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Estimative Index Dosing Guide

469819 Views 224 Replies 99 Participants Last post by  mistergreen
Overview
The Estimative Index (EI) coined by Tom Barr is a straightforward method for providing nutrients for a planted tank. The idea behind EI is simply introducing an excess amount of nutrients within an aquarium, throughout the week. This excess of nutrients floods the water column and feeds the plants. This is an estimative method; measuring specific nutrient uptake rates is not necessary and no test kits are involved. EI provides a surplus of nutrients that helps to prevents plant deficiencies, and allows plant growth to out compete algae growth.

The process of which this is done is simple. Each day fertilizers are dosed, and the nutrients are absorbed by the plants. With this method being estimative, we can dose fertilizers according to general guidelines suited for our particular setup (see below). At the end of the week, one performs a 50% water change to 'reset' the nutrient load in the entire system. And then the entire dosing schedule is repeated.

The primary fertilizers are the macro nutrients - Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), and the micro nutrients - trace elements (Plantex CSM+B, Flourish). Iron (Fe) can also be supplemented if necessary.

The Estimative Index method works best for a high light and well planted aquarium. However it is not limited to lower light setups, smaller quantities of fertilizers should be dosed in those instances.

General Dosing Guideline for High Light and Well Planted Aquariums
(wolfenxxx)

10- 20 Gallon Aquariums
+/- 1/8 tsp KN03 (N) 3x a week
+/- 1/32 tsp KH2P04 (P) 3x a week
+/- 1/32 tsp (2ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

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

60 - 80 Gallon Aquariums
+/- 3/4 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- ¼ tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- ¼ tsp (20ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

100 - 125 Gallon Aquarium
+/- 1 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp (30ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

Note: K2SO4 is not required for dosing unless you need the extra Potassium (K). This K is found in KN03 and KH2P04. Dosing these two according to above will yield sufficient K levels. Therefore, one will be fine dosing only KN03 and KH2P04, and Plantex. If one needs to increase their K levels with K2S04, add the same measured amount as KH2P04. For example, if one is dosing 1/2 tsp of KH2P04, then dose 1/2 tsp of K2S04. In true regards to EI, added excess K is not detrimental in any event.

EI target ranges
CO2 range 25-30 ppm
NO3 range 5-30 ppm
K+ range 10-30 ppm
PO4 range 1.0-2.0 ppm
Fe 0.2-0.5ppm or higher
GH range 3-5 degrees ~ 50ppm or higher
KH range 3-5

Where to buy fertilizers?
AquariumFertilizers. com could have provide you with the necessary chemicals for dry and liquid dosing of the above but is out of buisness. For micro - trace elements, Plantex CSM+B, Seachem Flourish, and Tropica AquaCare are equivalent to each other. Drsfostersmith and bigalsonline for the Seachem and Tropica brands.

One Pound of each of Aquarium Fertilizer/Greg Watson's Chemicals will last at least 1 year:
Plantex CSM+B​
Potassium Nitrate KN03​
Monopotassium Phosphate KH2P04​
Potassium Sulphate K2S04 (optional)

Special Notes:

Providing optimal CO2 levels of at least 30 ppm are necessary for plants to prosper and out-compete algae. If algae issue arise, remove all visible algae and infected leaves. Recheck CO2 levels, and possibly reduce and adjust the lighting period.

Direct dry dosing into the tank is perfectly fine. Many dosing straight into the tank, or they dissolve each chemical in water before adding.

Making a Liquid Stock of Plantex CSM+B is more often mixed into a bulk liquid solution since some find it more convenient to dose their trace elements this way. The recipe for this solution is 1 tablespoon to 250ml water is equivalent to: 20 ml = 1/4 teaspoon of dry Plantex. This solution is stored in refrigerators to prevent mold from forming within the container.

Small dosing teaspoons (smidgen, dash, pinch) can be found at Linen & Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Wal-Mart, dollar stores, eBay and other online retailers. To identify the specific measurements of your smidgen, dash, pinch set, a 1/8 tsp should fill a ¼ tsp in 2 tries, 1/16 tsp in 4 tries, and a 1/32 tsp in 8 tries.

Stick to a good dosing regime and your plants will flourish!
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Some how I knew you would answer. Thank you Diana


Also want to thank you on behalf of the community for your commitment to assist and teach. You are a real Asset to APC
Hello again
I am posting this info based on Diana's reply. If I have made any mistakes please point them out.

I believe this will be very helpful to those doing EI on multiple tanks
I probably missed it even though I have been at APC since 2009.

Q1: How many total gallons am I dosing? (Add up all the tanks)

12 , 40, 65, 29, 55, 15 = 216 gallons
So, how much of each material do I need for 1 week? (do some math with each dose of each material... so many teaspoons per dose, 3 doses per week...
Each dose X 3
* kno3. 10g 30. g
* K2so4. 13.67 g. 41.01 g
* Kh2po4. 1.52. 4.56 g
*
Put this much in the bottles (macros in one bottle, micros in the other)

Q2: How can I best dose? For me, I dose at the rate of 1ml per 3 gallons of tank volume.
So, multiply it out: How many gallons in all the tanks?

216

How many doses in one week? (3) Divide by 3 gallons and call it ml.

216 x 3= 648 ml of H20

Put that much water in each bottle.

Single Dosage per tank ( three times a week)
12 divided by 3= 4 ml
40 divided by 3= 13.3 ml
65 divided by 3= 21.6 ml
29 divided by 3= 9.6 ml
55 divided by 3= 18.3 ml
15 divided by 3= 5 ml

What you wrote below is great advice. I will do this as well since I also dose glut.

Side note: I also dose with glut. I do a similar computation and add a weeks worth of glut to the bottles then top it off with distilled water. The glut minimizes the growth of 'goo' in the bottles. Per a recommendation by a chemist I also add a bit of citric acid to keep the mixture acidic.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Only one problem... I am re working doses too the higher higher end of EI.
There is a solubility problem when mixing with 600 ml of water.

I want to mix
NO3- 90 grams
P04 - 6.6 grams
K - 75 grams

Solution does not dissolve. I had intended to dose as suggested 1 ml to every 3 gal.

best solution:
1. Should I double the water and double the dose amount?

2. Comments

Thx U
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Mod Please delete post #203 - The content is erroneous Thank you
Sorry to ask a very basic question. Is there any page where the precise weights are given rather than what fraction of a tea spoon it should be? Measuring 1/32 (or 1/x) of a teaspoon is proving to be a little difficult for me.
I know I can prepare a solution with a larger weight but I prefer to dose direct from the jar with a tea spoon. As of now I am doing an eye-estimation.
Sorry to ask a very basic question. Is there any page where the precise weights are given rather than what fraction of a tea spoon it should be? Measuring 1/32 (or 1/x) of a teaspoon is proving to be a little difficult for me.
I know I can prepare a solution with a larger weight but I prefer to dose direct from the jar with a tea spoon. As of now I am doing an eye-estimation.
rotalabutterfly.com has a calculator for specific weights of dry dosing.
Thanks a lot bsantucci. That's a very helpful site. Must bookmark it.
I can't understand math. Can someone please tell me how to mix up a DRY stock so I can just scoop from one bag of mixed fert powder? I used to do this years ago but forgot how much of what to add.

I have a bunch of different sized tanks. Different lights, stocking, conditions, etc. I'm over whelmed. All have at least some plants.

Also, about precipitation, I'm confused because Dynagro Foliage Pro (land plant growers might might be familiar with this) has most of your macros and micros together in a liquid stock in a single bottle.
You should be dosing a lot bigger dosage of K2SO4 and/or KNO3 than KH2PO4. So, it is difficult to uniformly mix appropriate dry quantities of those chemicals so that each half teaspoon you scoop out contains about the right ratio of each. Mixing liquids is very easy, but mixing dry powders isn't. It isn't really that hard to dip out the tiny amounts of each of the powders individually on whatever schedule you follow. I keep mine in polyethylene containers, with snap on lids, with the content of the container and the dosage boldly marked on the lid.
This thread was a neat read! :)
It is for me. I have a lot of tanks and little to no energy.
Hi everyone, question for ye.

I have a 100 gallon tank and intend on using a water drip feed method which will be running continuously. By using this method I hope to not have to do a big WC every week.
Is it possible to still do the EI Dosing method and if so how would I go about it.

Thanks.

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Hey Henry,
I would think it'd still be possible but not as effective as I would dose personally in smaller amounts. You don't want To much nutrients but you want enough that the plants can absorb whatever, whenever.
But I do recommend a water change weekly IMO. Just part of routine maintenance.
Maybe dose daily and take some test at different times or intervals during the photoperiod. Then its a matter of adjustment as you desire.

As DutchMuch indicates - do a weekly WC anyway
It depends on how much of a drip you have going. If it is one gallon per day that is considerably different from 10 gallons per day, etc. The greater the rate you change the water the more likely you can dose according to the tables. At a gallon per day you would need to adjust the dosing to avoid big overdoses.
I have never worked too hard to get to that level as I see some problems.
A set it and forget it type sounds good but then my fish and plants have never wanted it to work?
Given time one might find just the right amount of water to remove and dosing to add, but then it is always changing even when we don't see the change. Fish and plants grow or die. Taller get taller and shade low ones. We feed the fish more or less. Even the water changes from the hot and dry season to winter in some places.
So how it would work long term is not one I've found.
My final issue is that I do need to look at my tanks and during water changes, I'm sure to spot things going wrong before they become monsters.
I have never worked too hard to get to that level as I see some problems.
A set it and forget it type sounds good but then my fish and plants have never wanted it to work?
Given time one might find just the right amount of water to remove and dosing to add, but then it is always changing even when we don't see the change. Fish and plants grow or die. Taller get taller and shade low ones. We feed the fish more or less. Even the water changes from the hot and dry season to winter in some places.
So how it would work long term is not one I've found.
My final issue is that I do need to look at my tanks and during water changes, I'm sure to spot things going wrong before they become monsters.
Gone missing,
your post is missing key points.
Plants do not shade out others with: proper planting, and correct spacing. it all relies on the scape, plus half the time if you have high lighting this doesn't matter much anyway...
If you put in the time and effort, you can feed your inhabitants Exactly the right amount, many people do this but its more on the nerdy side. You take the fish(s) weight and do some math with it and the food (blah blah not getting into it) etc etc etc... I personally underfeed a bit and don't see bad results, my feeding schedule is every other day, and I give just enough.
No doubt there are key points missing. No perfect way for sure. But that is what I was trying to get at. Our tanks do change, so I have never felt that I had enough of a perfect dose to assume that it will be correct at some point in the future. So that has left me not spending much time to perfect a really good dosing system as I would assume it will change. I have shied away from setting a mechanical dosing system or even using a pre-mixed as I keep finding things that prompt me to vary my dosing.
Quite possible the combination of what I do is part of the problem as my tanks are rarely the same for very long.
Maybe just a difference in how we each view the hobby. Some want a picture perfect tank to set back and view. I much prefer doing things with the tanks. I've never had a picture perfect tank but I might want to tear it down and start a new project, even if I had one?
I once moved to a perfect spot-- but then there were too many people there and I moved!
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Overview
The process of which this is done is simple.
Stick to a good dosing regime and your plants will flourish!
I have no idea if I am doing this right! this is not simple for me. Can someone just check to see if this is correct? I can only dose 5 days a week because tank is a the school I work at.
20 gal tank.
dose 10ml (from 500 ml bottle = 50 doses in a bottle).
3 days of Macro, 2 days of micro, 50% water change a week.

KNO3: 926mg per dose = 46.3g in the bottle
KH2PO4: 180mg per dose = 7.05g in the bottle
K2S04: 1.27g per dose = 63.5g in the bottle
Plantex+B: 232mg per dose = 11.60g in the bottle

And if I wanted to add Calcium Sulfate to the mix for my Mexican Dwarf Crawfish.
and the target is 15ppm CASO4,2H20: 4.88 per dose = 244g in the bottle.

Thank you so much for any help!
John
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Hi there,
I was hoping you could offer some advice for the following tank setup:
Tank: Juwal Rio 240 litre
Lighting: Fluval fresh& plant 2.0 (4.30pm to 5pm ramp up to 80% - 10pm to 10.30pm ramp down)
Co2: Pressurized 3bps (4pm to 9.30pm) mixed with internal co2 reactor.
Tank type: heavily planted jungle tank (Sords,crypts, red lotus, xmas moss etc)
Filter: All ponds solutions efx+ 2000 l/ph
Dosing :uk plant food uk ei dosing

The problem:

I am following your recipe and dosing schedule to the extent of dosing for a 200 litre tank not for the full 240 litre which my tank is. All algae seems to have disappeared, but green spot algae has taken hold on my crypts, swords, aubias and some of the other species and also my red plants dont seem to be as vibrant with stunted and small leaf growth. But only specs on the glass hardly worth worrying about.

I did do i phosphate test, it indecated 40ppm which i dont think is right so i take those results with a pinch of salt.

Any advice hear?

Do I need to dose for the full 240 litres because I am under dosing? Is this a deficiency overall throughtout my tank?
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