Using EI without CO2 please help

[stan1973]

Hi
I'm new to all this EI dosing but can't wait to give it a try. I've had the tank set up a week with a few plants, i've been adding some nourish (trace ferts) but the new growth is yellow and small and have some brown algae on some of the leaves. I have some dry ferts on their way - potassium nitrate, potassium sulphate, potassium phosphate (mono basic) and trace mix.

As the title says I don't add CO2 to my tank, its a 5'x18"x18" so about 300L. The substrate is tesco cat litter on its own (the stuff recommended on here that looks like akadama). I have 3x58W T8s and a 1100L/hr working capacity external filter with spraybar

I want to know how much ferts I should add given that I'm not adding CO2, does it matter that I'm using a spray bar given there are no fish to produce CO2? Can I make a solution up and just add a daily amount? should I stick to a 50% water change per week? I don't have any fish at the moment, I was just planning to grow plants on their own for a month or two.
My tap water according to the Yorkshire water website has a GH of 11, full report below:


Water quality report

Substance.........Typical value....UK/European limit......Unit
Calcium............58.5000...................-...................mg Ca/l
Magnesium........6.4575....................- ..................mg Mg/l
Residual
chlorine - free...0.20........................-...................mg/l Cl2
Residual
chlorine - total..0.29.......................-...................mg/l Cl2
Coliforms.........0..........................0...................no/100ml
E-coli..............0..........................0...................no/100ml
Aluminium.......14.132...................200.................µg Al/l
Colour............1.04......................20...................mg/l Pt/Co Scale
Conductivity....287.14..................2500.................µS/cm
Fluoride.........0.062.....................1.5..................mg F/l
pH................7.68....................6.5 - 10.0 ...........pH Units
Iron..............25.71....................200..................µg Fe/l
Manganese.....2.22......................50 ...................µg Mn/l
Nitrate.........13.7633 ................50....................mg NO3/l
Nitrite..........0.0093..................0.5 ...................mg NO2/l
Sodium.........15.83...................200 ..................mg Na/l
Turbidity.......0.152 .................4 ................... NTU
Copper.........0.0230 .................2 ....................mg Cu/l
Lead............0.400 ..................25 ..................µg Pb/l


EDIT: Cleaned up column format to be more readable - ceg4048

 

[stan1973]

Who does EI without CO2?

 

[ceg4048]

Lots of people do. You just have to search the forum and you'll find data regarding low tech dosing schemes as discussed in Trying to get my head around non-CO2 methods

Cheers,

 

[stan1973]

Thanks for the reply, sounds like I should be ok then, maybe too much light but i plan on having plenty of floating plants so should be ok.
Its interesting that Black Brush Algae is caused by spike in CO2 from too big a water change, I get it in one of my tanks and do big (75%) water changes. Next time I'll put an airstone on the water for a day to purge the CO2 beforehand and maybe switch the tank lights off at the same time.