Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pumps

[andyseatrout]

Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

The idea of EI is to make everything easy, you don't need to be precise.

I suppose that I am not that worried about being precise, more that I want to be supplying the correct amount of nutrients to the plants, without supplying such an excess that I either get an algae outbreak or end up spending money on an uneccessary excess of salts.

John at AquariumplantfoodUK has been very helpful and has provided me with exactly the information I asked for, so thanks for that.

My last remaining question is if I split the dosing of the macros and micros apart by a couple of hours, could I dose them on the same day, or would I still end up with the possibility of precipitation? This way I would be able to deliver exactly what the plants needed every day, rather than having an excess of macros on one day and micros on the other, with the possibility of a deficiency of either one that is not being dosed on that day.

If I am barking up entirely the wrong tree here please tell me and I will stick to alternate days with a day of rest!

Thanks 🙂

 

[CeeJay]

Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Hi andyseatrout

I suppose that I am not that worried about being precise, more that I want to be supplying the correct amount of nutrients to the plants, without supplying such an excess that I either get an algae outbreak

Let's not even go there. It has been proven time and time again that excess ferts do not cause algae 😀 I even tried it myself when I was about to strip a tank down. I ran double EI values for at least 6 months. All I got was mental plant growth 😀
Slight excess is good as it gives you a bigger margin of error if you forget to dose one day etc.

or end up spending money on an uneccessary excess of salts.

OK, I can agree with that 😀

My last remaining question is if I split the dosing of the macros and micros apart by a couple of hours, could I dose them on the same day, or would I still end up with the possibility of precipitation?

You could certainly do that without any worries. But ask yourself this. There will still be Phosphate in your tank water the next day (admittedly less), unless your plants magically use every last bit of it, so why do we not worry about precipitation when we dose on alternate days?
As foxfish says, no need to be precise, and you certainly wouldn't have a deficiency of anything on the day that you don't dose either the macros or micros.
Hope that helps.

 

[andyseatrout]

Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Thanks Chris,

I will stick to the following then as I have been advised:

Macro Mix, Dose 120ml x 3 days a Week.
5000ml Water
150g Potassium Nitrate
25g Potassium Phosphate
300g Magnessium Sulpahte

Micro Mix, Dose 120ml x 3 days a Week.
5000ml Water
50g Chelated Trace

Unfortunately I am going to have to do this manually though as I have just started to try to program my dosing pumps and I can only see half of the pixels, so I am going to have to get the unit fixed!

Andy

 

[foxfish]

Re: Wanting to start EI dosing using solutions and dosing pu

Andy you might find something of help here http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=915 as the measurements are in grams