Wet's EI modeling calculator with graphical output and dosing calculator

[mathman]

Blyxa Japinica looks like an awesome plant! Haven't seen that in any of the stores around my area

[Tom Barr]

Hey mathman.

I know of two pictorials/infographics, first from Zapins here http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...e-diagram.html and then by hariom here http://infographics.myaquacalc.com/

It's worth noting that Plantbrain explicitly dislikes these pictorials because they can steer hobbyists in the wrong direction during troubleshooting, and they're so effective in relaying a point that any misinformation becomes that much more of a problem. I think hariom does a good job of stating "CO2" a bagillion times in troubleshooting, but definitely see where Tom is coming from.

My advice is to pick up moderate to fast stems, and I would recommend Blyxa japonica, Rotala indica (this is also known as "Bonsai"), Rotala rotundifolia, and/or HM because they trim well and tend to get dense and bushy for your scape. More importantly, moderate to fast growing stem plants will show deficiencies pretty fast, will recover from mistakes pretty fast, and are just cool staple plants that are easy to acquire and share experiences with. This way, when you show pictures of, say, small or discolored R. rotundifolia leaves even as the leaf matures (older growth), most all of us will recognize it as NO3 deficiency or at least have some ideas to kick around.

The first problem with CO2 is right at the start of these diagrams, they assume 30ppm is easy to measure and a KNOWN, and..that 30ppm is non limiting and good and fine for ALL aquariums, which is pure Horse manure.
Poor CO2 management is the no#1 issue aquarist have. They make huge assumptions there, but get pretty finicky over a ppm of N or P.

No one has ever once killed a fish with NO3 or PO4 I know of.
CO2? Weekly.

My tanks are not a stable 30ppm.
Not even close.

45ppm for one tank, maybe 70ppm for another.
55 for yet another tank.

This is 50-233% more than the suggested amounts.

Each tank is different in it's CO2 demand, just like each tank is different in fert uptake etc.
We cannot be so naive to assume that tanks need coddling and unique dosing for ferts...........then toss that out the window for CO2.

Ferts are very easy and very flexible IME, if you forget to dose one day, no big deal.
Dialing in good CO2 from day one is far more helpful. But..this takes experience and observation skills.

I wish I had a simple solution.
It really is what makes some successful and other fail.

Hariom does make the effort and is good, but without realizing what the root issue is.....CO2 varies and tanks can vary greatly, just like growth rates can............we miss a lot of information and make a lot of assumptions.
This gets us into lots of trouble and statements like"I know my CO2 is 30ppm and so it MUST be a fert issue" even though I and many others add the same ferts without any issues.

The user's experience also makes a huge difference also. I know much more how to grow plants well, no matter what species I am given..........than I did 20 years ago.
If you can grow it, then you have little issues testing various things like ferts or light. CO2 is more challenging

If you cannot grow it, then you cannot test no nothing. You are just lost looking for any answers that sound good. Many of which are wild goose chases.
It's a PITA. Been there.

[mathman]

Thanks Tom.


Is it okay to make a solution of KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4?

I'm dosing less KNO3 since I the bio load is high. To compensate for the loss of K in the KNO3 I was wondering if I can use K2SO4 within the same 500 Ml solution.


Thanks

[csmith]

Thanks Tom.


Is it okay to make a solution of KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4?

I'm dosing less KNO3 since I the bio load is high. To compensate for the loss of K in the KNO3 I was wondering if I can use K2SO4 within the same 500 Ml solution.


Thanks

I use K2SO4 in mine.

[mathman]

Sweet.

Based on my past doses the K levels were well under the target range of at least 10ppm. I'm curious to see what changes my plants will have now that I am dosing approximately 10ppm of K.

[pdavis41]

Question on the calculator. I it assuming a dose of xxml three times a week? So if I say my container is 1000 and dosing 25 ml, that is 3 times a week I should be dosing 25ml?

Thanks!

[pdavis41]

Nevermind...I totally missed the dropdown box with EI Daily (which I was what I was looking for).