jdmstop

I have a 5 gal tank. Now How much will i have to dose as far as the table spoon goes? how do i convert tsp to Gram, i have a neat little scale that can measure gram by 0.01, so i like to just use my scale. Thanks in advance!

hoppycalif

One of the premises behind EI is that the exact amount of fertilizers dosed isn't at all critical. Everything is estimated. The easiest way to do a small tank like a 5 gallon is to get a bottle, say a 500 ml bottle, with a 5 to 20 ml cap. Measure how much the cap holds. Then divide 500 ml by what a cap holds, and that is the number of doses per bottle. Now multiply that number of doses by the amount of each dose of each macro fertilizer, and add that much to the bottle. Fill with water and shake it up good. Then dose a capful every other day or 3 times a week. Do the same for the micros. If you want to play with the gram scale, measure out a teaspoon and weigh it. That tells you how many grams each 1/8th, 1/4 etc. tsp is.

A variation of this, and what I use, is to take the total weeks dosage (3 times what each of the above doses is). Divide that by 7 and multiply by the number of capfuls in a bottle. That will be the amount to add when you want to dose the same every day, 7 days a week. You can dose the macros and micros on the same day also - the doses are weaker and the precipitation problem with iron and phosphate becomes trivial. But, don't mix micros and macros in one bottle - the concentrations there are great enough to precipitate all of the iron out as sludge in the bottle.

jdmstop

Thank you hoppy for the response!

I have couple of questions guys.

My tank setup is 50gal with AH supply 95watt kit running on compress co2 at about 2 bps


1. Since i started using CSM+B, my plants start to curl up.. then immediately I changed 50% of the water, and stopped using CSM+B and the plants seem to be doing better now. Is using seachem flourish better instead of the CSM+B?

2. Since I been using the EI index, being that its a planted/fishes tank, about 40 fishes, I find it pretty harsh performing the 50% water change every week. The 1st time I've done it, lost 2 fish right away. I've try to conditioned the water as far as matching the temperature and adding water conditioner, but death still happened. Can anyone provide some suggestion?

Thanks all

hoppycalif

I have always found that my fish enjoy the water changes, being more vigorous and active after such a change than before. I use Seachem Prime to get rid of chlorine or chloramine if I do a big change. I don't know if all such conditioners are equally good. Oh, and I don't make a big effort to match temperatures either. During the cold months I mix hot and cold to get somewhat near the tank temperature, but in the hot months I just use cold water most of the time. It may be that some species of fish are more sensitive to water changes than mine.

I have used CSM+B for two years + now, without any problems that I can see. Were you dosing it dry or mixing with water? I use dry most of the time, but am now premixing so I can dose an easy to measure amount of liquid every day. Flourish may be a better trace mix, but not by a whole lot.

I now use a continuous water change system, so I only do big changes when I do major maintenance on the tank. That works extremely well for me.

jdmstop

Hoppy, can you elaborate on the continuous water change system? for water condition, I used the NovAqua conditioner, and what do you recommend as far as test kit? so far i'm i have a drop checker ensuring 30ppm co2, ph test kit and GH/KH test kit. My fish are very healthy only when it comes in time of water change. I utilize the spill-free phyton kit, so basically water comes out and new water goes back in right away then i add the water conditioner after the tank is filled back up. Maybe is because this, my fishes are experiencing shock. However, using this spill free water exchange method is so simple and quick, and best of all, no mess in my carpeted room.

hoppycalif

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...ge-system.html is the water change system I use now.

If you add the water conditioner to the half full tank before adding any new refill water it will protect the fish from chlorine/chloramine better.

The only test kits I have are GH, KH, pH.

zonhisham

My tap water is quite soft at 2dKH and my TE (Homegrown Hydroponics, Fe 7%, B 1.3%, Mn 2%, Zn 0.4%, Cu 0.1%, Mo 0.06%) does not have any Mg in it.

For a 100L tank, how much would I have to add CaCO3 (or CaCl2) and MgSO47H2O after a weekly 50% WC ? What is the target ppm for Ca and Mg?

For the TE, since my tank is 100L, ie about 26g, I would add 1/16 tsp TE 3x a week. But what does the '5ml' is for when you wrote : '1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week' ? Does it mean to dissolve the TE in 5ml of DI and then pour the 5ml into the tank?

Homer_Simpson

You can do what Rex Grigg does. He mixes two tablespoons of Plantex CSM TE powder into 500 ml of distilled water and then doses 5-10 ml/20 gallons three times a week for a medium light tank.
http://www.rexgrigg.com/ferts.htm

You can also use a commercial TE liquid like Seachem Fluorish Comprehensive and dose 5-10 ml/20 gallons three times a week. However, in the long run a dry TE mix like Plantex CSM or comparable powder TE would be cheaper to dose.

bubuk

Using Fertilator, I can see that 1/2 tsp of CSM+B will add 0.14 ppm Fe per dosage. And according to Fertilator's Conversion of tbs/tsp/Dash/Pinch/Smidgen/grams, 1 tsp is about 5ml. But referring to the above dosage by John N. , where does that 30ml (in braces) comes from?

Please advice. TIA.

ColdServings

Apologies if this has been covered and I just missed it, but is there any real reason not to use half the recommended amounts 6 days a week rather than the recommended amounts 3 days a week-- so long as you don't let strong concentrations of phosphate and iron mix.

It seems to me that that would be a simpler to keep track of.