trojannemo
Fishaholic
hey peeps. since I started last year to dose liquid nutrients, I was on an EI-like schedule, where I dosed NPK 3 times a week, and traces 3 times a week, so 6 day sof the week I dosed the tank. this worked fine for me within my limitations (no pressurized co2).
then a couple weeks back I attended a lecture on planted tanks given by Brian Revennaugh (sp?), whom my club (GCAS) invited from Georgia. he is supposedly well known, is a biologist or something from a university and well-known face at the ACA (as I was told). anyways, he had much to say, but more impressive was what he had to show. videos and pictures of his tanks, all of which were incredible! some of them could easily have won AGA competitions. he had all very high tech, with a bunch of lights, permanent drip filtration, automatic pressurized co2 system, etc.
what caught my attention was his method of nutrient dosing. he doses dry nutrients, the same recommended by the EI method and some others as his specific water required, however unlike the EI method, he shared how he only doses once a week, rather than breaking up the nutrients into daily portions. after the talk I discussed this further with him and he said a daily dosing routine on as many and big tanks as he has is not feasible, but also that the plants were able to absorb the nutrients that were in the water, as were needed, and so it didnt make a difference if i dosed 3x a week 1 teaspoon or 3 teaspoons once a week. given how incredibly healthy his plants were, I couldn't help but agree with him.
now that i'm beginning to use dry nutrients, I'm wondering which method I should follow. the daily EI method, or his weekly method. either way I would be dosing overall the same amount of nutrients, but i worry about the consequences. my only issue with EI is that it takes extra time daily. with Brian's method I have more concerns. are the plants going to have a boost the first 2-3 days and then the other 3 be suffering? (his answer, no...what's your input?), and more importantly, if I dose KNO3 in small doses 3 times a week, the plants would consume the NO3 before it accumulates to a high level, but what happens when i put all the KNO3 at once? wont that raise the nitrates too high too quickly?
what's your input in all this?
thanks for putting up with my all-too-many questions
then a couple weeks back I attended a lecture on planted tanks given by Brian Revennaugh (sp?), whom my club (GCAS) invited from Georgia. he is supposedly well known, is a biologist or something from a university and well-known face at the ACA (as I was told). anyways, he had much to say, but more impressive was what he had to show. videos and pictures of his tanks, all of which were incredible! some of them could easily have won AGA competitions. he had all very high tech, with a bunch of lights, permanent drip filtration, automatic pressurized co2 system, etc.
what caught my attention was his method of nutrient dosing. he doses dry nutrients, the same recommended by the EI method and some others as his specific water required, however unlike the EI method, he shared how he only doses once a week, rather than breaking up the nutrients into daily portions. after the talk I discussed this further with him and he said a daily dosing routine on as many and big tanks as he has is not feasible, but also that the plants were able to absorb the nutrients that were in the water, as were needed, and so it didnt make a difference if i dosed 3x a week 1 teaspoon or 3 teaspoons once a week. given how incredibly healthy his plants were, I couldn't help but agree with him.
now that i'm beginning to use dry nutrients, I'm wondering which method I should follow. the daily EI method, or his weekly method. either way I would be dosing overall the same amount of nutrients, but i worry about the consequences. my only issue with EI is that it takes extra time daily. with Brian's method I have more concerns. are the plants going to have a boost the first 2-3 days and then the other 3 be suffering? (his answer, no...what's your input?), and more importantly, if I dose KNO3 in small doses 3 times a week, the plants would consume the NO3 before it accumulates to a high level, but what happens when i put all the KNO3 at once? wont that raise the nitrates too high too quickly?
what's your input in all this?
thanks for putting up with my all-too-many questions
