EI Fertilizing Made Easy

[Crepe]

Here's my technique for making quick dosing amounts for EI ferts. It's just math really. Here's the formula:

(ml per dose desired)/(Tom Barr's dosing guidelines) * 1L H2O

Taken from his site Want more accuracy? Want daily PMDD style EI dosing? - Aquarium Plants
"60 grams KNO3
15 grams of KH2PO4
25 grams of GH booster(K2SO4 +MgSO4 may be used instead if the GH is high in the tap water)

Add 12 mls of this solution daily.
Add TMG at 2.5 mls daily.
(or you can use a mix of Fe DTPA + CMS+B, at 1:4 ratio and mix 1 table spoon to 1 liter of DI water, add HCL or Excel to prevent fungus etc)"

But change the above volumes to your new diluted/altered volume.

Dosing above is per 20 gallons of H2O

Just a really simple dilution really. TMG is Tropica Master Grow, I just use Ferrous Gluconate and CSM +B. You can DiY your own TMG but it requires MnSO4*H20 which to me is more hassle getting a hold of than it's worth to me at least.

A few notes: You're going to have to be careful with your dosing here. Don't try to make it more concentrated than Barr's formulas. They are already at near max solubility, especially with the GH booster. I had about 2-3 grams left over after doing it and I was making a more dilute solution.

Here's an example of what I did:
Taking two spray bottles and a graduated cylinder I figured out the volume of their pumps - 3.4ml.

Then I converted that into the nearest possible volume:

Macro -13.6ml
Micro -3.4ml

Just applied the ratios and then done.

A few notes:

You should use hand pumps like the kind they use for soap or hand sanitizer for this, they're more consistent and don't draw in as much air within the pump. I actually average about 3.0ml. But it's not really a big deal. I just do a few pumps extra.

Even better would be actual dosing bottles instead. But, I was too lazy so oh well- another day.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

 

[mudraker]

Geeze, thanks! You just saved me a great deal of work!

I've been preparing to change my dosing regimen and looking at this, but it was making my eyeballs melt, as premixing is essential for me.

You should use hand pumps like the kind they use for soap or hand sanitizer for this, they're more consistent and don't draw in as much air within the pump

I use a syringe like they use for insullin injections. I just snipped the actual needle off with a pair of wire cutters. The accuracy is spot on. They only go to 3ml though.

 

[Crepe]

I used to use 1ml +- .1ml pipettes but they're frustratingly slow when you're dosing 12 ml lol. Still using for extra iron and water tests though. To me the spray bottles just make life easier. I can dose when I walk by the aquarium on my way out.

And as an addition:
You can get really high conc. HCL at a hardware store. It's used for bleaching pavement/acid etching. I just used some anti fungal I have for my pond fish. It's tetra's pond ich and fungus treatment. It contains HCL, formaldehyde and some anti microbials. 1-2ml of HCL or anti fungal is enough. Gluteraldehyde should be used in a bit larger amount if it's in excel form. Metracide should be used sparingly.

 

[mudraker]

Yeah, I can see how that would speed up the process in the morning.

With Excel, I make my own by dilluting Gluteraldehyde from Cidex. The savings is incredible and it works like a champ!

 

[shadowstars123]

Here's my technique for making quick dosing amounts for EI ferts. It's just math really. Here's the formula:

(ml per dose desired)/(Tom Barr's dosing guidelines) * 1L H2O

Taken from his site Want more accuracy? Want daily PMDD style EI dosing? - Aquarium Plants
"60 grams KNO3
15 grams of KH2PO4
25 grams of GH booster(K2SO4 +MgSO4 may be used instead if the GH is high in the tap water)

Add 12 mls of this solution daily.
Add TMG at 2.5 mls daily.
(or you can use a mix of Fe DTPA + CMS+B, at 1:4 ratio and mix 1 table spoon to 1 liter of DI water, add HCL or Excel to prevent fungus etc)"

But change the above volumes to your new diluted/altered volume.

Dosing above is per 20 gallons of H2O

Just a really simple dilution really. TMG is Tropica Master Grow, I just use Ferrous Gluconate and CSM +B. You can DiY your own TMG but it requires MnSO4*H20 which to me is more hassle getting a hold of than it's worth to me at least.

A few notes: You're going to have to be careful with your dosing here. Don't try to make it more concentrated than Barr's formulas. They are already at near max solubility, especially with the GH booster. I had about 2-3 grams left over after doing it and I was making a more dilute solution.

Here's an example of what I did:
Taking two spray bottles and a graduated cylinder I figured out the volume of their pumps - 3.4ml.

Then I converted that into the nearest possible volume:

Macro -13.6ml
Micro -3.4ml

Just applied the ratios and then done.

A few notes:

You should use hand pumps like the kind they use for soap or hand sanitizer for this, they're more consistent and don't draw in as much air within the pump. I actually average about 3.0ml. But it's not really a big deal. I just do a few pumps extra.

Even better would be actual dosing bottles instead. But, I was too lazy so oh well- another day.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Do you need GH boosters? And is the excel you guys are talking about seachem excel?

 

[Crepe]

Yes, that is Seachem's Excel which is a weak solution of gluteraldehyde. Cidex and Metracide are concentrated versions of it used for fixing samples and sterilizing in labs. GH booster contains a mix of macro elements you need for a planted tank: Extra potassium, magnesium, calcium. I use Barr's GH booster because it was really really cheap. Seachem Equillibrium works the same way. I need GH booster because I use RO water which contains very little minerals in it. If you just use tap water you should get away with just a tiny bit of extra magnesium and calcium.

 

[shadowstars123]

Yes, that is Seachem's Excel which is a weak solution of gluteraldehyde. Cidex and Metracide are concentrated versions of it used for fixing samples and sterilizing in labs. GH booster contains a mix of macro elements you need for a planted tank: Extra potassium, magnesium, calcium. I use Barr's GH booster because it was really really cheap. Seachem Equillibrium works the same way. I need GH booster because I use RO water which contains very little minerals in it. If you just use tap water you should get away with just a tiny bit of extra magnesium and calcium.

I use tap.. So i guess i'll just dose some magnesium and calcium. How do you make your own excel? ( mix )

 

[mudraker]

I bought two half gallon jugs of Cidex online, then mixed it 50-50 with distilled water. That recipe makes a slighly higher concentration than Excel, so I dose it a little short of the recommended Excel dosage.

I know there are a lot of other ways/recipes to do it.

 

[shadowstars123]

I bought two half gallon jugs of Cidex online, then mixed it 50-50 with distilled water. That recipe makes a slighly higher concentration than Excel, so I dose it a little short of the recommended Excel dosage.

I know there are a lot of other ways/recipes to do it.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought gutaraldehyde turns of co2 after coming into contact with water.. So if you diluted it, doesn't it render it useless?

 

[mudraker]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought gutaraldehyde turns of co2 after coming into contact with water.. So if you diluted it, doesn't it render it useless?

I do not understand your what you are saying.
You might want to look at that question again and rephrase it or correct typos, etc.
What I know to be a scientific fact: Gutaraldehyde is not co2, but it does increase the available amount of co2 to aquatic plants.
With that said, the source of the Gluteraldehyde is immaterial.
Cidex and other products for sterilizing medical and laboratory equipment may become useless for sterilization if diluted, but the properies of Gluteraldehyde as a source of increase carbon for aquatic plants remains in proporotion to the amount you dose.

 

[jetajockey]

another thing to note, both cidex, metricide, and excel are all pre-diluted with water anyhow, that's why they have concentration %s on the former 2.

 

[Crepe]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought gutaraldehyde turns of co2 after coming into contact with water.. So if you diluted it, doesn't it render it useless?

Pure gluteraldehyde would likely be a very toxic powder that could easily kill you or permamently damage you lungs if you inhaled it. Nearly all forms of gluteraldehyde available is in a diluted form. It forms more BIOAVAILABLE carbon. Meaning it simply increases the amount of carbon plants can take up. How this is done is through several mechanisms:
1.) plants take in glut as they would regular co2 and incorporate it through various metabolic processes
2.) Bacteria break it down into co2
3.) Light degrades it into smaller organic molecules that plants use.

Without an institution license you cannot (as far as I know) obtain gluteraldehyde stronger than 25%. Even at that concentration it shouldn't be handled without a fume hood. There have been reports all over of its carcinogenic/toxic properties. It's kinda why a lot of surgical equipment is sterilized in it- it's really good at killing things.

 

[shadowstars123]

Hm. I read somewhere that glutaraldehyde starts the process of becoming co2 after coming into contact with water. False facts these days eh?

 

[jetajockey]

glutaraldehyde is already diluted in water, whether you get it in metricide/cidex or excel. Well over 95% of what's in the bottle is water.

 

[shadowstars123]

glutaraldehyde is already diluted in water, whether you get it in metricide/cidex or excel. Well over 95% of what's in the bottle is water.

Makes sense. Is the diluted form harmful?

 

[jetajockey]

It's not as harmful as the concentrated forms of course, but it can be. The stuff is used to sterilize surgical equipment so it's a killer. I try not to get any on my hands and when I do I always wash up right after.

 

[shadowstars123]

It's not as harmful as the concentrated forms of course, but it can be. The stuff is used to sterilize surgical equipment so it's a killer. I try not to get any on my hands and when I do I always wash up right after.

What if a small amount were to be ingested by my dog? Jw, didn't happen

 

[jetajockey]

i have no idea lol. I'm not a doctor =[

i'd treat it like if the dog drank any kind of high strength cleaning material. make em drink lots of water and hope for the best? call the vet? idk.

 

[Crepe]

I'd call the vet right away and find out how people purge their pets when they eat bottles of aspirin and stuff. IMO it shouldn't be that bad. But it'd be like your dog eating a bottle of formaldehyde. They're chemically similar. So: #1 your dog would probably smell it first and it would burn his nose so he wouldn't eat it. #2 it'd taste really bad and make his tongue hurt. It's low risk but it could happen.