Few questions about EI dosing

[amateurfishkeeper]

So I'm on the old EI dosing regime and while I'm sold on the science aspect of it there's still a couple of things I'd like to know more about. Any help is much appreciated. All of this is in reference to a 120 liter tank in which I try to follow all suggested guidelines (CO2 addition, good flow, proper lighting etc).

With EI dosing I understand what is said about not worrying about quantities and that we should just use our eyes to observe what actually happens in our tanks. Nonetheless, when we start dosing we need some rough idea of what amount to chuck in or at least where to start. For some strange reason, I prefer to follow the idea of just throwing in the stuff rather than making a water solution - if that's a horrendous mistake please let me know.

So when I look at what Aquarium Plant food site on this I see they talk about making a solution with 4tsp KNO3, 1 tsp KH2PO4 and 6tsp MgSO4. I can see that these quantities are in a respective ratio of 4:1:6. When I read Clive's tutorial the same compounds seem to be a in a ratio of 3:1:8 (unless I'm mistaken). But I guess the relative ratios are less important than the actual quantity that's going in.

So for instance, if I was just being lazy about it and decided I couldn't be arsed to faff around with 1/8s of teaspoons and just chucked in half a teaspoon of each compound daily with a ratio of 1:1:1 and then reduced down from there, would that be an easier way of doing it than just attempting to find a precise amount based on the tank size and then slowly adding more each time? I would be supplying way more surely than the plants would need (as I estimate it) but would this have any negative effects on fish or even the water itself? I'm doing 2 50% water changes each week at the moment so would that be enough presuming I just throw in half a teaspoon of everything daily?

I only suggest this because without any proper understand of chemistry I am only guessing at what is needed. But reading posts I get the feeling that some people encourage others not to worry about details of the dosing and just get on with it. So can I just bung in half a teaspoon of everything daily and expect it to work? Or are there dire consequences awaiting me if I didn't take the suggested amounts seriously? In other words, if we add way more than is recommended is that cool or a no-no.

PS: I hope the answer is 'crack on' because I'm lazy and like short cuts but if there are serious issues here then I'll try another method.

 

[Wisey]

Hopefully one of the experts will chip in with more detail, but from what I understand, this would be a bad idea. EI is already designed to supply more than the plants need so there should never be a nutrient shortage, so if you go overdosing, you are putting way more in that you need to. I can't see that being beneficial at all.

If you are lazy, do what I did, buy a dosing pump, mix up your ferts in large quantities, configure it to dose as required and then just leave it. I only have to mix up a new batch of ferts 3 or 4 times a year, I dont have to worry about remembering to dose, I can go on holiday and things just continue. Happy days.

 

[Bacms]

The only problem I have with your approach is the 1:1:1 ratio. Although we can discuss the precise ratios, there is no doubt that plants need a lot more nitrate than they do phosphates. The reason why MgSO4 is so high is that you are using a salt constituted mainly of non Mg hence the need for the hight dose. There is also no problem with dosing dry salts directly except they may not dissolve and just got straight to the bottom specially if you are dosing a really high amount

 

[Jose]

As has been said,there is no problem with what youre doing but chucking in more ferts will only mean youre wasting them. If there is no reason to doing it why do it? Im sure you can dose 1/4 teaspoon the same way you can dose 1/2. Just try and stick to the original recipe as much as your personal limitations let you.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Tlhe experts call it "luxury uptake"meaning the plants always have enough food,so what I do feed to instruction/recommended dosage(APFUK) and this is similar to other methods, if your plants look ok fine if not add more gradually.If you look at Sanj magnificent Rainbow Fish tank on the FB gallery he adds the EI salts dry

 

[amateurfishkeeper]

Thanks everyone!

 

[stu_]

buy a smaller spoon.....

 

[HemantKumar]

I have a tank 500 liters i dose EI method
my gh is around 20
ph is 7

the rotala butterfly calculator tells me to add 300grams of mgso4.7h20 in 1000 ml and daily dose is 100 ml
do i require this much of mgso4

 

[rebel]

I have a tank 500 liters i dose EI method
my gh is around 20
ph is 7

the rotala butterfly calculator tells me to add 300grams of mgso4.7h20 in 1000 ml and daily dose is 100 ml
do i require this much of mgso4

What's your KH? It may depend on what's making up your gH etc. Check your water quality report.

 

[ian_m]

do i require this much of mgso4

Yes.

1. Its the cheapest ingredient, £15 odd for 25Kg from Ebay if you really want to save money.
2. Reason why you add so much is Mg (magnesium) is only a small part of the total MgSO4.7H2O. Adding atomic masses MgSO4.7H2O = 24 + 32 + (16x4)+7(2+16)= 246. Therefore %=24/246 about 10%.

 

[HemantKumar]

Thanks a lot for the reply