# PMDD/EI/PPS fertilization



## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Hello,

are all these one and the same or similar?

I have read alot of articles regarding these fertilizing methods but cannot understand which one to follow or how to use one when starting a new setup since many say do alot of water changes. I am a bit confused but also afraid to start my 90L setup since I failed so many many times!

If I could get simple instructions it would be nice


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Basically, forget PMDD or research PMDD + PO4. PMDD is an older nutrient supply procedure that omitted PO4. It was later found that plants need to be fed PO4, hence the PMDD + PO4. But, some people still use PMDD.

PPS and PPS-Pro are nutrient limiting dosing procedures that work well for some people. Water changes can be somewhat limited.

EI is not nutrient limiting and depends on large weekly water changes to remove the excess nutrient accumulation. This works well with people using pressurized CO2 and higher lighting.

There are more dosing methods too. Some people with mineralized soil do very little water column dosing and others add more. If you are using an Amazonia type substrate that is rich in nutrients, your dosing procedures are modified for this. There are non-CO2 dosing methods too, but I haven't studied them. There are probably other methods that are some sort of a mixture.

To make it simple to start with. Ask yourself if your 90L will have CO2 and higher lighting. If so, start off with EI. If you are using mineralized soil, read about all that this entails. If you are not using CO2 and higher lighting, you may want to start with one of the other dosing methods.


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

hadjici2 said:


> Hello,
> 
> are all these one and the same or similar?
> 
> ...


You need to define what you want to have in your tank and how much work you can put into maintaining your tank.

EI is a simple formula that works well but it requires that you do a 50% water change per week. In a 90 gal tank that means dumping 45 gal per week and replacing it (right out of the tap). This is somewhat harsh on your fish and if your tap water cannot support the fish you want, then you are out of luck. Despite this limitation, people with even minimally good water can use this system big time. 
EI is a plant bias formula.


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## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Its a 90L tank so 45L are not alot. I my substrate is just Sera Floredepot and sand which isnt that rich of a substrate. I want to add Eleocharis Parvula, 72W of light and pressurized CO2. I guess EI suits me best.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

45L is 12 US gallons. You can easily do it in a jiffy.

72w is a lot of light for your 90L. You may want to run 1/2 of the bulbs as a noon burst and the other 1/2 of the bulbs as your main lighting source.

Some people dose EI dry and some people make solutions. I dose dry. The EI procedure that I use adds a GH Booster after the water change whereas the EI procedure here doesn't mention adding any GH Booster.

75L to 150L Aquariums
+/- 1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
+/- 1/2 tsp GH booster once a week (at water change only)
+/- 1/16 tsp (or 5mL) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change


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## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Left C said:


> 45L is 12 US gallons. You can easily do it in a jiffy.
> 
> 72w is a lot of light for your 90L. You may want to run 1/2 of the bulbs as a noon burst and the other 1/2 of the bulbs as your main lighting source.
> 
> ...


Is it alot of light though? I mean its 2x36w so I can switch off the one and have 36W only but the tank has a height of 58 cm which I guess is a bit tall. Also most of the aquascaping contest tank I see have a range of 0.6 to 1.2 watts per littre and with a 72W lighting I will have 0.8w per littre. I am a bit sceptical to be honest.....


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

It is elusive sometimes to keep up with two threads started by the same OP about the same overlapping topics. Responses in one thread may not be mentioned in the other.

Your aquarium's height of 58cm was not known by us until yesterday. 58cm is almost 23" which is tall for an aquarium that only holds 90L or 24 US gallons. You may very well need to use both bulbs. It depends on your plant selection. If you choose low light plants, one bulb may be sufficient. But if you choose high light plants, you may need both bulbs or maybe more. You want enough lighting, CO2 and nutrients for your plants but not so much that alga gets a good foothold. This is why I mentioned using one bulb as your main lighting source and using the other bulb for a noon burst effect as an option. This gives you 3 options by running a single bulb, running a single bulb with the noon burst of the other, or running both bulbs.

You called your bulbs T5's when in essence they are actually PC's, I believe. T5's are normally thought of as T5HO's with very good reflectors. A single bulb of this description may be enough for your aquarium. There are T5NO's, but they are far rarer and have. But, since you have PC's, again I believe, you may very well need to use both bulbs. It is true that PC's (or CF's) are made up of two T5 tubes, they aren't referred to as T5's. PC reflectors can be very good or very bad depending on the reflector design. But, they are inferior to T5HO single lamp reflectors made by the major quality lighting manufacturers. The common wattages in PC's are 28w, 36w, 55w, 65w and 96w while the normal wattages found in T5Ho's are 24w, 39w and 54w. Your bulbs are 36w which leads me to believe that they are PC's.

It would of been better to of known your aquarium's dimensions and your specific lighting fixture in the beginning to be able to supply you with good information and not a bit of confusion. Watts per Liter is basically meaningless unless you are comparing apples to apples like using the same type bulbs and reflectors plus the same aquarium height for your comparison. A PAR meter is a far better gauge to measure the actual lighting in a planted aquarium than watts per liter. But, very few of us have access to such an instrument.

Does this answer your question?


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## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Left C said:


> It is elusive sometimes to keep up with two threads started by the same OP about the same overlapping topics. Responses in one thread may not be mentioned in the other.
> 
> Your aquarium's height of 58cm was not known by us until yesterday. 58cm is almost 23" which is tall for an aquarium that only holds 90L or 24 US gallons. You may very well need to use both bulbs. It depends on your plant selection. If you choose low light plants, one bulb may be sufficient. But if you choose high light plants, you may need both bulbs or maybe more. You want enough lighting, CO2 and nutrients for your plants but not so much that alga gets a good foothold. This is why I mentioned using one bulb as your main lighting source and using the other bulb for a noon burst effect as an option. This gives you 3 options by running a single bulb, running a single bulb with the noon burst of the other, or running both bulbs.
> 
> ...


Absolutely yes! Thanks for all the great info. So I guess I will go with two bulbs and see how it goes. Maybe if needed go with your burst suggestion later on.

Thanks again...


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