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EI dosing and multiple water changes

2K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  tinydanger 
#1 ·
Hi, I’m new to planted tanks and have been keeping it simple at first with dosing EI dry ferts following this guideline:

40-60 Gallon Aquariums
+/- 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/8 (10ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

My tank is 68g but closer to 60, I’m sure, with substrate, hardscape and the water level I keep. All is going well, the cycle is complete, plants filling in nicely and a half dozen danios just introduced. Nitrate holds pretty steady at 20ppm during the week and phosphate at 5ppm.

My question is that during my water change I am meticulously cleaning the surface of the substrate with a siphon tool, and also have diatoms on my buce leaves to rub off and some kind of green algae on other plants and the wood that I hand pick or rub off with the syphon right there to suck it up. All this takes more than 50% of the water, even with my syphon hose pinched way down.
I can only get half the tank cleaned the way I like it.
So, I would like to do a 50% WC twice a week, at least until the algae is under control. Can someone recommend how to change my dosing schedule to accommodate this? Should I just keep to the same 3x a week and not worry? Or will the levels get too diluted with the extra new water ... help please?
 
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#3 ·
You can dose up the incoming water during a water change up to your current levels,

so you remove water with 20ppm NO3 and 5ppm of PO4, etc. dose the incoming water up to those levels.

So 50% water changes, dose 50% of your normal tank dose into the new water, now you are essentially removing all the other "crud" in the water, but you aren't removing fertilizers.
 
#5 ·
You can dose up the incoming water during a water change up to your current levels,

so you remove water with 20ppm NO3 and 5ppm of PO4, etc. dose the incoming water up to those levels.

So 50% water changes, dose 50% of your normal tank dose into the new water, now you are essentially removing all the other "crud" in the water, but you aren't removing fertilizers.


Can you rephrase for the simple minded? I have an almost identical question as the OP (sorry to jump in your thread!). I have a 32 gallon I've started on EI but am doing water changes on Monday and Friday, both macro days, if that's relevant at all.
 
#7 ·
When they say "weekly" dose, what they really mean is between water changes. They are just assuming a once a week water change.

So if you really want to hit the levels that are suggested by that dosing, you would dose that amount between water changes.

But that level may or may not be what is optimal for your tank. Much depends on how much light and CO2 you are providing, the type of substrate, and how densely the tank is planted and even the mix of plants. If you post some pictures and provide more information about the tank many could provide you suggestions. You may need EI levels, or who knows you might need much less.

In the larger scheme of things, you should stop thinking in terms of tsp or tbs for dosing. Learn to use the Rotalabutterfly or Zorfox planted tank calculators and start thinking in terms of ppm of each compound/element you are providing. It is the universal language of the planted tank and will help you in the long run.
 
#8 ·
Thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
I use Rotala Butterfly but since I am fairly new to this I think I'm still just having a hard time wrapping my head around the concept (and basic math for some reason). I am going to buy a scale but yes, I'm currently dry dosing in tsp. My tank biomass is really low right now because it's new but everything looks healthy so far. I just don't want to have huge nutrient fluctuations and cause a problem. I'm not sure what my mental block is with a second water change! I'm embarrassed. Anyhow, I guess it's just best to monitor nutrients with the test kits and adjust as needed, right?
I'll post a tank build. That's a really good idea.
Thank you!
 
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