Estimative Index

[john starkey]

Hi to all you experts !

This estimative index thing is it as hard to do as it looks? Its a long time since i did chemestry at school

 

[George Farmer]

I assume you've read JamesC's EI thread. It doesn't get explained much better and simpler than that I'm afraid.

Dosing takes a few moments per day. The biggest pain is the 50% water change but if you are using tap water then a python type device makes life much easier.

If you go away in holiday you can either get a trusted friend/neighbour to dose etc. or run lower lighting and no dosing.

In larger tanks dosing the ferts dry is the simplest method. You literally just measure the dry powder in a teaspoon and plonk it in the water.

Personally I find EI simpler, cheaper and more effective than any other fertilising method and is perfect for a moderate to high light set up with CO2 injection. It is also safe.

Any questions or worries then please ask.

 

[john starkey]

Thank you george you assumed corrcetly i have read James thread (very good ) The holiday thing i dont have any neighbours who know anything about aquatics and my son is always out chasing girls My wife and i have three hols booked for this year. 8)

 

[Dave Spencer]

John, with three holidays a year you should get in enough snorkelling and scuba diving to not need a tank! If I were you I would measure out each daily dose in separate containers and label them. If your son can find a minute from his hectic girlie schedule, he should be able to spend a few seconds each day adding the dose. You might have to forego the water change though. Maybe smaller doses relative to how long you are away will help compensate for the K, N and P build up.

My first ever tank was an EI and I can totally recommend it. For me, the two major mistakes that I see being made are people not planting sufficient fast growing stems from day one and not getting their CO2 stable at 30ppm from day one (which means pressurised CO2 to my mind). Using dry ferts is considerably cheaper than buying off the shelf, and takes less than a minute of my day to dose.

I can wholly recommend this system, even for the first timer.

Dave.

 

[john starkey]

John, with three holidays a year you should get in enough snorkelling and scuba diving to not need a tank! If I were you I would measure out each daily dose in separate containers and label them. If your son can find a minute from his hectic girlie schedule, he should be able to spend a few seconds each day adding the dose. You might have to forego the water change though. Maybe smaller doses relative to how long you are away will help compensate for the K, N and P build up.

My first ever tank was an EI and I can totally recommend it. For me, the two major mistakes that I see being made are people not planting sufficient fast growing stems from day one and not getting their CO2 stable at 30ppm from day one (which means pressurised CO2 to my mind). Using dry ferts is considerably cheaper than buying off the shelf, and takes less than a minute of my day to dose.

I can wholly recommend this system, even for the first timer.

Dave.

HI Dave thanks for the advice my three hols are onyl for one week at a time, i will do as you recomend and make them up and label then for him , As you say leading up to each holiday would it be a good idea to slowly reduce the dosage each week . I assume it would be best to do a water change a couple of days before each hol and then do some water tests just to make sure every thing is ok.