Ei Dosing Question?

[manwithnofish]

I just read this in someone's journal "Not doing EI as there are far to many fish in there". Is there a problem with dosing a planted tank that contains (God Forbid) fish? What did this person mean by "far too many"? Is that like an inch of fish per gallon of water? I've come to the conclusion that there are just too many things to know. How does somebody know that you can't do EI if you have X number of fish. Have yall been doing this that long? Oh yea, I'm a Newbie.

 

[Luketendo]

They are talking rubbish.

If EI contained chemicals toxic to fish (at the low levels we dose), then it wouldn't matter how many fish were in there..

 

[manwithnofish]

Ok, he also stated that

Ferts - I going to use the AE trace mix weekly or whenever needed, as its better than leaf zone. Not EI either

Is there another regime (AE) that's an alternative to EI? I've found the jounals on EI but what the heck is AE?

Someone said or somewhere I read that if you can't (or aren't ready to) buy a regulated CO2 system, there are "other" ways to add CO2 to the plants. I am not interested in the soda experiment methods of creating stuff in a can or whatever. I'd really rather keep it low tech but I want the plants. Here's what it looks like now. Will I have to add CO2 and start a fert regime?

 

[aaronnorth]

AE is aqua essentials, it is a shop that specialises in plants and planting equipment. the AE trace mix is one that they produce themselves, they also do other elements like NPK, Mg, Ca...

 

[plantbrain]

I think given your goal, no CO2, you do not need to add ferts much.
EI is specific for CO2 enriched systems.

Generally, for a non CO2 method, 1.5 w/gal is good.
If you use soil or ADA aqua soil, then you really do not need much if any ferts.
The system has it in the sediment and it also slowly leaches into the water column.

Plants can get the nutrients from both places and do.

If replacing the sediment is too much, you might consider dosing the water column lightly.
Say 1x a week or 1x every 2 weeks with KNO3/KH2PO4. About 1/2 the suggested amount per dose of EI(which suggests dosing 3x a week, take one of those doses, cut in 1/2).
No water changes.

Add lots of easy to grow plants, a few floating plants like water sprite etc.

So that's 2 ways to do a non CO2 method and add ferts.
If you want to add CO2, then you can do water changes and add more ferts, adding CO2 increases the rates of growth 10-20X.
So fish waste alone are not going to keep up without a huge crowded tank and very low O2 levels and a lot of NH4 waste.

That's not good for fish.

NO3 is relatively non toxic vs low O2 and NH4.

And every atom of N produced from fish starts off as NH4.
Adding KNO3 side steps that toxic product and is good for plants also.



Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[manwithnofish]

From what I'm reading, the carbon from the substrate will only last for several months at best. All other nutrient requirements are small enough that I can find a number of ways to provide them. The carbon however will eventually become a significantly limited quantity. I'm not sure, but is there any way to avoid having to supplement CO2 in the long run?

So fish waste alone are not going to keep up without a huge crowded tank and very low O2 levels and a lot of NH4 waste.

I've read so much about a completely new topic in such a short period of time that it's all swirling around in my head as if I had one too many whiskey shots. I'm just not able to understand this. But I appreciate the reply.