EI weekly dosing?

[atolylica]

Hi guys,

Understand the EI dosing works on a 3x per week dosing for macro and micro nutrients on alternate days, followed by a 50% water change.

Like to ask if I can tweak the dosing schedule to dose just once weekly i.e. after 50% water change on Sunday, dose Macro on Mon and Micro on Tues.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

[milk_vanilla]

I tried this before, it doesn't work well for me.
Especially if your tanks is high speed tank, with high light and high biomass.

I split back to3-4 times, with exception when i'm taking long holiday, and let it depends to helper.

[thebaldingaquarist]

All the gurus please correct me if i am wrong, I believe part of the rationale behind EI dosing and the schedule is to replenish what the plants have used and make the nutrient levels consistent with the CO2.

If dosing on a weekly basis, what will happen is that the nutrient levels will be very high at the beginning of the week and lowered at the end of the week. which means the nutrients levels are not consistent.

[milk_vanilla]

I'm not chemist nor biologist so can' answer you in scientific way, apologize for that

But think about you eat a lot in your morning breakfast and end up with lot of waste thrown, with an idea that you won't eat again through the whole of your day.

compare to eat 3x a day with BALANCE or good portion amount, just nice fit into your stomach, you feel healthy and not much waste on your dust bin

Well again planted tank is about Balance , isn't it ?

[atolylica]

Thanks all for the inputs!

My question stem from the fact that there are some successful tanks with weekly dosing. So I thought its a question of convenience and preference.

Correct me if I'm wrong; I thought the objective of EI dosing is about dosing excess YET balanced, since algae comes from imbalance of nutrients but NOT excess.

Appreciate all comments! Cheers!

[milk_vanilla]

The objective of EI to make nutrient unlimited.

give an excess nutrient but the plants uptake still higher than your excess dosage, that's considered limited. You never know how much are their up-taking level, lot's of parameters and reaction are involved.

When they are suffered from limited nutrients, algae gank take opportunity to role the kingdom.

[thebaldingaquarist]

Please correct me if wrong milk_vanilla.

The objective of EI is to ensure that the plants have the nutrients they require when they need it.

Estimative index is split into 2 parts generally.

1. determining how much is required at any one point in time. done basically through... estimation.
2. determine a dosing strategy such that the nutrients are topped up to the level in point 1 and maintained there.

Corollary is that there is no way to tell how much in excess will be dosed based on 1 and 2 only. Hence the tank needs to be "reset" to repeat the dosing, thus the huge / frequent water changes

[Shadow]

1. determining how much is required at any one point in time. done basically through... estimation.
2. determine a dosing strategy such that the nutrients are topped up to the level in point 1 and maintained there.

You do not need to do this Tom Barr did all the work already, just follow the dosing regime from the EI document

Corollary is that there is no way to tell how much in excess will be dosed based on 1 and 2 only. Hence the tank needs to be "reset" to repeat the dosing, thus the huge / frequent water changes

You need large water change because after a while the concentration of excess nutrient will reach toxic level for you fauna.