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EI DOSING USING DRY SALTS

Hi Clive.
Newbie here.
I've been lurking for a while gleaning loads of useful info in my quest for a healthily planted tank but now I've got the aquascaping bug.
This forum has already resolved one of my problems, I had algae appear on my HC and found it to be poor CO2 circulation 😀
Anyway I just have to say, what a great article. You've managed to explode many myths surrounding this subject in an easy to read manner (although there was a lot of it). 😀

By the way I think your tank looks stunning.

Well done
 
Thanks Chris. Glad you find the data useful. You're right, there is certainly a lot of info there so one has to re-read a few times before things start to make total sense. The info is a distillation of years of work, done mostly by plantbrain.

Sadly, the tank was dismantled a few months ago. On to the next project!

Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
MgSO4 (Epsoms Salts) as 1/2 teaspoon included with the NPK. Although the trace element mix contains Mg, it appears to be not enough and we do see quite a bit of Mg deficiency. I believe this is one advantage Tropica TPN has over this powder, but so what? Just add more Epsom Salts.
Click to expand...

hi ceg
a quick question if that is ok, please.
is there any difference in using magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (mgso4 7h2o), apart from the vast contrast in price?
it wasn't a problem with a nano, but i've just mixed up for an 80 gallon with 24 t/spoons and eaten away at 3/4 of my 250g stock, theres a huge saving to be had here!
as always cheers and thanx!
 
Hi bazz,
No difference whatsoever mate. In fact I think Epsom Salts is actually the heptahydrated form MgSO4·7H2O.

Cheers,
 
i'm new to plants and dosing, and i'm trying to figure out what i need to buy and how to mix it.
This post explained alot but i started getting lost after the first page
so far i have come to the idea that i need to buy the following powders.
kno3- potassium nitrate
kh2po4- potassium phosphate
mgs04- magnesium sulphate
and trace elements mix.

i plan to mix this with water in these quatities for a 100 litre (25us gal) tank with just over 3wpg lighting

3tsp kno3
1tsp kh2po4
7tsp mgso4
in 600 ml of water to provide 12x 50ml doses
i will dose the trace elements on different days

now for the question.....Aqua essentials sell alot more powders than the ones listed above, so do i have the right ones, and do i need to add/ remove anything from my planned mixture?
 
seawolf said:
i'm new to plants and dosing, and i'm trying to figure out what i need to buy and how to mix it.
This post explained alot but i started getting lost after the first page
so far i have come to the idea that i need to buy the following powders.
kno3- potassium nitrate
kh2po4- potassium phosphate
mgs04- magnesium sulphate
and trace elements mix.

i plan to mix this with water in these quatities for a 100 litre (25us gal) tank with just over 3wpg lighting

3tsp kno3
1tsp kh2po4
7tsp mgso4
in 600 ml of water to provide 12x 50ml doses
i will dose the trace elements on different days

now for the question.....Aqua essentials sell alot more powders than the ones listed above, so do i have the right ones, and do i need to add/ remove anything from my planned mixture?
Click to expand...

hi & welcome 🙂

here is the mixture for a 20gal tank (traces) so just raise the amount you mix like you have done for the others to compensate for the extra 5gallons.

Always separate the CSM+B from the NPK because it has a tendency to react with the phosphate. You can dose the CSM+B as a powder or if it more convenient add 8 * 1/16 tsp => ½ teaspoon to 200 ml of water and dose 25 ml two times per week.
Click to expand...

You have everything correct. The other powders are there incase any other defficiencies show, but most people's tap water contains all the minerals required, except the main ones you listed.
 
thanks for the reply

so thats 1/2 tsp trace in 200ml for a 20gal tank

calculations make that .625 of a tsp for 25 gal

or 1tsp in 300ml for 12 - 25ml doses (rounded up from 0.9375 of a teaspoon)

somone did say it was estimative lol
 
ceg4048 said:
Hi bazz,
No difference whatsoever mate. In fact I think Epsom Salts is actually the heptahydrated form MgSO4·7H2O.

Cheers,
Click to expand...

Hi,

My local chemicals shop has MgSO4·7H2O at 2 pounds per kilo , I just wanted to ask if there is any dosage difference to this beyond MGSO4 since on a weight basis there will be even less Magnesium ?
 
Hi,
No there is no need to dose more. The listed dosages are actually based on Epsom salts so it's already taken into account. If you adjust further for the molecular weight of the 7 H2O you'll wind up dosing the entire kilo in one shot. :lol:

Cheers,
 
Okay, so I'm lost, I've read and re read this article and there seems to be a vast gulf between what you recommend and the EI recipe recommended by James C?
I've been dosing as per 20gallon tank on my 60x30x30 with 24w t5 and I'm getting incredibly slow growth, even on weeds like Hc and hairgrass, neither of which are doing anything. I even seem to be running into deficiencies, or at least I am struggling with plants considered easy to grow, namely crypts which are yellowing on new leaves and dying off and on old leaves vast holes appearing before the leaf melts. This is with consistent dosing over that recommended with lowered light and a visible co2 mist through out the entire water column. This is without mentioning my didiplis diandra woes which melted with out any catalyst that I could spot and keeps doing so seemingly randomly, this is on a plant considered a weed by all hobbyists I've asked. So, where am I going wrong, even with following all the advice to the letter and patience a monk would be envious of.
I checked James' recipe and it seems to be around half as rich as that you recommend, unless my maths is wrong?
 
The values on my website are exactly what TB recommended on his Barr Report site. Comparing my figures and the ones in this article mine are slightly higher for KNO3.

This article's values:
KNO3 - 3/16 tsp
KH2PO4 - 1/16 tsp
Traces - 1/16 tsp

JamesC's values:
KNO3 - 1/4 tsp
KH2PO4 - 1/16 tsp
Traces - 1/16 tsp


James
 
Cheers James, this would suggest I'm underdosing on Kno3. It doesn't really explain the dying new growth or the slow growing on weeds though?
 
Understandable Ceg but I can see the plants all swaying in the flow and I can see co2 throughout the entire water column. I could swap the inlet/outlets to the opposite side of the tank and see if it makes any difference?
 
Could be. Need to see what we're dealing with and get specifics though. Same drill as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Which thread has this tank and it's issues ( I lose track)? Let's head over there and troubleshoot. 😉

Cheers,
 
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