Changing levels of CO2 from 50% weekly water changes using EI method for 75G

Consider increasing CO2 bps a little more. You may not need it if light is low to medium.


Since you don't have a rich substrate (wish you'd have gone with 100% ADA aquasoil), you will need some water column ferts. May be go with EI lite. This means you will need to do water changes regularly to avoid fert build up.


If you had a rich substrate, you could skip some of the water ferts or drastically reduce it (like those following the Amano method) and some of the water changes needed by following EI.


Dont worry about CO2 levels during water changes. Just do the water change and move on. You're at the point of analysis paralysis. Pull the trigger. Make some mistakes. Learn. Adjust.


If you want to minimize mistakes and learning, follow the Amano method per LFS and follow it to the letter. The Amano formula works. If you get adventurous and mess with the formula, it will blow up in your face. And you'll have an algae mess. And then you're back to mistakes and learning. Blindly following the Amano method is the quickest way to a pretty plant tank. But if you like opening the hood of your car and tweaking things, may be EI or EI lite is for you.


But since you're using Eco-complete and Fluorite, it's not Amano method for you, I guess. If I were you, I'd go with EI lite. Dry macros. Commercial liquid micros until you get the hang of things. And do not make the classic newbie mistake of increasing your light. Keep light low. Be generous with CO2, filtration, flow, and water changes.

 

MC is pretty forgiving as far as a plant.


If you worry about RATES of GROWTH, then the 1st thing is NOT EI or some other fert routine.


It is always...the intensity of the light.


Next, comes CO2. It can cause a 20X fold in rates of growth.


Then lastly..............comes dosing ferts. Which will not cause nearly the same impact as say CO2 or light.


http://www.bio-web.dk/ole_pedersen/p..._2001_2_22.pdf


ADA aqua soil is where the nutrients are, so you do not need to dose them as much, but you STILL need to dose them. ADA suggest doing the large weekly water changes also.


So they suggest the same thing that EI suggest.


Curiously, few make any criticism when ADA suggest it.


ADA AS also needs much more frequent water changes the 1st 2-3 weeks and then taping off to about 1/2 to maybe 1/3rd a tank water change a week.


After about 1 year, the ADA As is replaced if you follow the ADA routine.


If you dose more ferts to the water column, have a large fish load and actually feed your fish often(few ADA vendors/ADA tanks seem to do this), then you can get many years out of the soil. The soil is very similar to rice paddie soil, it declines over time in NH4. After 1-2 years, most all the available N is gone. The other nutrient remain for perhaps a decade? Maybe longer. I have 8 years from the ADA AS in my 180, but it's become pretty mucky and muddy. If you uproot and move plants often, the ADA As will break down faster. If you just trim the tops, do not choose faster growing species, trim well and often, then it will last longer.


But ADA and EI offer the same routine essentially for water changes and the % is rather arbitrary, it is not a requirement that EI is 50% weekly to prevent build up, it's just a risk management tool, maybe 2x the total dosed is what you choose as your action based management routine, maybe 3x, maybe 4X, maybe 1.25X etc. Generally I started off rich in the ferts, then slowly reduce it..........till I see a negative response(plants/algae/live stock etc), then back up to the last prior dose. This tends o be the best routine.


CO2 can be done the same manner, start with a good richer guess and then tweak it up till no new algae growth occurs within reason and plants are healthy.


No matter what method is used, you are still guessing and then dialing it from there. I use ADA As and a modification of EI for most tanks using CO2 gas.


Each tank has it's own routine and each tank has different light and CO2 and trimming routines/uprooting etc.


You can not bother with the tweaking the ferts as much and just do larger % water changes, which only helps any planted tank and the livestock I've seen.


Never understood why not doing water changes is such great advice. Can some folks get away with it more than others? Sure, is it good advice to new folks? No.


ADA does not, I do not, ADG does not. Water changes, those we signed up for as part of this hobby. If you really want the no water change routine, then forgo the CO2 and high light and go non CO2 planted tanks, they look nice if you do them correctly. Far far less work. Growth is slow, but the method is well proven and can look very nice