easttech;114553 said:Ok, so starting to think about a fert regime and been looking at using EI with dry ferts, certainly cheaper I think that liquid lfs stuff and with a 300 gallon tank with about 350 gallons in total water column. I went to the calculator and was lost on the 1st question regarding each dose of stuff is XXX ppm? Not sure how I begin to analyze? Been reading and still not sure about the following: I currently do a 10% wc per day, just works out easier for me and a larger one with in tank cleaning once a week of about 30%. Can I use EI with my WC schedule or do I need to change my WC schedule? EI includes KN03, sorry my brain is going to explode, but is that the same as fish/food waste? If so how do I account for that in a moderately stocked tank?
thanks
John
Dude,
Try and relax... take a deep breath....
Dry powders will be much less expensive than most retail ferts, which can be very diluted..
You can use EI with almost any water change schedule, even a daily one...the larger 30% on day 7 will simply dilute any ferts in the tank. You can increase your dose on these days....remember that EI is designed with high light and good c02 in mind. but is designed to be FLEXIBLE as each tank is different.
Read the EI sticky for less technical folks. This has measurements in tsp/tblspns of each fert for a range of tank sizes. Pick a 50 gallon and multiply it by 7. That is how much you should dose. Then divide THAT by the number of days you want to dose. Dose AFTER your daily 10% w/c.
As an example, for my 220 gal, I dose the following daily:
1.5 tsp of kn03
1.5 tsp of kh2p04
1 tsp of csmb
.5 tsp of iron
A heavy fish load will simply add a bit more ferts to the water column, but this should prove no issue.
Here is a link where I and others have purchased dry ferts. I have used them for years..
http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/index.asp?Option1=cats&Edit=2&EditU=1&Regit=2
Hope this helps.
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