Do You Need Co2 For Ei Dosing?

[Musho3210]

75 gallon low-medium lit tank, medium-heavily planted, no addition of CO2 but i do use flourish excel.

 

[nukeonekitty]

You don't NEED co2, it just can help.

 

[Musho3210]

ok, i'll just underdose then. Seems like a good way to dose ferts, i havent been dosing since im too scared.... but now i have a set of instructions.

 

[ebrcknrdg]

75 gallon low-medium lit tank, medium-heavily planted, no addition of CO2 but i do use flourish excel.

What is your WPG? If you dont know then work out how many watts of light you have and divide it by how many gallons of water you have. If you have more than 2WPG then you really could do with co2 or you will get severe algae.

I dont know why you want to dose Ei though if you have low WPG

 

[Musho3210]

First off i hate the wpg rule since watts measures electricity used, not light output, and it all has to do with PAR (photosythesis available radiation) and Lumens, second, if you really want to know since you want to help (thank you) its lower than 2 wpg, third i want to dose ferts because i have algae, because i like doing 50% water changes weekly (dont ask why....) and fourth i have fertilizers laying around and i want to fertilize my tank....

Its 108 watts of T5 LINEAR light, probably equivalent to 130 watts of PC light.

 

[ebrcknrdg]

First off i hate the wpg rule since watts measures electricity used, not light output, and it all has to do with PAR (photosythesis available radiation) and Lumens, second, if you really want to know since you want to help (thank you) its lower than 2 wpg, third i want to dose ferts because i have algae, because i like doing 50% water changes weekly (dont ask why....) and fourth i have fertilizers laying around and i want to fertilize my tank....

Its 108 watts of T5 LINEAR light, probably equivalent to 130 watts of PC light.

Personally id use co2 as well. That might be why you already have algae. Some argue that co2 in any circumstance is neccessary. Of course its your choice

 

[Musho3210]

yeah i would like to, but money is a problem, i'll try looking for a second hand one....

 

[ebrcknrdg]

yeah i would like to, but money is a problem, i'll try looking for a second hand one....

There are some very good guides on the internet on how to make your own co2 system with just a 2 liter coke bottle, some silicon or co2 airline and a diffuser. For your sized tank and lighting you could hook up 2 bottles. Id guess it would cost you

a) nothing for the bottles
B) £3 max for airline
c) £6 for glass diffuser (i got my off ebay)
d) £2 for gang valve to connect bottles
e) silicon, free if you have some lying around

So for a mere £11 (sorry if youre in us) youve got a co2 system. Of course you would need some sugar and yeast for the mix so thats another couple of pounds and the yeast will last your months if not couple of years.

I know it can be dauting but ive got to say its easy and my 2 liter coke bottle is more efficient and goes longer without changing the mixture than my nutrafin

 

[Musho3210]

id rather have a low CO2 level than a fluctuating one. If i do go CO2 it will be pressurized.

I know about CO2 and how to add it etc.....

 

[ebrcknrdg]

id rather have a low CO2 level than a fluctuating one. If i do go CO2 it will be pressurized.

I know about CO2 and how to add it etc.....

sorry just trying to help!!!!

 

[Musho3210]

i know you are, thanks

 

[nry]

EI is flexible and can be used with a variety of lighting levels and with/without CO2 - Tom Barr has example instructions (www.thebarrreport.com I think) for using EI with Flourish Excel, can't recall offhand, but I would likely half the suggested dosage for your tank and go from there. You have a fair bit of light, somewhere around 1.5wpg, so for a larger tank this should work pretty well. EI is likely the cheapest way to fertilise any tank

 

[George Farmer]

http/www.barrreport.com/articles/433-non-co2-methods.html