Just curious how many of you dose the tank after a WC or do you give it a full day without ferts?

ziggy.

I dose on the principle that if I want the plants to grow I need them to have access to all of the needed fertilizers. So, I dose right after a water change. I don't see a need for plants to have a day of rest.

I dose macros and Equilibrium right after WC and micros the morning after.
As to EI paradigm the purpose of WC is to reset nutrients level in a tank. So you have to do two things: 1) replace 50-70% of water; 2) add nutrients to some known level.

Plus, as Hoppy mentioned, what good does for a plant a day with nutrient levels lower than usual? I can envisage scenarios where it can be in fact relatively bad.

Regards.

Vladimir.

Catholic by any chance ? LOL If I were to skip a day of nutrients I'd be more inclined to do it the day before a WC. At least I would be more confident of the nutrient potential at that point. Skipping dosing after a WC would almost certainly guarantee an instability, and a 24 hours lapse might very well spark an algae bloom at the very least. I doubt the livestock would enjoy the osmotic differences either ?

It's my own opinion that plants thrive on stability, but we all know they go through nutrient cycles in nature. Whether they enjoy that remains to be seen, but even very slight imbalances can wreck a Biotope.

A 50% WC is a pretty good swing. Why push it ??? Mi Dos Centavos, Prof M

I think the point of skipping a day was to keep a set schedule for convenience.

Mon, Wed, Fri micros. Tues, Thurs, Sat macros.

If you don't skip a day, the schedule reverses each week and it can get confusing unless you write down your dosing each day which is a pain.

I handle the confusion about which to dose by having my ferts in a small box, lined up front to back. When I dose KNO3 and KH2PO4 from one end of the box, I reverse the box in the under tank cabinet. Next day the end with the CSM is in front so I dose that, then reverse the box. Next day.........

I always dose right after a water change, that's the best time to add ferts!!

Plants have been washed good from the current, they have plenty of CO2/exporsure to the air/CO2, and less organic materials interefering with uptake.

Regards,
Tom Barr

good to know. I only asked because I happened to see it when I was looking at the Seachem website and their dosing chart and wondered if there was any validity to it. I dose qdaily but thought perhaps I was doing it wrong. I actually dont follow the EI. I guess im more PPs in terms of testing and keeping levels where I have seen the best results. Although I do dose my CSM+B a little heavier, but I keep my Macs in standard ranges.

ziggy

How do you calibrate your test kits so you can trust them? A lot of people go wrong by trusting a test kit when it tells them they have far too much or too little of a fertilizer, especially phosphate. Then they generate a problem by trying to adjust things.

A friend of mine is the Fish Room manager at my local Big Als and I use to bring my kits to him, but I recently purchased a kit from my Municipality water works company. They just went to digital tests and I asked if I could purchase one. I got it for $100 but I know they paid well over $1000 for these, so I trust the readings to be true. I also have RO for drinking water, so I test tap, RO and tank. I then compare my tap results with the city readings once a month, and the RO water comes with a purities list that I contrast as well. Perhaps I could be doing more, but I'm sure that my readings are true enough for my use, if not perfect. The only test that is not bang on is the drop tester for CO2, but it's close enough for my use. I also have a PH controller on a solenoid, however I really regret buying the controller as once you dial in your CO2, a severe PH crash is unlikely. However I still view it as insurance in case I fry my solenoid, at leat I will hear that awful alarm.