The Planted Tank Forum banner

EI Dosing 7 Gallon

2K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  Opare 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

I recently set up a 7 gallon tank. I have ADA substrate, small CO2 (stone diffuser arriving shortly) and a 18'' Finnex Ray2. I also have a Eheim Ecco canister filter blowing things around rather harshly.

The light can go as low as 12" above substrate.

Its a bit of a Frankensein setup given that I'm in a new condo and don't have room for my larger tank...

My only goal is to carpet some Dwarf baby tears. I've seen it done with the Finnex ray 2 so I think my light is capable.

Currently I am using Flourish Nitrogren and Flourish Potassium (Flourish Phosphorous is shipping) and Fluval Plant Micro Nutrients. Here is my schedule..without Phosphorous..but soon with

Monday
N-.5ml
K- 1.5ml
Tuesday
Micro
Wednesday
N-.5ml
K- 1.5ml
Thursday
Micro
Friday
N-.5ml
K- 1.5ml
Saturday
Sunday
50% water change

I've never EI dosed before and I've been out of the Hobby for 10+ years...If someone could tell me how to properly EI dose this tank I would be verrrry grateful!

**side note (in the pic the plants look like they are yellowing however they are more of a light green with new baby tear growth coming in as smaller leaves with a darker green leaf)
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
A RayII would be good @ 20" from the sub.
But @ 12" it will be algae city before long. Especially the GSA type.
FertFriend
You will likely need to adjust the amounts. But then adding a dose of the micro
on Saturday to complete three doses of each of the Macro and Micro.
A 50% weekly water change is needed with that to keep the nutrients
from building up to an excess.
I use this formula(for the 10g tank) but I only use 3ml because I A. don't have
lots of plants and B. don't do injected CO2. And I do two doses of each instead of three.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...697-dry-dosing-nutrient-solution-recipes.html
 
  • Like
Reactions: pmccrory
#5 ·
Thanks for the help! I have a few more questions:

1. What signs will show if I am dosing too much?

2. How many hours should the Finnex ray 2 18" be on?

3. Would it be a good idea to add more plants? Specifically UG and or Hairgrass.

4. Im using some ADA substrate that isn't as fine as I would like. It seems like the HC is having trouble staying put.

5. Should I be trimming any vertical reaching stems of HC?

6. Is it possible to have too much CO2? To the point where it would affect plants negatively?

Apologies for the excessive amount of questions - there are so many contradicting resources online about all of these subjects I just figured I would start with one of your recommendations and go from there.

Also, thanks for the previous responses. Its only been a few days since adjusting my dose and I can see new running root growth...at least I think thats what im seeing...
 
#6 ·
1. It's sort of hard to dose too much, as with EI you are supposed to. The theory is that you are providing more than is needed so the plants can grow with no trouble (at least in the nutrient department). Although there has been talk about toxicities, but I wouldn't worry too much about that kind of stuff. The main thing is to see if you are dosing too little, that will make itself known in how the plants look. By all means you could just dose full EI, but I feel it's not needed in this setup.
2. If the tank has just started keeping it on for 6 hours is fine.
3. Add as many plants as you like. Just be careful as carpeting plants will spread into each other, so you have to keep that at bay. Those 2 you named aren't fast growers either so it won't really help if you're trying to get plants to be nutrient soaks or something.
4. Just try and stuff the HC in. Aquasoil should be fine, although carpet plants can be a pain to plant.
5. Up to you really. You can if you want, some people say trimming promotes runner growth but I dunno.
6. Not in the sense that it would hurt them. CO2 increases the rate of photosynthesis and if light and nutrients allow then it will increase growth. I still wouldn't pump it to crazy amounts as you want to find the balance between your lights how much you are dosing, and the amount of CO2 your putting in. If you just keep pumping it in you will basically be wasting money if your light or nutrients are already at a limiting point. Plus excessive CO2 will kill critters. Use a drop checker to see where your CO2 is at. There are good guides online on how to use it. A quick rundown though you need to put a 4dKH solution of water into it with a pH indicator (the one they give with the drop checker), and the drop liquid in the checker will change colour according to the concentration of CO2 you are pumping in. You want to dial it in so it shows a yellowish green, but also to a point where all the critters (when you put them in) are also combfortable.
No worries about the questions, the internet tends to be hodge podge of people with conflicting information since a lot of the information is anecdotal.
Not to say that the answers I have given you are what other people may agree with or think is best, they are just what I believe! Hope my answers help you out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Hey Houseofcards,

This a a great tip, I started with a light trim of vertical shoots and re-planted last night. I've done way too much research on Baby tears and have not seen this idea! I'm a little concerned with my substrate as it sat for a good year or two (dry and unused) before use..I had added a few ADA powders before laying it in the aquarium but I'm now debating adding some root tabs..

I also was wondering if I should add some additional plants to help absorb Co2/nutrients ive been adding... Ive got a lot of Co2 going in there
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top