# EI Dosing. Im ready for it!



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I have a 25g Co2 injected planted tank that's has been up and running for 4 years. The tank has had its ups and downs. It's been my learning tank for plants. Up until recently I always had way too many fish in it. Ive finally decided to keep it simple with fish and concentrate on growing plants. My main goal is to get the "lawn effect" Ive come close before but every time the grass is looking good, it fades off and gets algae. Ive tried a few different species. I cant remember the names of them all. Ive always used Seachem plant food but I think it's time I make the switch to EI dosing. I do weekly 50% water changes already so I figure why not. 

Does anyone on here have extra they want to sell? I know Canadian aquatics sells it but I rarely go out that way and I don't need a wack load of it to start. 

Does anyone have any tips or pointers?

I will take photos of my progress. Im also considering EI dosing my African tank since it's planted too. It's not Co2 injected. Is that okay? 

Im a little reluctant to say Im keeping 2 smaller discus in this tank plus 5 Rummy nose tetras. I also have 3 Long fin BNP's in there. Part of the reasoning behind the discus is to prove to myself they aren't has hard to keep as people say. Once they get bigger I will remove them. So far the cobalt blue has been in there for 3 months and he's happy. I recently added the second. He is being shy but coming along nicely. 

All and all. Every nice tank I see is EI dosed. Im excited to see the changes.


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## Ra's al Ghul (Apr 28, 2010)

Checkout Hydroponic stores, they'll have what you need.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I wouldn't EI dose without co2, you'll experience issues just as you have noticed without adding EI to a co2 tank.

JMHO.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for the opinion effox. I'll just up my seachem dosing to that tank.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

You can also get the ferts shipped. If you get 2lbs of KNO3; 1lb KH2PO4; and 1lb of CSM+B - you'll be set for a very long time. 
If you dry dose you'll probably want to buy some of those really small spoons... Pretty darn cheap here https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/173786752/dash-pinch-smidgen-measuring-spoons?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted_en_ca&utm_campaign=supplies-low&gclid=CPips5PnxsACFZKBfgodQC4AIA

If I recall right, for your tank size you'll be using 2 spoons of Dash for KNO3 and 1 spoon each of Pinch for KH2PO4 and CSM+B

Found it via google 

Don't EI dose your non CO2 tank. You fish's waste is probably enough. If you have to do 50% water changes every week to remove excess even with fast uptake by plants in a high tech tank, imagine the amount of fertilizer that accumulates with much less uptake.

I only dose my low tech riparium because emmersed plants use nutrients super fast.

Unfortunately, algae is something that happens. The water has to be immaculate to avoid it showing up in hairgrass. Perhaps we can talk periodic excel dosing later on to manage algae growth.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Make sure you take some pics of the current tank before EI dosing. If you stick with it and dial in the co2\dosing regime, you'll reap huge rewards with patience. It can be inspirational seeing planted tanks before\after, especially in a tank journal. You'll encourage others that see this it the future. Just food for thought.


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## knucklehead (Dec 27, 2013)

Reckon said:


> You can also get the ferts shipped. If you get 2lbs of KNO3; 1lb KH2PO4; and 1lb of CSM+B - you'll be set for a very long time.
> If you dry dose you'll probably want to buy some of those really small spoons... Pretty darn cheap here https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/173786752/dash-pinch-smidgen-measuring-spoons?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted_en_ca&utm_campaign=supplies-low&gclid=CPips5PnxsACFZKBfgodQC4AIA
> 
> If I recall right, for your tank size you'll be using 2 spoons of Dash for KNO3 and 1 spoon each of Pinch for KH2PO4 and CSM+B
> ...


K2SO4 is not part of EI dosing?

Have yet to buy my ferts to start EI dosing


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

k2so4 is for additional potassium without raising additional nitrates.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Here is how the tank looks now. Over the years the Hygro stems broke down. So the hygro growing out of the water isn't actually growing in the substrate is actually floating on top of the tank. Growing the back wall has been an interesting experience. Awhile back I added Java fern to it, anubias and narrow leaf java. The anubias gets algae so does the java. I would like to try other plants but most grow way to fast. The narrow leaf java has done well. I had moss but it just plugs up my filters. I tried to mimic the tank at the front door of king eds but it's hard finding the plants they used. I wish the tank was a little bigger but it is what it is.

I recently switched my CFL light to a LED one. Unfortunately the LED light didn't say what the Kelvin rating the LED's are. I heard others having success with this fixture so I made the switch. Ideally I want it to sit higher but I lowered it thinking that might be the issue with why my grass keeps dying off after awhile. The tank is a 25g tall.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I was thinking of following this recipe by Tom Barr. Keeping it simple

20-40 Gallons (76-152 litres) 
20ml solution or 1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week 
12ml solution or 1/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week 
5ml solution or 1/16 tsp K2SO4 3x a week 
5ml or 1/16 tsp traces 3x a week


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I did one similar with my 15g. Almost exactly if not the same, but I had DIY co2 on top of that. I did weekly\2x week water changes just in case (figured worst case scenario I'd be wasting ferts).

I saw dramatic growth for sure.

Grab those "mini-spoons" that Reckon was talking about. I got mine off ebay, and they had dashes and such as well.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

knucklehead said:


> K2SO4 is not part of EI dosing?
> 
> Have yet to buy my ferts to start EI dosing


Good question. If you are dosing KNO3 and KH2PO4 at EI levels you should have enough K in your tank, especially if you are also adding Equilibrium since it consists of potassium. I only dose KSO4 once a month or so, I've never seen any evidence of deficiency without dosing KSO4. If you decide to rely more on fish poop for ferts and dose lower than standard EI then you'd want to consider adding potassium.

You can get Canadian Aquatics to send you ferts via mail.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

jbyoung00008 said:


> I was thinking of following this recipe by Tom Barr. Keeping it simple
> 
> 20-40 Gallons (76-152 litres)
> 20ml solution or 1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week = x2 Dash
> ...


Yup these spoons will do it.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Wish I didn't give away all my hordes of extra for free, I could have shipped it to you.

Definitely worth the $15-ish bucks it'll cost.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Im thinking of trying to grow some emerged Bacopa. It flowers really good in my planters so Im wondering if I can just try to grow the bacopa basically hydroponically. I could remove all the dirt from the roots and sit them in the water at the top of the tank with the Hyrgrophila that is already growing. Anyone know if this will work?

You can buy Bacopa submerged and than grow it to the surface but this way seems more fun. I think I will try it tonight


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

jbyoung00008 said:


> Im thinking of trying to grow some emerged Bacopa. It flowers really good in my planters so Im wondering if I can just try to grow the bacopa basically hydroponically. I could remove all the dirt from the roots and sit them in the water at the top of the tank with the Hyrgrophila that is already growing. Anyone know if this will work?
> 
> You can buy Bacopa submerged and than grow it to the surface but this way seems more fun. I think I will try it tonight


It's worth a try. I think it just depends on whether it is getting enough nutrients from the water column. Some plants root feed ALOT so they would rather be planted in soil. Also, you might get some success until it develops well out of the water. Emerged plants then take up lots more nutrients because they can draw more CO2 out of the air. At this point they'll want much more nutrients. My riparium can bottom out of nitrates very quickly even with the emmerged plants in pots of ADA and root tabs.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I got side tracked last night so I didn't get a chance to add the bacopa. I had to go to Rogers to get cat food and just my luck he had tons of plants. So I bought a bunch. He had many different types of Hygrophila but none had the full name . I ended up getting 10 plants. 4 different Hygro species and the tank looks good again. I now have a few different species of grasses growing. Blxya, micro sword and dwarf sagiteria, I had the 2 growing already and I added the blxya too the back section. Might grow in great, might look terrible. We will see  I increased my fertz a week ago so far the tank did seem to be looking a little better. 

I haven't had a chance to buy the dry Fertilizers yet so for now I have increased my liquid fertilizer dosing. 

Reckon I listened to your advice about the plants growing out of the water. I decided to cut them back a lot, in hopes they wont take up so many nutrients from the water. Im thinking this will help the plants that are submerged get the nutrients they need. 

I will post a pic tonight


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Im in the process of getting Fertz from Canadian aquatics. Hopefully will have them next week. Im too busy to pick them up so I will patiently wait for them in the mail 

How are most people dosing them?

Dry or in a Solution?

I have a scale so I can measure them that way. What have people found works best and what recipe are you following?

Thanks in advance. My tank is looking the best it's looked ever with the increased Fertz I have already. I cant wait to get going with EI dosing.


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## knucklehead (Dec 27, 2013)

I do mine dry. Doing EI dosing really helped my plants. They grew much faster.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

knucklehead said:


> I do mine dry. Doing EI dosing really helped my plants. They grew much faster.


How much are you dosing and how big is your tank? Are you using the little spoons or by grams with a scale?


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## Dawna (Jul 29, 2013)

You should start off with the recommended amount that tom Barr suggests then check for any issues like algal bloom or deficiencies. Deficiencies are detected early in fast growing stem plants than slow plants. Then you adjust your nutrients to stop the algal bloom and add nutrients that plants show deficiency in.


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## knucklehead (Dec 27, 2013)

jbyoung00008 said:


> How much are you dosing and how big is your tank? Are you using the little spoons or by grams with a scale?


I have a 30gal tank and I dose using little spoons with the following
1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week
1/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
1/16 tsp traces 3x a week


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## randylahey (Jun 25, 2013)

http://calc.petalphile.com/mobile 
I use this calculator to get my doses in grams.








I got the jars from ikea for like $5.
5 minutes a week to weigh out all the doses and then, it's literally as easy as remembering to dump it in.

I like dosing by weight because it's more accurate. I can raise or lower the dose of any nutrient until i hit the critical point.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

randylahey said:


> Yet Another Nutrient Calculator
> I use this calculator to get my doses in grams.
> View attachment 69281
> 
> ...


Great idea with the jars. Why do you dose everyday?

Thanks for the calculator. Ill be using that for sure.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Using the calculator I am getting these numbers. Does this seem right?

To reach your target of 1.3ppm PO4, you'll need to add 176 mg of KH2PO4 to 25.0 gal for:
To reach your target of 7.5ppm NO3, you'll need to add 1.157 grams of KNO3 to 25.0 gal for
To reach your target of 7.5ppm K, you'll need to add 1.582 grams of K2SO4 to 25.0 gal for:
To reach your target of 0.5ppm Fe, you'll need to add 724 mg of Plantex CSM+B to 25.0 gal for:

So I dose this amount 3 times a week?


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## randylahey (Jun 25, 2013)

Yeah, you got it. 

I dose everyday but, im alternating days on the macros and micros. You're not supposed to add them at the same time. If i remember correctly, it was something in the micros negating the phosphate.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Woo hoo. My fertz from Canadian aquatics showed up today. Pretty excited to get this going. I will post a pic of the tank tonight so I can show the progress.

Im still un sure if I will dry dose or make my own solution. I got good advice from a few people so Im trying to decide what works best.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Here is my tank on day 1 of EI dosing. I was away all weekend so today I will do a water change and have a better look to see if there has been any new plant growth.



























I lowered my light a few months ago. I hope I can raise it again soon


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

That emerging growth is bonkers!
I vote for adding big anubias to the back - perhaps tied to some wood so they are higher than the blyxa japonica


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Reckon said:


> That emerging growth is bonkers!
> I vote for adding big anubias to the back - perhaps tied to some wood so they are higher than the blyxa japonica


Thanks Lawson. I prune it often and it looks better when my lights are even height. Its literally floating on top of the water. It has no roots in the substrate anymore. Ive been growing it for 3 years. I have added more hygro to the substrate so hopefully it will fill in. I had anubias but it keeps getting algae on it and not much new growth. I figured it was because it was too close to the light. I will take some better pictures tonight after my water change.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

1 month update.

Tank is going great. Im seeing lots of new growth. Im finally getting the lawn effect I was after.

Downfall of all the plants is lots of leaf litter and debris. This tank is 4 years old.

I will be raising the light a little bit so the submerged plants can be seen a little better. I have also had a bit of algae on the glass so I reduced my lights to 8hrs. My water seems a little cloudy so I will be trying to resolve that asap. Ive been having issues with the new atomizer I bought. I am getting a lot of bubbles. I will try what another user posted to do. Add more length to the outtake hose.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Side view


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