Nutrient Calculator

[ian]

this is probably the best one i have seen online!

here

 

[JenCliBee]

Nice find Ian, im sure many will find this useful

 

[ZoddyZod]

that was going well for me, until I had to make a choice for the "I'm calculating for" box

.....and none of the answers meant anything to me.

At some point it will dawn on me that I need to remove all plants and go to a hardscape only tank.

 

[tanksalot]

Thanks, Ian.

Interesting.

A week ago I started dosing with the EI starter kit from here.

I made up the solution as per the instructions and I now discover that the three teaspoons of potassium nitrate gives me only just over half the EI suggested level of nitrate per dose. (3.48ppm as opposed to 6ppm)

I notice on the website it says 4 tspns rather than 3, but that's still not enough according to this calculator.

If the objective of EI is to provide a surplus of everything so that the plants cannot run out of nutrients, then it looks like I should bung another couple of teaspoons of KNO3 in the mix?

 

[quartex2003]

that was going well for me, until I had to make a choice for the "I'm calculating for" box

.....and none of the answers meant anything to me.

At some point it will dawn on me that I need to remove all plants and go to a hardscape only tank.

I feel so much better now I'm glad that it wasn't just me that got confused at that point. If anyone can post a Dummies guide for me that would be fantastic.

Cheers

 

[wet]

First, thanks ianho for the link! I've noticed the hits and discovered this forum!

ZoddyZod and quartex2003,

I'm sorry this was so confusing for you. I'd suggest selecting The Estimative Index and using the results to dose the majority of tanks.

However, to help explain, there's currently a handful of options in the "calculating for" field:

* calculating for target. This is for folks who know they want, say, 5ppm NO3 or 1ppm PO4 from some nutrient.

* calculating for dose. This is for folks who want to figure how much, say, NO3 they get when they add, say, 1tsp of KNO3 or 5mL of Pfertz N into their aquarium.

* calculating by method. This takes the three most popular methods (Tom Barr/Plantbrain's The Estimative Index -- barrreport.com, Edward's Perpetual Preservation System -- aquaticplantcentral.com, or Poor Man's Dosing Drops -- aquaticplantsdigest). Again, if new to fertilizing I stongly suggest picking EI.

After you push "gimmie!" you'll get te results for every macro and micronutrient in your dose this may be nerdier than you're looking for, but that's because the calculator was originally built by a nerd for nerds. Generally, the numbers you care most about are NO3, PO4, K, and Fe. If you see text in red, something went wrong. (copper too high, a diy mixture that won't dissolve, etc.)

Additionally you'll also get a chart comparing your levels to EI, PPS-Pro, PMDD and Walstad. You can ignore this or use it to compare your dosing to those recommended levels.

I'm hoping this helps, but if not I am eager for questions or feedback.

tanksalot,

Sounda like your dosing is still okay. EI is built on a wide range of levels -- in fact, it's so wide exact levels aren't important, as long as we do regular water changes. However, if you do continue with that site's recommended dosing, don't be afraid to increase or even double/triple your dose if you find the plants show deficiency. If you use the calculator's recommended dosing, you'll probably be fine in all but the highest light tanks.

Hope this helps!

 

[tanksalot]

wet,

Good thing you turned up....I was about to attempt a clear-as-mud explanation of your calculator if no one else replied

I like it, by the way I'm just getting into diy ferts (so much cheaper! ), and I can see it's going to be very helpful.

I'll see how it goes with my nitrogen and adjust accordingly...thanks!

 

[ian]

thanks for posting Wet, and keep us updated on any updates on the site

 

[ZoddyZod]

Thanks for the explanation for plant novices