Problems after using E.I

[Mark Evans]

i find it quit interesting how some folks dont get on with EI, for me i cant get on without it, i get paranoid if i don't use EI,

 

[Superman]

I am thinking that due to the plants I have, which are not fast growers the surplus fertz (NPK) that they have not used on Saturday remains within the water column, more fluid added on Monday NPK and the same on Wednesday - this means excessive amounts of NPK within the water column that the plants cannot or have not use up, so it has feed the algae spores in other words i have been overdosing with NPK through out the week, thread post regarding "What would be the net affect of overdosing". I think through my experience with E.I people should consider the type of plants they have - slow / medium or fast grower then decide whether they should go down this line.

Remember that alage can be considered a plant and that once it's "hatched" from it's spore stage, it uses normal ferts to grow. We're not saying that dosing EI will kill the algae just help to prevent it from starting. Algae "hatches" from it's spore stage when the right conditions hold, which is mainly triggered by ammonia.

I would say that EI is not the problem, it's the algae that's in there.

Once you have algae in your tank and dosing EI, you need to keep removing algae infected leaves immediately or it'll just spread. Do a 2 or 3 water changes each week to remove as much algae spores as possible.

Things take a few weeks to show signs of turning the corner and don't expect things to happen immediately.

What you showed is that your old routine was not providing non-limiting nutrients for plant growth, so going back to that method might not fix the problem.

You need to find the balance in the tank, each one is different and just keep trying as, as soon as you crack it, you're onto a winner.

 

[chris1004]

High Paul sorry that you are disillutioned with things at the moment my heart goes out to you as I know from first hand experience how you feel.

regards
Paul.

For what its worth Paul I had a similar background in my tank and found that it caused me no end of problems. You can view my troubles here:-

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4713


Now I'm not saying that this is definatly your problem but I am fairly sure that it was a large part of mine...Its only been a month or so since I removed it but things have improved massivly since, still early days yet though to be totally certain I know.

When I actually removed the background the algae was so thick on the very top edge that I could scrape it off in thick wads and the deep cracks of the background on closer inspection was also found to be thick with algae. With this ammount of resident algae in the water it didn't really matter how many plant leaves I was pulling off the algae had a stronhold from which to launch its attacks, the ferts just kept it well fed.

I would be interested to know whether anyone has successfully used EI in conjuntion with a textured background?

For the record mine was a jewel imitation rockface, now residing in my 'to be taken to the tip' pile..

 

[GreenNeedle]

As with all things there are examples of success with textured backgrounds. Different people have different setups and learn to master their own setup 🙂

I have seen a lot of problems with structured backgrounds though 🙂

I would think it would be one of those things that is not a problem to a well setup tank but fuels the problem in tanks that are still being mastered 🙂

AC

 

[Dolly Sprint 16v]

High Paul sorry that you are disillutioned with things at the moment my heart goes out to you as I know from first hand experience how you feel.

regards
Paul.

For what its worth Paul I had a similar background in my tank and found that it caused me no end of problems. You can view my troubles here:-

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4713


Now I'm not saying that this is definatly your problem but I am fairly sure that it was a large part of mine...Its only been a month or so since I removed it but things have improved massivly since, still early days yet though to be totally certain I know.

When I actually removed the background the algae was so thick on the very top edge that I could scrape it off in thick wads and the deep cracks of the background on closer inspection was also found to be thick with algae. With this ammount of resident algae in the water it didn't really matter how many plant leaves I was pulling off the algae had a stronhold from which to launch its attacks, the ferts just kept it well fed.

I would be interested to know whether anyone has successfully used EI in conjuntion with a textured background?

For the record mine was a jewel imitation rockface, now residing in my 'to be taken to the tip' pile..

Chris

I was using the back ground prior to E.I dosing, if you review the picy of the tank taken on the 23.11.2008 and look to the right hand side you will see the back ground. I have my suspicions that my plants were no consuming a vast amounts of fertz due to them being slow growers and by adding more every other day was putting an abundance of fertz in the water column which in turn promoted algae to grow faster.

The comment I made regarding whether people going down the line of E.I was referring to the types of plants they have within the tank ie slower / medium or fast growers and the quantity of plants.

May be if I had reduced the amount of NPK solution being added the story would be different, I was adding 50 mls per dosing, maybe I should have started of with a low dosage of 5 mls and increased the dosage by 5mls at a time until the optimum levels of dosing was achieve. I am not going to know the outcome as I have pack it in.

Regards
Paul.

 

[aaronnorth]

I have my suspicions that my plants were no consuming a vast amounts of fertz due to them being slow growers and by adding more every other day was putting an abundance of fertz in the water column which in turn promoted algae to grow faster.

adding more fertilisers increases the demand for CO2.
Ok, your drop checker may be green, but then you have to look at distribution, again you have enough turnover but are you sure it is being circulated properly in every corner.
one thing leads to another so you just have to find the swet spot.

 

[Dolly Sprint 16v]

I have my suspicions that my plants were no consuming a vast amounts of fertz due to them being slow growers and by adding more every other day was putting an abundance of fertz in the water column which in turn promoted algae to grow faster.

adding more fertilisers increases the demand for CO2.
Ok, your drop checker may be green, but then you have to look at distribution, again you have enough turnover but are you sure it is being circulated properly in every corner.
one thing leads to another so you just have to find the swet spot.

I wont know - as i have packed it in.

Regards
paul.