# Switching from EI to PPS-Pro



## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Hey everyone! 
Just decided I would like to switch from dosing EI to PPS-pro read through the newbie guide on here and just have a question or two. When I first switch should I do a big water change to get nutrient levels where they should be or that of my tap water? I was dosing EI and was getting a lot of BBA or Staghorn not sure which. Ordered a nitrate test kit which was one of the few kits I didn't have. Tested and numbers were through the roof, that and phosphates were higher than they should be both were nearly at the bottom of the test kits cards. I've done quite a few water changes to lower those into more normal ranges and tested my tap water to make sure I wasn't adding some of these in through my water changes and things looked normal there...
Don't get me wrong I'm not blaming EI for my screw ups, just wanting to try another method. From what it sounds like PPS doses enough for the plants to use in a day and thats it. So I'll be dosing every day before lights on the 1 ml per gallon of the mixtures in my case 4ml for my 40g breeder tank of both macro and micro. I live in colorado springs so I think the water is fairly hard but not extremely hard. I should include the MgSO4 still? Think my kh was at 6 or 7 degrees last I tested and I probably need to do the GH test again because I kept putting the drops in and it never changed colors like it was supposed to so maybe its really low? Anyways I can test that again soon. 
Any other tips for first time PPS I should know about? I read about adding about 20ml of flourish excel to the 1000ml bottles to prevent mold as well.
Again another long winded post sorry everyone. Hopefully someone can help me out here?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

To avoid mold or fungus in the micro bottle just mix a 250mL instead? Still 62 doses without mold maybe.

IMO bring the levels down by water changes first.

If your fish load is high and nitrates are on the high side omitting KNO3 may be in order.

Found that Mg was low in my tank, mixed it lighter in the macro bottle but still included, $3 per pound?

Aren't Micros and Macros dosed on different days? I dose on different days.

You may wish to add Fe10%DTPA if you feel you need it for micro bottle.

Cheap TDS meter type pen/stick can help with GH/KH estimates.
I water change based on TDS only.

The most important statement I can make is that lighting is the ultimate driving factor in algae.
Not knowing the plant load or fish load this is just opinions I hope will help.
EI rules out fertilizer as a limiting factor, maybe somewhat high on the fertilizer end though.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Instead of just adding magnesium, check the GH, and the calcium. 

If the GH is low, perhaps both Ca and Mg are low, and you should be dosing both Ca and Mg. Only testing will make sure, though.

I would not blindly add magnesium without knowing. 

If the GH is over 3 German degrees of hardness I would assume both Ca and Mg are OK, unless some problem suggests otherwise. Can you get a water quality report from the water company? Sometimes these detail some individual minerals.


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks for the response both of you!



Diana K said:


> Instead of just adding magnesium, check the GH, and the calcium.
> 
> If the GH is low, perhaps both Ca and Mg are low, and you should be dosing both Ca and Mg. Only testing will make sure, though.
> 
> ...


 Yes actually I just pulled up the water quality report from 2014 so hopefully its not too much different couldn't find 2015's. I glanced through a bit maybe this can help https://www.csu.org/CSUDocuments/waterqualityreport2014.pdf 
I will test GH again tonight or tomorrow and hopefully the results are more conclusive than last time.



Maryland Guppy said:


> To avoid mold or fungus in the micro bottle just mix a 250mL instead? Still 62 doses without mold maybe.
> 
> IMO bring the levels down by water changes first.
> 
> ...


 As for my fish load I have 2 Angels 5 blackskirt tetras 5 rasporas 1chinese algae eater (will be moved the next time I can manage to catch the bugger to a tank of his own.) and 1 bristlenose pleco. I'll watch my nitrates and see how they fluctuate this week since I'm not dosing anything. So far only drops I've seen is when I do my WC which I've been doing about 2-3 gallons every day just to slowly get phosphates and nitrates down. Starting to look like normal EI ranges which would still be high for PPS I believe.
Yeah I bought some MgSO4 for like 2.50 for a pound. Cant hurt to have around at that price and I'll test a bit before I start throwing it in. 
I'm glad you brought that up about dosing macro and micro on seperate days I must have overlooked that thanks! Also I have 13% Iron EDTA that I can add if necessary. I'll look into the TDS meter sounds helpful. I'll post once I test GH again let you guys know how its going. I got my scale today so probably Saturday I'll make my mixes.


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Maryland Guppy said:


> To avoid mold or fungus in the micro bottle just mix a 250mL instead? Still 62 doses without mold maybe.


That was my plan I've been doing small water changes daily.


Maryland Guppy said:


> I water change based on TDS only.


 At what reading do you do a water change?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

The Fe can be added to the micro solution if you plan on dosing all the time.

TDS water changes. I target 300ppm, this constitutes a water change for me.
That is just my preference based on my educated guess for my tank.
Ghost shrimp and Amano in my planted aquaria.

I have been calculating the Mg content and tank was low.
For $2.50 it was a no brainer for me.

My real issue has been getting NO3 & PO4 right.
Bottomed out several times on both. I am getting close now.
NO3 is predictive dosing now, PO4 still bottoms out.
Even calibrated my test kit etc...

I am one to not mind water changes or avoid them.
I don't wish to do 50% every week though, due to overdosing non-limiting ferts.
No problems WC when needed.

Just my take on the underwater jungle.
Although I am battling pearling BBA as we speak.
Lowering lighting gradually as to control this.
This has turned into a chemistry experiment for the most part.


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Maryland Guppy said:


> The Fe can be added to the micro solution if you plan on dosing all the time.
> 
> TDS water changes. I target 300ppm, this constitutes a water change for me.
> That is just my preference based on my educated guess for my tank.
> ...


Mmm BBA thats what I have. Honestly some of what I have looks like some hideous black staghorn. I think its staghorn but I could be wrong.
So you're thinking too much light? My guess would be inconsistent CO2 as the cause of mine or too much NO3 and PO4 which is what I was seeing in my tanks. We will see how well PPS works for me because since I started plants I've done EI and always had this hairy "staghorn" stuff so I'm thinking its the overages of ferts. However this time around I'm doing more testing etc. 
Ordered a TDS should be here tomorrow. I don't have shrimp in my tank so maybe above 300 should be my WC indicator. I don't mind WC either but it would be nice to not have to do 50% a week unless truly necessary.
When you say you bottomed out on NO3 and PO4 does this mean you're testing every night for these or what?


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Aren't Micros and Macros dosed on different days? I dose on different days.


Hmm was looking more at this. This is a quote from edward in the PPS-Pro section.
"Recommended dose is 1 ml of each solution in 10 gallon aquarium every day before lights go on."
To me that sounds like EACH solution daily? Am I wrong?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

PAXpress said:


> When you say you bottomed out on NO3 and PO4 does this mean you're testing every night for these or what?


No NO3 or PO4 in the water column.
Took some serious dosing in the beginning to keep it in the water column.
I assume the plant uptake was very high at the time.
NO3 is now steady, I am still dosing double or more PO4 to get to 1ppm.

I test NO3 2x a week and PO4 1x per week.
I have reduced these test to a 1 drop test on reagents.
For API kits .5ml for NO3, 1ml for NO2, .8ml for PO4.
At this minimum quantity of water they test as well as a full 5ml test.
For NH3 the 1 drop testing has not worked so well.
So for NH3 I changed to a 2 drop test with 1.25ml
Purchased 6- 5ml graduated cylinders from ebay for like $6.
This really saves on water testing costs having a 1/2 dozen or so tanks.

TDS of 300 is used for me only on a high tech tank(1).
The other 5 even though some receive ferts, WC's are based on NO3 levels.

Regarding same day dosing.
I know that many do this, I chose not to.
Separate bottles are a must, same day just dose at different times maybe.
Read somewhere KH2PO4 and Fe mixed in water column is not so good.
I believe Fe gets bound and not available for plants maybe??? Not sure.

I hope my experience with this has provided something valuable for you.


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

Maryland Guppy said:


> No NO3 or PO4 in the water column.
> Took some serious dosing in the beginning to keep it in the water column.
> I assume the plant uptake was very high at the time.
> NO3 is now steady, I am still dosing double or more PO4 to get to 1ppm.
> ...


Your experience is of course valuable! I really appreciate the feedback. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend I have two 1000ml fert bottles that I plan on using so solutions will be separate. I was actually thinking of halving the amount of water and test drops because the way I see it, its the same. I will probably test quite a lot in the beginning and use the TDS meter as well and wc based on both in the beginning. I think the iron completely dissipates or gets caught in the filter or the substrate within 24 hours I don't know about binding with KH2PO4 but then again I'm no chemist! Maybe I'll keep my iron dosage separate and do that at a different time than the other two. Anyways I'll give you an update how it goes this weekend  Thanks for all the help!


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## PAXpress (Sep 22, 2011)

BTW heres the tank currently. I'll post another update soon! The wood in the front will probably be moved elsewhere once the moss I'm trying to get to grow on it takes hold. My Alternanthera Reineckii has not been growing at all over the last month just staying alive lol hopefully what I plan on doing this weekend will help.


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