Simple EI Dosing Calculator

There is a nutrient calculator (Nutri Calc) which I wrote some months ago to handle my own tanks. I have put it up on our company web site, there is a link below.

It provides for

• saving named sets of data
• adding notes to any named set
• provides dry-dose amounts for N, K, P, Mg, Trace (either CSM+B or TMG)
• it takes into account (and shows) K from KNO3 and KH2PO4
• it allows input and saving of target amounts and source-water amounts as ppm
• it allows for N times per week dosing, and has an EI Dosing flag that biases the results towards tom barr's recommendations.
• the base formulae were derived from results using a number of existing calculators which have been deemed correct but which have idiosynchroses in use
• it is a "released" version, but is also a work-in-progress and I am happy to respond to change or bug requests. Since end-user-apps are my job and my other love (other than fishies) I look forward to suggestions

The download is 5Mb (sorry about that, its written in Smalltalk and has to include the VM). I know it works on Windows-XP, it should work on Win-95, and it has been briefly tested on Win-2000/2003. I should also work on Win-NT.

The download is a quick windows-install.

http://www.CherniakSoftware.com/homepage/Data/NutriCalc.exe

You can PM me for support, or you can send mail to
quenton@CherniakSoftware.com


V1.2 initial release
V1.2.1 note on 50% weekly water changes, saves last window location

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

Yuk -- its just fun! more so than when I build end-user-apps for work, although that's fun too

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

Updated by request to have an option to show dosage in
grams-dry instead of tsp dry.

http://www.cherniaksoftware.com/homepage/Data/NutriCalc.exe

.

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

OK -- I will add that as an option.

You will need more than that. If you are disolving in 500ml of water, and want to get to the same strength as TMG you will want 3 tablespoons into the 500ml. Actually that gives, by may calculations, a solution just very slightly stronger than TMG, say 5% -- but that is well within the accuracty of TMG dosing by that fancty 500ml two-cap bottel, so I think that is fine.

I used to use CSM+B -- I just dosed it like the rest of my ferts. I got a bottle of water, added the amount (in my case 1/4tsp for my two tanks total), then dumped part of the water into each tank. I had previously put duct tape on the bottle to show the proportions.

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

Two comments

• Tom's numbers are not linear when they hit the 100-125 range, I had checked against the smaller tanks (a number of them), but not against the 100-125.
• Tom is is giving a range (100 - 125) so his numbers need to work for 100 and for 125, so they are approximations. You are at the low end, so figure that the numbers at 100 will be somewhat lower.

That said, my numbers for 125 are still a bit lower than tom's 100-125.

So the question remains -- do we need more for larger tanks? or is it just that all these numbers are approximations?

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

Agreed, but it does provide ballpark values to start with, and that is what the calculator is intended to provide. I am surprised though that you are only dosing 1/2 of the EI ballpark values??

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

Sure -- I don't the shelf life, so I wouldnt't make too large a solution -- I have no ideal what the limits might be.

Figure, for example, 10 weeks, since the dosing is 3x per week, you will want 30x the the amount shown in the right-hand column. Disolve it in say 600 ml of water, and then use 20ml per dosing. That is 30 doses (3 for each of the 10 weeks) at 20ml per dose which is the full 600ml solution you made.

Or if you want to do 20 weeks, you could take 60x the dosage indicated, disolve it in 1200ml of water and still dose 20ml each dosing day. That is 60 doses at 20ml per does or the full 1200ml solution you made.

You can do your own amounts and math, but its easy to make an error. I worked the above out 3 or 4 times to be sure I had it right.

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

If you want to compare this to say chucks calc - turn off the "EI Dosing" flag, which biases things based on tom barr's suggested amounts which, among other things, take into account some amount of uptake.

You will find that the KNO3 amounts match.

Again, with EI-Dosing turned off, you should find that the KH2PO4 amounts match too.

Beware when using Chuck's Calc -- exit and restart it for each nutrient you want to check, otherwise the results change as you move from nutrient to nutrient and back again.


You may argue with the EI-Dosing biasing, but if I want to go by Tom Barr's suggested amounts, I need that -- and I do use it for 2 tank sizes right now, 2 more to come.

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

No question I am looking for bugs -- and thank you for persisting.

I think I see what you are looking at. NO3 is provided by 3 things, KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4.

For your testing, ignore the the 2 gray fields marked KNO3 and KH2PO4 which show 12.6 and 1.4. The image you attached shows 20ppm as the target NO3, which is provided by the KNO3. The KNO3 also provides 12.6ppm of K which is taken into account inthe K calculations.

So if you use chuck's or mine, you get 20ppm provided by about that 6.18 grams of KNO3.

How am I calculating -- I am table driving it. My tables indicate the ppm provided by 1tsp in 100g. Then I just modify that based on the gallons and the ppm desired. Its simple, and the table has two entries, one to be used with and one without the EI-Dosing flag set.

I compute "tsp" (since that is what I had started out to do), keeping 4 dec places, and table drive a conversion to grams. That last is a bit sleezy perhaps, but since I had "tsp" to start with it was simpler.

The "tsp" is then run through a fraction generator I wrote for work, that tries to create human-oriented fractions (n/8, n/16 rather than n/23 or n/7) by using a specified accuracy requirement. I have seen it generate n/32 for some cases

 

Re: Simple EI Dosing Calculator

New version adds

1. Calcium (not there before)
2. Results in "tsp" or "grams"
3. Added a linear bias to make this better match Tom's EI Light dosing schedule which is not exactly gallon multiples as tank sizes increase
4. Hilites the Macro Names or the Trace Names based on which day of a 7 day dosing cycle one is on - to indicate which should be dosed that day (optional)

Caclulator at: http://www.cherniaksoftware.com/homepage/Data/Nutricalc.exe