Need help. Trying EI Fertilisation Regime for 4x2x2 Planted Tank

[Earth]

I have a moderately planted tank with mainly stem plants and hairgrass. I am thinking of applying EI for my fertilisation regime and have done some reading prior to this.

I understand I have to ensure the following EI target ranges are met:
CO2 range 25-35 ppm
NO3 range 10-30 ppm
K+ range 10-30 ppm
PO4 range 1.0-2.0 ppm
Fe 0.2-0.5ppm or higher
GH range 1-2 degrees "extra" 17-40 ppm or higher

Currently, I have the following fertilisers/nutrient supplement on hand:

1. Seachem Equilibrium
2. Seachem Potassium
3. Seachem Phosphorous
4. Seachem Nitrogen
5. Seachem Iron
6. TMG
7. Lushgro-Aqua
8. Lushgro K2SO4
9. Lushgro KH2PO4
10. Lushgro MgSO4.7H20
11. Lushgro NaHCO3

Would appreciate if anyone can share how I can make full use of the above fertilisers/nutrient supplements for my weekly dosage.

I am thinking of doing the following:
1. PO4 from KH2PO4, 3 times per week
2. K+ from K2SO4, 3 times per week
3. NO3 from Seachem Nitrogen, 3 times per week
4. Fe and trace element from TMG, 2 times per week
5. Seachem equilibrium applied after weekly 50% water change

Is the above combo sufficient? If it is, can anyone recommend the amt (ml / teaspoon etc) for per dosage?

Thanks in advance!

[illumnae]

NO3 from Seachem Nitrogen is going to end up really expensive for you. You could try getting Calcium Nitrate (I believe it's Ca(NO3)2.4H20) from Dr Mallick (also lushgro brand I believe) and mix it in a solution of water and dose it 3 times a week. Will be a much cheaper option for you, considering the size of your tank.

[Earth]

NO3 from Seachem Nitrogen is going to end up really expensive for you. You could try getting Calcium Nitrate (I believe it's Ca(NO3)2.4H20) from Dr Mallick (also lushgro brand I believe) and mix it in a solution of water and dose it 3 times a week. Will be a much cheaper option for you, considering the size of your tank.

I think so too.. initially i thought it was not possible to get CaNO3 in sg since I can't find any thread on AQ with confirmation from fellow planted tank comrades. I will try checking LushGro products and see if i can get it from them. Thanks bro.

[illumnae]

you may have to get it straight from Dr Mallick shops...or there's a commercial seller here who deals in LushGro products. last i enquired, he said he would be receiving stock of it

[Earth]

Is Ca(NO3)2.4H20 banned in Sg like KNO3? I called Nature Aquarium, Colourful and Mr Fong from the Dr Mallick's retail shops and all of them told me they no longer have it as it is banned...

[barmby]

Without KNO3 it is going to be costly to go EI. Unless you have means of getting them. Why don't you go with LushGro Aqua or any other cocktail of Macro nutrients...then supplement with Seachem Nitrogen.

[illumnae]

Here's the LushGro catalogue on Dr Mallick's website. It's updated as of 2 months ago, and Calcium Nitrate crystals can be found at page 17. KNO3 is listed as restricted on this catalogue, but Ca(NO3)2 isn't. 1kg of Ca(NO3)2 is pretty cheap too. I'm intending to use it to mix up a macro solution once my KNO3 crystals run out

http://www.singaporehydroponics.com/..._landscape.pdf

[barmby]

I think let Dr Mallick take down your IC no. and you should be able to buy KNO3. Just my thoughts. Anyway, now I find LushGRO Aqua quite potent.

[illumnae]

I was using the fert calculator on fishfriend to calculate, and I found that to hit 10ppm of Nitrate and 15ppm of Potassium in a 4x2x2 tank (estimated 400 litres of water to take substrate into account), I need to dose 120ml per dose, 3 times a week. This means that a 5 litre bottle of LushGro Aqua will only last 14 weeks. That's quite a heavy investment in terms of cost That's why I was exploring the use of Ca(NO3)2 instead to maintain the affordability of EI after my KNO3 runs out.

I believe a few other forumers are using Ca(NO3)2 too

[Earth]

On Saturday, I talked to Mr Fong from the retail shop @ Crawford Lane and also Nature Aquarium. Both told me Ca(NO3)2 is banned and they don't have it....

Hopefully, the info is wrong.. i have just emailed the company again for enquiry..

[barmby]

Interesting. To yield 10 ppm of NO3 - 120 ml of LushGRO Aqua per dose, 3 times a week. does not work for me. That is quite a substantial amount. Btw, plants maximum can aborb 3-4 ppm a day depending how strong and how long light is been turned on.

[illumnae]

Unfortunately, that's the kind of levels we're supposed to dose if we want to follow the EI regime. 1.5 teaspoons of KNO3 (the rough recommendation for EI for a tank of that size) yields almost 12ppm of NO3.

I guess LushGro will be sufficient following your fert regime, but the original poster wanted EI, so I was giving EI values

[Shadow]

Btw, plants maximum can aborb 3-4 ppm a day depending how strong and how long light is been turned on.

What quantity of plant are you based on? In my opinion more plant more ppm, less plant less ppm. Sure maybe for single plant, maximum they can take is 3-4ppm.

The best way in my opinion is to look at how your plant react. Especially those fast growing stem plant. They are fast growing, so you will see deficiency on them fist before the rest of your plants.

[barmby]

Shadow, I don't have quantity of plant in mind. 3-4ppm of NO3 is quite a lot of uptake during a photo period of 8 hours - 12 hours, maybe?

Illumnae, yes. you are right. I am off the track.

EI is suppose to be excessed. But I feel that there is a limit as to how much a tank of plants can 'uptake'. Whatever is excess.. it is quite dangerous within the next 7 days. Therefore if something is wrong, analyse the CO2 data first, then add more fertilizer daily until it is fixed.

[Shadow]

That is true. There should be a limit, you can actually do the experiment by measuring the fert concentration before and after photo period. However each tank with different mass have different kimit. EI is more like finding the sweet spot between overdose and yet not killing your fauna.

[barmby]

OK Shadow

Aside to Earth.. other than lack of KNO3. I think you should refrain from dosing DIRECT dry KH2PO4 into the tank. I recommend pre-mix with a bottle of distilled water of 500ml and dose from the mixed solution...

for example, 1ml of the mixed solution dose into your tank will yield 0.1 ppm of PO4.

Also, Seachem equilibrium is essentially used to address K and Ca needs. It is not necessary in your case... because calcium can be replaced with weekly water change or calcium can get from trace element. Calcium needs are really minimum. Also, K can be obtained from TMG, Lushgro Aqua, and K2SO4..

For K2SO4, you may dose dry because it is less forgiving if you make mistake.

[Earth]

Bro Illumnae and Barmby, thanks and really appreciate the helpful advice/info u have given.

I did some maths and without Ca(NO3)2 and KNO3, it is pretty costly to dose N using Seachem Nitrogen (at lest 55ml per dosage). I guess i just have to live with it.

I have more or less decided on my fertilising regime and would appreciate if anyone can comment and advice if there's anything i should look out for in this regime.

Tank size: 4 x 2 x 2 ft
Water Volume: 400 litres (excluding gravel, stones, driftwood and stuff)
Lighting: 3wpg
Plant Mass : Moderately planted
Fauna: 30 cardinal tetras, 10 ruby tetras, 5 ember tetras, 1 black neon, 3 cories, 2 golden algae eaters, 15 yamatoes, 7 CRS, 5 ottos, 1 dwarf puffer, 2 golden tetra, 4 rummy nose, 10 espei galaxies
CO2: 37ppm (PH 6.2, KH 2)

I have premix K2SO4 (6 teaspoon) and KH2PO4 (6 teaspoon) in a 800ml bottle. 1ml of this solution will contain 0.07ppm of P and 0.08ppm of K+. Will be dosing 28ml (1.96ppm P and 2.24ppm K+) 3 times a week.


My weekly routine
-----------------

Sun: water change 50%, 0.5 teaspoon Equilirium, 55ml Seachem N (10.4ppm N), 28ml of premixed solution (1.96ppm P, 2.24ppm K+), 1 teaspoon K2SO4 (7.17ppm K+)

Mon,Wed,Fri: 10ml TMG (0.197ppm K+,0.017ppm Iron, trace elements), 5ml Seachem Iron (0.125ppm Fe), 15ml Lushgro Aqua (0.2685ppm N, 1.938ppm K+, 0.063ppm Fe, trace elements)

(I am using both TMG and Lushgro Aqua so that i can switch to some other brand after they are finished)

Tue,Thu: 55ml Seachem N (10.4ppm N), 28ml of premixed solution (1.96ppm P, 2.24ppm K+), 1 teaspoon K2SO4 (7.17ppm K+)


Sat: Rest day



That's all and sorry for the lengthy post.

[barmby]

On paper, it looks fine. It is always this situation. The toughest is your CO2. Be sure that you have 20-30 ppm throughout the lighting period. Adjust the rest accordingly after the CO2 is correct.

CO2 first!

[Earth]

Just an update. The manager from HPC have replied and indicated that they are selling Ca(No3)2. As for KNO3, the purchase requires a Police Permit and HPC will not sell KNO3 to anyone without such permit.