necessary to find any special supplier. Any garden center usually will sell KH2PO4 and KNO3, as well as micronutrient mix. Farmers have been using these generic products for a very long time and we have been using them for decades. If you have access to Amazon or ebay...

As mentioned by Happi, dosing EI inherently means that there is no need for testing. Additionally, trying to micromanage ratios of nutrients is probably the cause of unhappiness. You should simply dose the suggested amounts and forget about ratios. Ratios really does not help to grow better...

Hi John, No worries mate. I understand that we all are trying to get a grip on cause and effect. OK, I can see why some may suspect Fe (either in excess or deficiency) since there is a possible issue of Iron Phosphate precipitation. I'm paraphrasing from Barr's conclusion here: If...

GSA is caused by any combination of poor PO4 and poor CO2. If you are adding the EI target amounts of KH2PO4 then it is unlikely that low PO4 is a factor. One then has to evaluate CO2/flow/distribution. EasyCarbo=CO2, therefore poor CO2 has to be under immediate suspicion. If you are only...

Hello, One teaspoon of nutrients weighs approximately 6 grams. The weights obviously vary for each nutrient, but this is a fair approximation. Cheers,

Hello, As mentioned by other posters above, there really are no "correct" EI values. This way of thinking, forced by the results of spreadsheets, is one of the things I dislike the most about the calculators. I suggest that you study the background information provided in the EI dosing...

Yeah, both those numbers are insanely high, but it doesn't matter though, as none of these numbers will hurt. What's important is to understand how plants use nutrients instead of blindly following some number on a spreadsheet. You can grow excellent plants using numbers 1/100X of that. So for...

Well this sounds like a lot of twisting to me. Are you claiming that Amazonia does not leach nutrients into the water? Are you also now hiding behind twisted words? No one claims that NH3/NH4 doesn't fertilize. When we say that nutrients do not cause algae we are specifically referencing NO3...

Hello, EI really does not specify Mg at all and there are no optimum amounts simply because the levels vary with different municipal water supplies. The 10ppm is very high and there is no way plants require 10ppm of Mg. Is it possible you have misinterpreted the value of 10ppm of MgSO4...

This argument is not reasonable and giving an answer "yes" or "no" would also be unreasonable. Whenever someone has a problem in a tank it is first necessary to determine what it is that they are doing or not doing. The answer is not a choice of binary options. An analysis must be performed on...

Hello, It's a good idea to stop worrying about nitrates. Nitrogen is the second most important element (second only to CO2) and nitrate is not toxic at these concentration levels. I do not think it is a good policy to omit nitrate dosing at the beginning. The best practice is to add...

As mentioned by the other posters, there is no requirement for root tabs if you intend to dose the water column. Since plants uptake nutrients from either location you can either use an nutritious substrate, such as ADA Aquasoil or insert nutrients into the substrate such as Osmocote/clone or...

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...

Hi X3NiTH, I'd have to suspect some strange combination of events as I've never experienced or anything like the symptoms described, regardless of my use of either tap or RO. My municipal tap water supplier when I was living in UK was Thames Water - notorious for their poor...

Hi Michael, Yes it's easy to pick the one that has more of everything unless that one is more expensive. Of all the powders, trace mix is usually the most expensive by far, perhaps not where you live, but around the world it can be expensive. What if your tank is 200 gallons...

Well, lets be reasonable; If you add PO4 to the tank how could there not be more PO4? There is no reason to measure it. This is one of the main principles of EI. "NO MORE NEED FOR TESTING". Many years ago, before the advent of EI, when everyone thought that nutrients caused algae, hobbyist spent...

Hello, As pointed out by Wookii, algae really do not care how much nutrients are in the water. If that were the case then every EI dosed tank would suffer algal blooms, so clearly this concept of nutrients causing algae is false. Exactly, so why even bother to pay attention to sucky...

Hello, Actually it does not really matter which of those options you use. There is no rule stating that ONLY CSM+B or that ONLY products having the same relative content of micronutrients as CSM+B should be used. When EI was being developed CSM+B was the cheapest and most available...

If you intend to dose the water column, especially using the EI method then I would advise against using osmocote, which is extremely high in toxic ammonia. You never really need to spend more money on root tabs as all you need to do is to prepare small ice cubes using water that you have added...

Yes, this is exactly the reason. Thank you for not glossing over this important issue. In fact you are being too kind. I would agreed more with you had you substituted the word "sucks" for the word "Skewed". Cheers,

Assuming predation is not the cause, holes in plants = poor CO2. The holes might have been there and perhaps you did not notice them, or, whatever previous deficiency you have fixed now exposes the shortfall in CO2. As mentioned, remove affected leaves and you may want to consider adding Excel...

Hi Michael, Although this interaction occurs in non-CO2, remember that the metabolism of the plants is about an order of magnitude lower than in CO2 tanks, so we are much more likely to experience this issue in CO2 tanks. Since non-CO2 tanks are CO2 limited we are very likely to...

Well, it's theoretically correct, but there are better ways to accomplish this. I'm not sure why, but I had assumed that you were using an inline CO2 diffuser as I had trouble finding it in the photo. I suggest, if possible to port the gas into the filter by placing the diffuser in such a way as...

What I'm saying is that I do not care what chelator is in my nutrient products. Hobbyists do not need to fret as much as they do about which chelator to use. As soon as you put the nutrient products in the water the plants start to absorb them. There are both passive and active methods used by...

Hi, OK, that configuration is even less effective than I thought. If I read that diagram correctly you have the spraybar holes pointing down? That only then sends the flow to the back part of the sediment. Then there is the corner unit which is sending it's flow to the longest possible...

Hello, A rule of thumb is that if you are dosing EI level of nutrients and the tank experiences nutrient related algae then one must immediately suspect that flow/distribution is faulty. It was difficult to see exactly how your distribution is configured, but it appears you have a...

Yes. Light energy dissipation follows the inverse square rule. Therefore at double the distance the PAR is at 1/4th the value. Roughly speaking, in air and in the absence of any other factor, if PAR is 220 micromoles at 20cm then it is approximately 220/4=55 micromoles at 40 cm, 220/9=24...

All marketing bullsh$%t. Zero implication mate. Zero...:thumbdown: Cheers,

Yeah mate, I completely agree, and having target numbers is OK as we need some frame of reference. Nothing wrong with that, but folks become obsessed with the targets and that's where the wheels fall off the wagon. Exactly, and that is part of the problem we face here. Few are willing to take...

Hi Karl, Yeah, glad you're finally getting around to realizing that all these tedious calculations don't really get you any farther than just being sloppy. I mean, that's what the guy who invented EI was trying to tell people all along. Certainly, you and others such as X3nith deserve...

I agree with X3NiTH. There is absolutely no mileage in worrying about using potassium salts for your nutrients. Any nutrients you dump into the tank when dosing EI will automatically raise the TDS, significantly. TDS as a number in isolation is not necessarily bad. What matters is the components...

Hello, You can do whichever suits you. You can have a rest day or not. That is the beauty of EI. You are not compelled to be manic about the details or schedules because EI provides plenty of reserve nutrients in the water, in the sediment and in the plants tissues themselves...

You do not need any special water. Just use tap water. I have no idea where the idea came from to use distilled or RO water, or to boil water. There is absolutely no benefit, nor are there any disadvantages to using the water straight from your tap. Cheers,

My KNO3 stash makes me Public Enemy #1. Have already been interrogated by agents and was lucky to escape with my life. :cool:

Hello, These are all signs of poor CO2 and has nothing to do with EI. My suggestion is to forget about getting perfect nutrients and concentrate of fixing your CO2/flow/distribution. As long as you are adding nutrition then there really is nothing to worry about unless the plants show...

Typical indication of poor CO2. Holes in plants, if not caused by predation, is only ever caused by poor CO2. Terrible idea as Nitrogen is the second most important nutrient, second only to Carbon. Cheers,

Hello, The elements you've listed have very little importance (not familiar with "Rubido?") and I suggest purchasing less expensive trace mixes containing the standard elements. Cheers,

Hi Marcel, Yes this is a problem in The Matrix. We often cannot tell what is real and what is an illusion. Check this out. you can buy what is essentially powdered rust as a trace element. I used to use this stuff from this vendor all the time: Gardens Direct Ferric It was fine...

You do not need any more copper. As I mentioned previously, plants only require microscopic amounts of these metals. That's why they are called micro-nutrients. Metallic ions such as Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc and others are toxic as hell. Plants have to devise strategies to chelate them...

This is not true. It would only be true if the nail were made of stainless steel. Old iron nails will rust and as Tim's reference indicates plants harbor and develop certain microbes that convert the ferric oxide to ferrous, which is more bioavailable. This is an aerobic process and the plants...

Daily water changes is not really necessary. A 2X or max 3X per week is good for the first 3-4 weeks and then once per week is the standard thereafter. As mentioned, with this scheme dosing after the water change makes more sense. Cheers,

Wow, "widow-maker" - sounds like a really large heavy broadsword. Only serious gamers need apply.:oops: As Tim mentions above, its really necessary to provide photos so that we can identify the type of algae. The type of algae determines which ingredient is deficient. It could easily be that...

Totally agree with Oldguy. Worrying about Ca:Mg ratios is another waste of energy. Worry about keeping your tank clean with massive and frequent water changes and worry about CO2/flow/distribution, which are 1000 times more important than ratios. Cheers,

Hello, Melting plants are always a sign of poor CO2. The amount of liquid carbon you are adding is insufficient for the amount of light that you are pumping into the tank. This is almost always why tanks fail. Everyone seems to think that more light is better. While this philosophy...

OK, so as always, when your CO2 profile is good but the fish suffer hypercapnia then that means your flow/distribution is in question. This is the area you'll need to tackle. It's very likely that when you fix your flow/distribution then you'll also fix whatever nutrient problems you have...

Hi Nigel, Well, remember that the DC should corroborate your pH drop, so the pH drop has priority and should have your attention, but if the DC shows a darker green than you anticipated then you'll need to investigate. The DC should definitely have a very light green. I use the DC...

Hi Hufsa, Honestly I can't really see anything wrong with the floaters in post 15, but choosing between solving a trace problem, if it exists, and a CO2 problem - well, I always choose to tackle CO2. I mean, really, it there is a shortage of trace then just add more trace. That is...

Hello, First of all there are no known algae that are affected by Iron. In your original post it seemed that you were having difficulty with the coloration of plants, hence the focus on Iron. The photos in post 15 reveal this is a typical case of filamentous algae which has nothing to...

Agree with foxfish. Dose immediately otherwise the tank will steal your lunch. Cheers,

As mentioned by Zeus, GSA is typical issue with slow growing plants and is associated with a combination of low CO2 and low PO4. Since neither is problematic, as evidenced by the health and growth of the other plants, the only defense is to move the plant to a more shaded area to protect them...

OK, fair enough, and as evidenced by the tap water content, sulfur toxicity is also unheard of. No, this is down to the low CO2 levels typical in a non injected tank. The plants with holes either are less efficient CO2 gatherers, or are rapid CO2 users, or they are in an area with chronically...

Well, the only reason you would get into trouble is if you continually obsess over these numbers and start doing crazy things in an effort to micromanage those numbers. If this is a non-CO2 tank then things happen very slowly (unless there is too much light). That tank looks pretty good to me...

No. As you noted, there are lots of causes for shrimp death. This is not one of them. CHeers,

Thus the invention of EI. Why not save yourself a bundle and simply buy generic powders here=> Gardens Direct A few grams mixed in water will give you a mix 10X more powerful than ferrolpol could every dream of being, or save yourself time and energy and simply grab a pinch between thumb and...

Hi Kingy, OK, thanks for the photos. There appears to be a couple types of diatomic algae typical of newly setup tanks. Theoretically, the algae should go away by itself after 2-3 weeks, however, the situation is often exacerbated when we make mistakes, such as having too much...

For best advice it would be necessary to determine exactly what species of algae is present in the tank as the type of algae is strongly correlated to the cause. Close up photographs would help a lot. As mentioned by other posters, in planted tanks, NO3 and PO4 do not cause algae, but are used...

Perhaps you're overlooking the fact that the NH4 can be turned into NH3 if the pH rises above neutral where fauna are susceptible to toxicity. The article you reference involves a species adapted to withstand high levels of the toxin whereas we cannot automatically conclude that the same can be...

Hi Libba, The term "potash" refers to any salt of potassium. So this could be Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Sulfate, Potassium Nitrate and many others. Without knowing which Potassium salt is included an exact concentration cannot be calculated. I've not heard of any...

Yes, I know. It's very difficult to compare tanks because no one knows how much PAR is entering the tank. That is THE most important parameter, because it drives the demand for everything else, but, due to cost, few people have a PAR meter, so it's impossible to draw meaningful conclusions...

As mentioned above, get plants that display red naturally and which do not require starvation tactics. Alternanthera is an excellent example of a red plant that does not require tricks, and the more you feed it the more it turns red. Cheers,

Hi, I would be lying to you if I were to provide a number. Fixing the timing is one of the corrections we can make to our CO2 technique, however, typically we see a decrease in the rate at which the leaves turn translucent within a few days. It would be a good idea to remove as many of the...

Hi Mohamed, Nitrogen uptake and assimilation are tricky. On one hand, the N that is bound in NH3/NH4 is very easy for plants to use and is more abundant per unit weight. For example, NH4 by weight is mostly N since the Hydrogen (H) is the lightest element. In NH4 78% of that...

NO3 deficiency does not genetically deactivate chlorophyll production. Shortages of Nitrogen simply prevents the plant from producing sufficient quantities of the chlorophyll molecule as the molecule is constructed around a Nitrogen-Magnesium chlorophyll ring. The enzymes and the precursors that...

Without a PAR meter no one really has any idea whether a given light is too much or within acceptable range. What we do know however is that the leaves show signs of distress. That means one has to at least consider the possibility. It's when we ignore the possibility that we get into trouble...

Hi, Actually, it is most definitely diatomic algae. There are over 10,000 species of diatoms. The rule of thumb is that the DC should be lime green by the time the light are turned on. May wish to consider turning the gas on earlier. Photo #3 shows translucency in the leaves, which is a sign...

Yes. Never. Despite the fact that you are adding CO2 these photos indicate the plants are actually suffering CO2 deficiency. All of the photos show leaves which are translucent. I can also see some plants with stems decayed and the remaining tips are brown. This is always an indication of poor...

LOL I'm always sneaking up on folks. I used to work for the CIA. :cool: Yeah, people don't seem to realize that when you add CO2 the metabolism of plants increase by a maximum of about 10 fold. In a low tech environment the uptake rate is so much slower and the growth rate is so much due to the...

Hello, I agree with Andy. Low tech tanks, i.e., no gas and no Excel, really do not need EI levels of nutrition. So you only need to dose a fractional amount once a week or so. EI assumes the tanks has high lighting and fuel injection. Barr's non-Co2 method is as follows: Assuming 80-90%...

Hi, the answer is yes, complete guesswork, sadly. No. The science is relevant to terrestrial plants, not to aquatic plants. No. Firstly there are very few valid test kits and this would not be the method to determine the consumption. Even if it were possible, the consumption rate for different...

Hi Hoggie, Yeah, sure, there is always a benefit in dosing Urea as plants can more easily and efficiently uptake the NH4 than they can NO3. I believe Toby's recipe uses both and that's wise. So you should see better growth and performance than using NO3 alone, however, yes there...

Hello Geraint, As Zeus mentions it really doesn't matter one way or the other. The six days that you dose pushes the concentration level high enough to satisfy the plants needs. EI is about economics. I think people gloss over this point. AS you mention, if you'll do a...

Hi Fluke, Concentration of any solute (say sugar, for example) in a solvent (say water) actually has the effect of exerting pressure on the walls of the container in the same way that the solvent itself exerts pressure against the walls (or against any object in the water). When...

Hello, EI does not care how many plants are in the tank. This is another myth of whose origin is unknown. The concentration goal is to account for the lighting levels, to ensure nutrition is non-limiting, and a side benefit is to produce a nutrient partial pressure which assists in...

There are in fact some commercial aquarium fertilizers that do exactly this. Of course they are watered down significantly to the point of which they sometimes are not economical. On the other hand, the home grown mixes popular with the EI dosing scheme, work well, are non-toxic and are cheaper...

Yes, I also though the damage looked awfully suspicious and it may still be a combination of CO2 shortfall and predation as the fish find it easier to pick apart as the tissues decay. In any case plecs are not going to be the reason for the GSA. There seems to be tissue decay at areas just...

Hello Richard, Yes, I understand that the trigons are particularly difficult shapes to diffuse CO2 properly in and that is an even bigger reason to suspect a CO2 shortfall. There are so many ways in which CO2 can be faulty, distribution method certainly being a top...

Hello, Start at any percentage level that is most convenient for you. Whether you start 100% early or late will make no difference in the long run.

Hello, You can use any grade you can find. The tank inhabitants do not really care. MgSO4 is simply Epsom's Salts, which you can find in any pharmacy. I see no need to obsess over "purity". This only forces you to pay more money than necessary. Also, you should have a look at the water...

Hello, There are some companies which advertise that their fertilizers contain hormones, and that supposedly, these hormones improve aquatic plant growth. These claims are all false and they rely on the practice of using hormones to improve root growth, for example in terrestrial plants...

Hi, If you're using a commercial product such as Tropica and if you are NOT injecting CO2 then just dose per bottle recommendation. The difficulty in this tank will arise due to CO2 shortages, not due to nutrient issues. Low CO2 means a low requirement for nutrients and low requirement for...

Yes, these are famous last words. In fact, these two items are exactly what you should worry about. The tank "probably" has too much light and the CO2 application is "probably" in need of a revision. Hard water will have nothing to do with the problem, so worrying about things like Fe and...

The answer to this question is exactly as stated by sparkyweasel in post #5. Yes, it is true that Fe and PO4 reactions "can" occur in some tanks, especially if the water is hard (one will observe the precipitation of Iron Phosphate), however, you "can" get away with dosing both on the same day...

Hello, The addition of K2SO4 is unnecessary to raise General Hardness, as I'm sure you're aware. Tom Barr adds it simply to help those who, for example do not use EI fertilizers, the main components of which are KNO3 and KH2PO4. If these main components are not used, in the dosing...

Hello, I agree with the others that this is a good product when used as mentioned by Zeus. FYI CSM+B no longer exists as a branded product. It was simply chosen as a cheap hydroponic product alternative to the hideously expensive boutique fertilizer brand of the day (30 years or so ago). Any...

Hello, This is one of those situations where we make life more complicated for ourselves with very little to show for it. Iron is a micronutrient, which means the plant only needs microscopic amounts of iron. About one hour after you have dosed iron, the plant has already taken up it's...

Hi, I agree with the others. In terrestrial mode there is no advantage in misting with fertilizer and indeed the risk of burning is high depending on the composition of the fertilizer. Keep it simple. Flooding the tank is when your real problems will start. The tank looks good to me as is...

Yes this is really odd because a member based in Holland had asked for some help regarding this. Perhaps the rules are that you must furnish the data to the governing body but that it was not necessary to list them on the label. Cheers,

No, its based on the past history of vendors who refrain from listing their contents. This is why I used the modifier "typically". It's also been our experience that when vendors refrain from listing their active ingredients, it's "typically" because the ingredients are easily obtainable and...

Hello, Typically, the macro mix (so called Specialized Nutrition) Nitrogen is supplied via combination of simple salts such as KNO3, NH4NO3 and/or Urea.The micronutrient mix are typically chelated and the mix is typically acidified using citric or ascorbic because these are cheaper...

Hi, It's very difficult to provide a concrete answer because first of all, no one truly knows the composition of your water. It would require very expensive equipment to determine. Unless you are replacing the removed water with RO it could easily be that your water addition is adding...

Hello, Without knowing the contents of the product, it is impossible to know how much or how often to dose. Suggest you contact the vendor (or review the bottle contents if available) to determine what exactly is in this product. Cheers,

Hi, I agree with Darrel. If you know what you are doing then nutrient mixes using NH4/NH3 are very effective. If you are asking the question however, then you most likely are not familiar enough and should avoid NH4/NH3 due to toxicity. As mentioned, use any Potassium Nitrate containing...

Hi AWB, As I mentioned, the graph cannot isolate how much decline is due to nutrient uptake and how much rise is due to substances introduced into the water column. Nutrients are also pulled from the substrate as well as the water column and the substrate itself binds some...

This is really an unnecessary complication. Just dose regularly and carry on. You'll never be able to tell when plants need a dosing just from the TDS. If you are waiting for a color change then by the time the change has occurred then it is already too late and the plant is suffering a nutrient...

Hi, As usual, this is a CO2 issue and has nothing to do with nutrients. As mentioned by Zeus and Ian, lights, flow and CO2 need to be addressed. Cheers,

Hi, I'll have to disagree with Darryl here. Potassium deficiencies are rare and these symptoms would be the right symptoms if this was terrestrial growth. If these symptoms appeared during submerged growth then it is more likely to be a CO2 issue. Cheers,