EI Newb question

vlvtrope

Junior Poster
Jun 12, 2008
27
0
1
Miami, FL
Sorry if this is obvious. From the EI Light post, here is the recommendation for my 55 gal aquarium:

40-60 Gallon Aquariums
+/- 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 3/4 tsp GH booster once a week(water change only)
+/- 1/8 (10ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

Where is the K2SO4?

Also, does anyone know how these meaures translate into grams? Thanks.
 

Mooner

Lifetime Charter Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2006
340
18
18
Colorado
vlvtrope;27833 said:
Sorry if this is obvious. From the EI Light post, here is the recommendation for my 55 gal aquarium:

40-60 Gallon Aquariums
+/- 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 3/4 tsp GH booster once a week(water change only)
+/- 1/8 (10ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

Where is the K2SO4?
There is enough "K" in the KNO3 and the KH2PO4 for our tanks. It can be used but isn't really needed.
vlvtrope;27833 said:
Also, does anyone know how these measures translate into grams? Thanks.
Gram accuracy isn't needed, level teaspoons will work fine. Dosing dry or in solution is fine.
 

Tom Barr

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Jan 23, 2005
18,699
786
113
I took the average of 20 x 1/4 teaspoons(the smaller, the less accurate any weights will be). They where off by about 0.08 grams at most as long as they where level and the user was somewhat careful.

1.67 grams was the weight I arrived at for a 1/4 tsp using the KNO3 I had.

So with a replication no# of 20, I'm pretty confident on the errors involved.
Now if someone is sloppy, then the error goes up, this is true for anything however.

So the method itself is not inaccurate, it's the poor measurement techniques etc that contribute, or the different brands of KNO3 etc.

You can buy a simple gram scale for about 20$ that goes to 0.01 gram accuracy.
None of this is really a big issue unless you dose smaller than 20 Gallon tanks, in which case, making a liquid, then using say, all of it up 4 weeks(the time), can be done and pretty accurate.

Say you want to make a 4 week batch of dosing solution.
Say the tank is a 5 gallon tank.

You'd add 3/4 teaspoon of KNO3, about 1/3 tsp of KH2PO4 to 280mls of water.
Then dose 280 mls by 4 weeks, or 280mls/28 days= 10mls per day

You can change the time and volume to anything you want, just provided you can dissolve the ferts into the water.

Just divide the standard dosing routine in EI, add to water, then divide the mls of water/days you want to dose.

Note, this is for daily dosing(10mls per day example), you could dose 30mls 2-3x a week also.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

vlvtrope

Junior Poster
Jun 12, 2008
27
0
1
Miami, FL
Grams

The whole reason I asked about grams is that I am in a biology lab and it is actually more convenient to weigh-out these materials than to try to find a spoon measure around here! :)
 

VaughnH

Lifetime Charter Member
Lifetime Member
Jan 24, 2005
3,011
97
48
88
Sacramento, CA
If one of those chemicals weighs about 5 grams per teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon would be 2.5 grams. But, that would be for tanks from 40 to 60 gallons, so the accuracy needed per gallon is +/- 1/4 of the dose. That means the 2.5 grams can be from 1.9 to 3.1 grams. (These are just crude estimates, because each chemical is slightly different in density.) If I wanted to use a gram scale I would use 5 grams per tsp, and only one significant digit for the measurement.