# dosing ei no3 levels still low at the end of the week.



## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

started ei on my 125 tank about 2 weeks ago. lights are 400w 6700k cf. 24/7 co2 with ph controller . co2 levels are around 15ppm. drop checker medium green most of the time. i run my 18w uv 4 hours a day . temp 79deg, ph 6.9, gh5,kh4. 

here is my dosing schedule. 
day1-3-5 1tsp kn03, 1/2 tps k2s04,1/4 tsp kh2po4. 
day2-4-6 1/4 tsp csm-b 
day 7 50% water change. 

lighting is set to run at 8 hours 200w ,2 hour midday burst 400w. 

no signs on pearling lately. kinda odd. maybe not enought light. i hate to turn it up some and algae takes over again. 

i am getting new growth but still some signs of hair algae and some leaves on new growth are getting a brownish film on them after a few days. looks like aglae but hard to tell. 

i havent checked my pottasium levels or phoshate but at the end of the week my no3 levels seem to be less then 5 ppm. should i increase the kn03 dosing some or should i leave it alone? 

why would the plants not be pearling anymore. the c02 levels are the same as before. the only thing i can think of is i cut the lighting from 400w for 8 hours to my new schedule. but before without fert dosing the plants looked very bad, starting to come around now. 

the bottom line is more lighting? more kno3? more c02?


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

I'd start w/ more CO2. Most try to keep it at 30ppm or more.


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

i hate to go higher with c02. when i first got the c02 setup i tried to get to 25ppm ish. had a few fish deaths, we 90% sure it was related to low 02 levels. could have been i tried to raise c02 too fast. 

i will try just a hair higher.

but the c02 levels will have nothing to do with n03 levels being low right? plants must be eating iup all the n03?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I have a 125g. I dose 2 tsp every other day. My plants eat it up. I think you need to increase your KNO3. I've lost all my red root floater because of low KNO3


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

i think im gonna try that tex. what do you think of lighting schedule? 

also did a p04 test, tested very high at 5ppm. i might need to back off kh2po4 to 1/8 tsp or less

noticed iron levels kinda low also at .1 . correct me if im wrong but csm-b has iron in it. maybe add extra iron?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I have cut back on my KH2PO4 as well. I do dose EI but have changed my trace mineral dosing to 1/4 CSM+b and 10 ml of Flourish FE every day. I dose the Macros in the am and the micros in the pm. CSM+b does have some iron but not enough.

My lights are on for 9 hours. I have a sunburst of 2 hours.


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

im doing 8 hours at 200w and 2 hours at 400w. ill keep an eyes on it. how do i tell if i need more light? everything is so touchy hard to tell if your going the right way with adjustments.


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

i hope my test kit for n03 is still good. its only 3 months old. even dosing 2tsp kn03 every other day at the end of the week still less then 5ppm. 

i had to almost eliminate kh2p04. levels at 10ppm phos at the end of the week dosing 1/8 tsp 3x. im going to do 1/8 tsp once a week. 

changed k2s04 to 1/4 tsp 3x a week. that should be ok. 

doing 1/2 tsp csm-b 3x a week. sechem iron once a week. maybe ill start to dry dose iron. 

i think my magnesium and calcium levels could be low also but no test kits for that. what do you think? getting some yellowing tips on some old growth. 

one more thing. on some of my plants the new leaves are growing in nicely but after a week or so they are getting what looks like a dark green discoloration kinda looks like algae but not sure. ill try to get some pictures tonight. could be an easy fix. 

running light 200w 8 hours, 400w 3 hours. maybe not enough light?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi mos90,

I don't which Nitrate test kit you are using, but I learned something about the API NO3 test kit recently. I was getting low NO3 reading even though I was dosing KNO3 at 2X EI rates and could not get my levels up. I even added a small amount of KNO3 to the test tube and got low readings! I called API and explained my problem (BTW good customer service). It turns out I did not read the instructions correctly. The reagent bottles need to be shaken *for at least 1 minute* prior to adding the drops because some of the reagent settles and "cakes" in the bottles. (I was shaking the test tube for 1 minute). When I followed the instructions, my level tested at 80 ppm, almost a disaster!


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

i ordered a "backup" test kit, not api and we shall see. i followed the instructions from api correctly i think but ill try again tonight.


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## mos90 (Jul 7, 2009)

OOOOOOPS!!! im at 80ppm tooo. not good. looks like another water change tonight. dam these test kits. now i have to rethink kno3....


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi mos90,

Glad to hear you found the problem, if I hadn't just gone through it I wouldn't have known myself!


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

mos90 said:


> OOOOOOPS!!! im at 80ppm tooo. not good. looks like another water change tonight. dam these test kits. now i have to rethink kno3....


I've been using API kits for over a year and my experience is that it is not reliable when used as directed.

I suppose that this is not practical for most people but I still use the kit following some good lab practice.

You have to run your sample with at least these three controls. 
Your high limit say 20 ppm.
Your low limit say 10 ppm
A blank run with distilled water

If you run your test with a high and low level control you will have a high level of assurance that your sample is OK.

I do not use the color chart that comes with the kit. I have a spectrophotometer; so I compare the absorbance of the 20 ppm and 10 ppm controls with the sample. Using this method I am certain of my NO3 level to +/- 1 ppm.

I've been running the test this way for a long time and have found that control absorbance changes from kit to kit. This means that when you compare your sample to the color chart your answer will change depending on the kit you have. In recent kits I've discovered that you need to use 2x the amount of reagent #2 to get good adsorbance readings. (Even with shaking it for more than one minute).

Actually, getting a local club to buy a spectrophotometer would make a hugh improvement in the ability of participant to get accurate and reliable test results. You can buy a good used Spec. for about $100 - $200.

Just my rantings rtp


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