E.I. Progress

Angry_Platy

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DAY 1 E.I Planted Tank Method

Today I started E.I. dosing. Prior to doing anything I tested water for nitrate, phosphate, pH and KH. Readings are:

Nitrate= <5ppm
Phosphate = <0.25ppm
pH = 7.2
KH = 200ppm (11.2deg)

Then I took the CO2 tubing out, did a 50% water change, added a few plants, removed dead leaves, trimmed the val etc. then refilled the tank, dosed 5ppm nitrate and 0.25ppm phosphate. I then made a fresh batch of CO2 mixture and put the tubing back into the temp. I then tested the water again (CO2 has not yet started bubbling at this stage, it had only been in there 5 minutes….however 15 minutes later it is now bubbling nicely). Water tests after all this are:

pH=7.4
KH=110ppm (6.16deg)

So gf225 told me to let him know what happened after a 50% water change with the KH and pH. As you can see, after a 50% water change the KH readings are almost half what they were prior to a water change (note, my tapwater tests at pH 7.2 and KH 40ppm)….

I also did an algae scrape and some general cleaning. The tank is looking good at the moment and I am looking forward to “hopefully” an algae free tank once the E.I. gets going more!!!

Since I was worried about keeping my CO2 levels high enough I ordered a bubble counter/ladder (made by Hagen) this morning but it probably won’t be here till next week or the week after (they had run out)….in the meantime I will keep a closer eye on my CO2 levels and make sure they don’t drop.

I was also at a LFS earlier and was asking about plants. He said theres a lot of more exotic plants he can order in for me if I want them. Forgetting the names of all the ones I wanted the only ones I remembered were dwarf sag (aka. gf225s tank) and lilaeopsis. I also found some nice looking ambulia as well as some pennywort and a nice looking piece of driftwood with abubias nana attached.

I shall update this thread from time to time with further info and/or pictures :D

OH….and thanks to zig for providing me with enough detailed information for me to get started with the E.I. :thumbs:
 
Good luck ! Looking forward to see your progress :thumbs:
 
if u talk to paul at tank he will get who pretty much everything, got any pic ?

I was in Tank Aquariums today, thats the LFS person I was speaking to. He showed me some awesome planted tank books and is trying to get me the plants I mentioned. Yah, I was in there for ages today just talking about plants. The other thing I like about them is that he actually recommended buying tank stuff online unless I am desperate (which I always do anyways) as he reckons store prices are WAAAAY over inflated.

I will def go back there :nod:
 
How are you diffusing your CO2? If it's just an airstone, try doing what I did:

Cut the bottom off a soda bottle. Turn it upside down. Pierce two small holes in it with a drawing pin. Cover airstone with upturned bottle bottom. Put two pieces of heavy flint on it to hold it down.

It will fill with CO2 gas, constantly be in contact with water. When the gas volume gets high enough the pressure of it will release some of the bubbles through the small holes into the water and then stop. It works pretty good.
 
Haha.....what a difference a day makes, good idea to keep a dairy so others can follow the ups and downs, hopefully more ups than downs, anyway if your not sure of anything just ask.

Good luck.
 
pseud said:
How are you diffusing your CO2? If it's just an airstone, try doing what I did:

Cut the bottom off a soda bottle. Turn it upside down. Pierce two small holes in it with a drawing pin. Cover airstone with upturned bottle bottom. Put two pieces of heavy flint on it to hold it down.

It will fill with CO2 gas, constantly be in contact with water. When the gas volume gets high enough the pressure of it will release some of the bubbles through the small holes into the water and then stop. It works pretty good.
[snapback]901779[/snapback]​

Sounds interesting, any pics.
 
I was feeling a little bit too excited tonight about the whole E.I. thing.....I love doing stuff like this...Anyways....yeah, I need a life :lol:

I tend to lose things and forget stuff so to remember what i have to do everyday I wrote it step by step on my pinboard/whiteboard....so when I am near the tank, which is all the time, I know what needs to be done. And as I do it I check it off :p

Ferts.jpg


One early observation is that my plants seem to be pearling where they weren't before. Like, my riccia has always pearled but its pearling more and my Mayaca is now pearling HEAPS, where I'd never seen it pearl at all. I can't wait till tomorrow when I add the Trace :kana:
 
zig said:
pseud said:
How are you diffusing your CO2? If it's just an airstone, try doing what I did:

Cut the bottom off a soda bottle. Turn it upside down. Pierce two small holes in it with a drawing pin. Cover airstone with upturned bottle bottom. Put two pieces of heavy flint on it to hold it down.

It will fill with CO2 gas, constantly be in contact with water. When the gas volume gets high enough the pressure of it will release some of the bubbles through the small holes into the water and then stop. It works pretty good.
[snapback]901779[/snapback]​

Sounds interesting, any pics.
[snapback]901809[/snapback]​

Yeah, kinda hard because it's at the back of my tank hidden by plants, but here's a few.

P1010001a.jpg



P1010002a.jpg



P1010003a.jpg



P1010004a.jpg


If you can get a spray bar underneath also, to disturb the water surface, it will increase performance also. (just make sure it's on a low spray!)

(SORRY for the thread hijack too!)
 
Yep definatly a nerd and need to get out some more :D

On day 8 you have dose 0.5ppm PO4, i would dose 1ppm PO4, because you cant assume there will be exactly 0.5ppm left in the 50% of water you dont change, and even if there is i would still add 1ppm PO4 and this way you wont have to bother testing, as the recommended range for PO4 is 1-3ppm (in my guide its 1-2ppm but new guidelines suggest anwhere between 1-3ppm)
 
LOL Yeah. I got it wrong. Your PM did say to dose 1ppm phosphate and I will do that. It has been amended on my whiteboard :lol:

Its late....I think I really need sleep before I start doing stupid things with my tanks and regret it in the morning -_-

Thanks for the pick up zig :D
 
I'm really pleased you've found your enthusiasm again! I can't wait to read more of your diary...

I wish you the very best of luck with the new start! :D
 
Angry_Platy said:
if u talk to paul at tank he will get who pretty much everything, got any pic ?

I was in Tank Aquariums today, thats the LFS person I was speaking to. He showed me some awesome planted tank books and is trying to get me the plants I mentioned. Yah, I was in there for ages today just talking about plants. The other thing I like about them is that he actually recommended buying tank stuff online unless I am desperate (which I always do anyways) as he reckons store prices are WAAAAY over inflated.

I will def go back there :nod:
[snapback]901706[/snapback]​

Well paul has help me out alot with my plants and i have been helping him get like a tank maker on board with him and he also sells what fry i have for me, great guy

I just hope to have my planted tank back online asap due to some problem i had with it, pretty much starting again
 
DAY 5 E.I.

Tested nitrate today as per zigs suggestion.....it has tested at <5ppm (not 0 but not quite 5).....so the 5ppm nitrate I added two days ago has definitely been used by the plants....YAY....PROGRESS!!!!

So I am dosing 5ppm nitrate and 0.25ppm phosphate again today. Friday is scheduled as a no addition day but considering my nitrate levels today I think I will add some nitrates at least.

Algae situation. : looking good. No algae growing on the glass following my algae scrape on the weekend...normally by today I would have some algae. My newly planted Amubulia is growing HEAPS as is the new pennywort. The riccia is starting to break off the thing it is attached to and I an needing to start fishing it out to grow some more :D
 
congratulations angry platy, i knew you'd get there.

by the way the only drawback to faster plant growth is the riccia on wood will break free faster. mine last about 6-8 weeks before they need redoing. just pull it apart and do the hairnet thing again.

i'd love to see some pics of the progress.
 

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