# Help with Dosing EI method



## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

Been having trouble with algae...i would get some black beard on some fluorite pieces...not a big deal tho...(co2 is going too fast to count...prob 5+ a sec), getting algae on the glass (scraping it 2-3 times a week). and some of my glosso gets covered in black beard or some kinda dark green algae

100 gallon, co2 injected, 468 (4.68 wpg) watts of 6700k. 8 hour photo period. Power head blowing from one side to another.
thinking of changing wattage to 234 (2.34 wpg)

Ive been dosing the following x3 times a week and on water change day (50% water change):
1.5 tsp kno3
.5 tsp kh2po4
.5 tsp K2so4
.5 tsp Csm+b
5 ml flourish iron

and on water change day
.5 tsp cacl2
.5 tsp mgso4 (epsom salt)

-------------------------------------

So according to the fertilator
i should be dosing 2 tsp of cacl2 and mgso4 in order for it to get close to the desired amount
i should also be doing 1/4 tsp of kh2po4 for dosing 1/2 tsp of kh2po4 increases it to 5ppm (recommend is 1-2ppm)

i understand that index is meant for water change in the end...but isnt that a lot of phosphates? i mean dosing 5ppms every other day builds up 

Please help.


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

BBA is an indication of insufficient CO2, 5bbp is not too much for a 100g, especially for 4wpg of light, assuming you have T5. that's too much light. i have 5+ for my 72g, which only has 64w of T8 of it. it also depends on how efficient CO2 is diffused into water, and how well CO2 is distributed (water flow) in the tank.

here is my tank with less than 1wpg of T8.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

So its not the fertilizers thats the problem?
if i cut back on lighting or increase in co2 should i still keep the same dosing schedule?


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

yes, as long as you keep doing 50% water change every week.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

im not getting much black algae anymore...but at the same time i noticed that Amano algae eaters dont do well in high co2 increase...purchased 3 and 2 died off instantly...managed to save one. and my cherry shrimps started acting very strange (laying on their backs as if dead) i moved them over to a non co2 tank.

I will see how 7 hours do this week, and try to cut back on lighting in general to see if thats the problem.


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

cut back on lighting as scale down CO2 too, the key to find a balance.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

Im getting dark green algae on my older leaves but newer leaves grow bright and colorful...what difficiency is this?

and some green spot algae on my glass (not alot tho)...this is a phosphate difficiency? my phosphates are over 4ppms


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

AheartlessFish said:


> Im getting dark green algae on my older leaves but newer leaves grow bright and colorful...what difficiency is this?
> 
> and some green spot algae on my glass (not alot tho)...this is a phosphate difficiency? my phosphates are over 4ppms


what changes did you make?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

AheartlessFish said:


> Been having trouble with algae...i would get some black beard on some fluorite pieces...not a big deal tho...(co2 is going too fast to count...prob 5+ a sec), getting algae on the glass (scraping it 2-3 times a week). and some of my glosso gets covered in black beard or some kinda dark green algae
> 
> 100 gallon, co2 injected, 468 (4.68 wpg) watts of 6700k. 8 hour photo period. Power head blowing from one side to another.
> thinking of changing wattage to 234 (2.34 wpg)
> ...


I suggest that you use wet's calculators to calculate how much to dose. These have the newest version of EI. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ersion-2-yet-another-nutrient-calculator.html

If you decide not to use it, :shaking fist:


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

call me stupid but that programs not very user friendly 

i dont understand anything about it...i just wana dose EI and get it over with.

Heres my current Schedule

Dosing on M W F and Sa (water change day)
1/2 tsp KNO3
1/4 tsp K2so4
1/8 tsp Kh2po4
1/2 tsp Cacl2
1/2 tsp Mgso4
5ml flourish iron

then on the other days
1/2 tsp CSM+B

Plants look great, just bothered by the constant cleaning on the glass...after the water change im gona take it down to 3wpg.


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Hey I just started my 125 up again and am using EI as well.

I too am having trouble with GDA. Have you tested you tap water? I tested mine for PO4 and out of the tap it is 4ppm. I stopped dosing KH2PO4 and the GDA is definately not comming back the way it was. Give it a try.

You might want to double check your numbers because I am dosing 1 1/2 tsp of KNo3 every other day for my 125...Also not sure if you want to be dosing flourish iron if you are already using CSM+B.

The only problem I am having now is the same as you older leaves covered in algea, I do not think its GSA its more black then green but I cant figure this one out...


Anyone else? Can post pics if it would help.


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

About all you can do for GDA is lower your light. It isn't possible to lower your nutrients to where algae won't thrive. Algae will thrive where your plants will suffer. Lower your light, double check your CO2 and feed your plants. Not feeding phosphates will hurt your plants more than your algae. You might want to calibrate your phosphate test kit. The water quality in DC is pretty good. I'm sitting in DC right now.


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Bosemah,

Not to start anything BUT DID YOU READ what I wrote before replying? Please take another look before you start giving WRONG info to other people.

If the Tap water already contains an EXCESSIVE amount of a nutrient, say double what it should be, depending on the uptake and bioload of the tank, what is the purpose of adding even more of the nutrient that already is in excess? That just leads to problems with imbalances... The plants are still getting fed. Depending on the uptake of the bioload, it might be necessary to add more of nutrient "x" but having Double or triple the reccommended amount is definately not a good things to maintain a healthy balance.

Just my 2 cents...


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

AheartlessFish said:


> call me stupid but that programs not very user friendly
> 
> i dont understand anything about it...i just wana dose EI and get it over with.
> 
> ...


You should dose your Flourish Iron on the same day as your CSM+B. Flourish Iron doesn't stay in the solution very long until its gluconate bond is broken. Then the iron is available to bond with anything in the aquarium including PO4 making it unavailable for the plants.

This is from: EI light: for those less techy folks: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2819-EI-light-for-those-less-techy-folks

100 - 125 Gallon Aquarium
+/- 1½ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1¼ tsp GH Booster once a week (water change only)
+/- ½ tsp (30ml) Trace 3x a week
50% weekly water change


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

jdigiorgio said:


> Bosemah,
> 
> Not to start anything BUT DID YOU READ what I wrote before replying? Please take another look before you start giving WRONG info to other people.
> 
> ...


I did read.... Anyway, I would guess that you don't truly have that high a phosphate level from your tap. Like I said, DC tap water isn't that bad. That's why i would suggest calibrating your test kit. If you did have that high a phosphate level, it would probably be organic and perhaps not as accessible to the plants as kh2po4. In any case, adding khpo4 wouldn't increase your algae is all I'm saying. One thing I should mention, that 50 % water changes is the best tool for maintaining healthy balance. Bio load, plant load, inaccurate test kits, water quality all make maintaining a healthy balance a moving target. Dose a little more than needed, safely increase CO2, lower lighting somewhat, clean affected areas, 50 % water changes and practice patience, patience patience. That would be inline with EI. If you prefer methods other than EI. In other words, you would rather test than do water changes, you might invest in higher quality test kits and calibrate them still. For me, attaching a hose to a shower head for water changes is much easier and cheaper. Those lamotte test kits are expensive.


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## AheartlessFish (Mar 18, 2008)

I tested my tap for phosphates, it seems to 1-2ppms of it. When i test my tank water after a water change it stays at a constant 4-5ppms. I mentioned stop dosing Kh2po4 before but i took the advice of dosing it anyways so that the plants dont suffer. I just dose it at a small dosage now. I think i will try the 3wpg and see if theres a significant change in algae growth.

Thanks LEFTC for the comment on the iron. Will do  I also noticed that dissolving cacl2 and mgso4 together in a same container creates white balls that dont disolve well  I thought it was just csm+b and phosphates...bummer learn something new everyday.

As for the darkgreen algae any comment on this would be great. Only on older leaves.

water change 50% per week


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