Doing EI, but maybe 50% WC 2xweek, how to accomodate my EI dosing?

[rich815]

Typically I've been following a standard EI schedule for my heavily planted 72 gal:

Saturday: 50% water change, dose macros after that
Sunday: Dose micros
Monday: Dose macros
Tuesday: Dose micros
Wednesday: Dose macros
Thursday: Dose micros
Friday: nothing
then start again....

I dry dose as follows:
Macros: 3/4 t. N, 1/4 t. P and K
Micros: 1/4 t. CSM+B and 1/8 t. Fe
(On Saturday after the WC I also dose 1 t. of GH Booster---my GH runs at about 2-3 ppm this way, KH about the same)

My CO2 is pressurized with an inline reactor off my eheim 2026 and going at about 8 bps (during the day my two drop checkers show good CO2---a Red Sea one is a nice lime green and my glass double-bulb Cal Aqua checker on the other side of the tank has matching colors), CO2 goes on 2 hours before lights go on and off one hour before lights off, I also run an eheim 2028 as my main filter, and a Koralia 2 to help the flow around the tank. I'm using a Hagen GLO light fixtures with 3x54W T5 HO lights on for 8 hours/day.

Due to heavier fish load my Nitrates and Phosphates are running a little high (20-30ppm and 5+ ppm), so I'm thinking to see how a mid-week WC might help me better control the occasional minor BBA, a relatively minor but constant GSA issue on the glass and lower/older leaves of plants, and some scummy film on the surface (again not much but it's there). Some will tell me to lower my Nitrate and Phosphate dosing. Tried it twice. Plants hated it and suffered. When I go back to the above dosing all the plants do great. Lower either N or P and they get ugly within 1-2 weeks.

So, if I do a mid-week WC how should I adjust my weekly/daily schedule of my fert dosing? Do nothing and just slip the WC in on maybe Tues or Weds night and keep going as if I did not do a WC? Or if I do a mid-week WC then maybe I should skip the "nothing" day on Friday and dose that day too?

 

[Gerryd]

Rich,

I would dose 10-25% MORE after the mid-week WC as you have reset your tank with the 50% WC.

You may want to also try daily dosing for 2-3 weeks to see if it helps.

You may also want to increase your c02 a bit to help overall, esp with BGA and a heavily planted tank.

Since I got my c02 worked out, I get very little algae and excellent growth right to the substrate.

Hope this helps.

 

[rich815]

Thanks for your thoughts Gerry. I do not have BGA (and never had, knock on wood) but GSA. My CO2 is pretty darn high (the Rea Sea checker gets almost yellow right at the end of the lighting cycle) but my fish are never bothered so I guess i can slowly crank up a little more (though the 8bps really seems like a lot!)

 

[Tom Barr]

Yes, add a bit more CO2, not much and do so only very slowly, cheak for 2-3 days etc each time you adjust.

Clean the tank good, and do the 2x a week dosing/water changes.
If the fish load is high, try dosing 1x more before the next water change and immediately after the water, traces can be added daily also.

Higher fish loads seem to work well with 2x a week water changes.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Gerryd]

Hey Rich,

Sorry about the BGA/GSA mistake.............

GSA can be indicative of low P....so with a small increase in dosing, or going daily, may make a difference. If daily dosing wait 4-6 hours between macros and micros so the fe does not bind...

My DC (2) are always yellow but fish are fine with it.

As Tom says, increase SLOWLY and watch the critters, plants, etc.

It took me several weeks of adjustment to get the right balance. DC were green first, then yellowish, now yellow all the time after several hours to adjust.

As an added safety net, I now have a Koralia IV turn on WITH the c02 and angled slightly to add more surface ripple. Seems to work fine and the additional current helps distribute the c02 and other nutes.



Best of luck.

 

[rich815]

Thanks Gerry and Tom. So, what you're saying then is I should dose macros and micros on the same day and the same level I have been dosing daily? If so I'll dose macros in the AM and micros when I get home in the evening about 6pm or so. My lights now go on at 2pm and off at 10pm, will that matter or affect when I should be dosing either? And I'll commit to WC on Sat or Sun and Weds or Thurs evenings....

 

[Gerryd]

Rich,

You want to take your current TOTAL weekly dose and divide by 7 to get a daily dose. Just increase a bit more for the extra WC.

No issue when you dose in terms of time of day. I think your plan is fine.

When I go daily, I dose macros in the morning and micros at night.

Later,

 

[rich815]

Rich,

You want to take your current TOTAL weekly dose and divide by 7 to get a daily dose. Just increase a bit more for the extra WC.

No issue when you dose in terms of time of day. I think your plan is fine.

When I go daily, I dose macros in the morning and micros at night.

Later,

Ah! Got it. Excellent. Will start on that tomorrow....