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EI on holiday

A

Ash J

Member
Joined
22 Nov 2021
Messages
84
Location
Nottinghamshire
Morning everyone,

Hope all is well.

I'm due to go on holiday for a week and wondering how to tackle dosing. I'm currently dosing 50Ml EI daily (3 days alternates of macros/micros). I do not have an autodoser and I do not have someone that can come into my home to dose the tank.
I'm reluctant to dose all the weeks worth of EI in one go before I leave. Is this likely the only method giving absence to the above? Very much open to suggestions 😁.

Cheers
Ash
 
In your case I would lower the lights, lower the CO2, dose the equivalent of half a week or thereabout and hope for the best. Also I would do a WC and a good trim before leaving so that stems don't overgrow during your absence.

Autodoser are great though, you should get one if you can. They solve these types of issues and give you peace of mind.
 
Hanuman said:
In your case I would lower the lights, lower the CO2, dose the equivalent of half a week or thereabout and hope for the best. Also I would do a WC and a good trim before leaving so that stems don't overgrow during your absence.

Autodoser are great though, you should get one if you can. They solve these types of issues and give you peace of mind.
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Thanks for your suggestion @Hanuman. I could certainly look into getting an auto doser though wouldn't know where to start. Would only have a budget of about £100 also so not sure if this is enough to get anything decent?

Cheers
Ash
 
Ash J said:
I'm due to go on holiday for a week and wondering how to tackle dosing. I'm currently dosing 50Ml EI daily (3 days alternates of macros/micros). I do not have an autodoser and I do not have someone that can come into my home to dose the tank.
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This is easy. If you have injected CO2 gas, turn that all the way off to avoid any potential disasters. Otherwise just go on holiday and don't worry about the EI dosing. Start it back up again (and turn the CO2 back on) when you get back on your regular schedule. Your plants will be perfectly fine with a week off ferts and probably won't even notice.
 
Ash J said:
Thanks for your suggestion @Hanuman. I could certainly look into getting an auto doser though wouldn't know where to start. Would only have a budget of about £100 also so not sure if this is enough to get anything decent?

Cheers
Ash
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Personally I don't recommend el cheapo auto dosers. They are hit or miss. Some are happy with those Jebao though. But as the says goes, buy cheap, buy twice.
There are decent quality autodosers that don't cost a ton. I use the X1Pro 2 from Kamoer which never skips a beat. As accurate as the first day. It's also has Wifi, so that's that. Kamoer is a major manufacturer of peristaltic pumps so they know what they are doing. I think they retail on aliexpress at around 70USD maybe less. I saw that Chihiros is also now launching their autodoser. Not sure of the price though.

Andy Pierce said:
This is easy. If you have injected CO2 gas, turn that all the way off to avoid any potential disasters. Otherwise just go on holiday and don't worry about the EI dosing. Start it back up again (and turn the CO2 back on) when you get back on your regular schedule. Your plants will be perfectly fine with a week off ferts and probably won't even notice.
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Honestly that's the last thing I would advise. Shutting down CO2 entirely for a week would equate to inflicting some damage to the plants. They will probably survive but at a cost for the overall health of the tank. Sure fish might be happy not to have CO2 for a week, but recovering from a 1 week of no Co2 in a high tech tank will take time. Reducing Co2 is something you usually do gradually, not just switch it off, unless of course one doesn't care about the plants.
 
I agree shutting the CO2 off is probably not advisable.

Personally I'd just trim well and heavily thin out floating plants if you have any, and perform a large water change just before going away. I'd dose the full weeks ferts on one go with the water change, and then leave everything else as is.
 
Ash J said:
I'm due to go on holiday for a week and wondering how to tackle dosing
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For a week I honestly don't think you need to worry. Front load the Macro's day before you go, add 50% if you have concerns about adding the lot, following day (day you go) add the micros, again 50% if you fell uncomfortable.

I think people panic unduly thinking that healthy plants will die if there not fed every other day, in reality the water column/substrate will likely have enough excess to keep them going for a week, and failing that healthy plants will have some reserves to fall back on.
 
Andy Pierce said:
This is easy. If you have injected CO2 gas, turn that all the way off to avoid any potential disasters. Otherwise just go on holiday and don't worry about the EI dosing. Start it back up again (and turn the CO2 back on) when you get back on your regular schedule. Your plants will be perfectly fine with a week off ferts and probably won't even notice.
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What types of CO2 disasters are you trying to mitigate against? I've never had a CO2 system malfunction. Of course it can happen in theory but I feel like the chances are so slim if you're using decent quality gear. I definitely would not advocate shutting off CO2. It'll send the plant into shock.
 
Libba said:
What types of CO2 disasters are you trying to mitigate against? I've never had a CO2 system malfunction. Of course it can happen in theory but I feel like the chances are so slim if you're using decent quality gear. I definitely would not advocate shutting off CO2. It'll send the plant into shock.
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"End of tank dump" for example. I'd be interested in whether anyone has actual data as to plants going into shock when CO2 is shut off, but I've done this several times for holidays, and on occasion due to simply running out of CO2 and haven't noticed anything discernable with regard to plant status.
 
Andy Pierce said:
"End of tank dump" for example. I'd be interested in whether anyone has actual data as to plants going into shock when CO2 is shut off, but I've done this several times for holidays, and on occasion due to simply running out of CO2 and haven't noticed anything discernable with regard to plant status.
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I've never experienced the notorious "end of tank dump." Is that even something that happens with good dual stage regulators? I'd just hook up a full tank before going on holiday anyway; I'm more worried about running out of gas while I'm away.

I suppose if you have a tank with mostly buce and anubias then turning off CO2 won't do much. Because those plants don't really need the CO2 injection to thrive anyway. But if you're running a high energy set-up with difficult plants, that really needs good CO2 to be viable, then turning it off instantly will absolutely mess with your plants in a huge way. Anyone with experience with a high energy set-up knows this.
 
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Andy Pierce said:
"End of tank dump" for example.
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End of tank dump is a real thing with a 1 stage regulator but I have yet to hear anyone have this happen. I am sure it has happened though. Most people have a 2 stage nowadays.
Andy Pierce said:
I'd be interested in whether anyone has actual data as to plants going into shock when CO2 is shut off, but I've done this several times for holidays, and on occasion due to simply running out of CO2 and haven't noticed anything discernable with regard to plant status.
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It all depends the types of plants you have. But imagine for a second that you are being deprived of your most essential nutrient for a week. Nothing good is bound to happen. As for data, well, I suppose experience is a good starter. Most people who run out of CO2 for 2 or 3 days already start noticing plants misbehaving/melting. In my case I run out of CO2 2 weeks ago while I was on holiday. In my estimate I think the tank was out of CO2 for 2 or 3 days and several stems of my R. tulunadensis blackened = died. I then noticed 2 or 3 days after that the L. Meta had some stunt tips and some of the leaves of the E. quinquangulare melted not long after.
 
Thanks all for the feedback. I'll have a think about the auto doser but may also just consider front loading 50% before I leave. I'm not so worried about Co2 "end of tank dump" as running a dual stage reg and co2 bottle currently attached is running low and will be changed next week to a fresh bottle and checked for leaks before I leave. I did also plan a large maintenance/water change before leaving.

Cheers
Ash
 
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