EI/nutrient worksheet for dummies, like me :)

[fish_4_all]

EI for Dummies

The worksheet was designed for EI but it will work for any dosing schedule. I know it makes things almost too simplistic and overly complicated with so many entries but this is what it took for me to finally understand the symantics of dosing and usage with a 50% water change.

Well of course, Tom Barr, aka plantbrain needs the credit for EI, I finally understand it and I have come up with a basic worksheet that covers what I think is the important aspects and really lays it on the line for those that just don't get it. I know I didn't until I made so easy that my 6 year old son got it. I am not saying that it needs to be this simple to understand EI but for some of us.

Also, without plantbrains willingness to help me understand the system, I would have never been able to get this far and finally get a worksheet that helps me understand it. Thank you Mr. Barr!

Anyway:
Initial reading is the initial reading before starting EI
Tap water is the ppm in your tap water of whatever nutrient you are calculating.
The fish food column is there mainly for PO4 as most fish food has it and we can at least enter it this way. It is not a neccesary entry but is there if you want to use it and see how much it makes a difference.
The dosing section has the days of the week which are used to input what and how much you plan to dose on that day.
The use column is the amount that it is estimated your tank will use. According to the Barr Report, this should be as follows:
NO3: 1-4ppm per day
PO4: 0.2-0.6ppm per day
The ppm column tells you approximately how many ppm you should have on that given day.

Edit: If you enter a number in the first space for the "use" column it will enter in all of them. They can then be changed if you want to.

If you absolutely want to make sure you will never overdose anything then assume a 0ppm use. I use the middle ground for mine.

I know the whole thing seems redundant but there is a reason I did it this way. I looked, and looked and looked at and read and read and read the Bar Report and everything else I could read on EI. I could never get a grasp on concept. The main sticking point for me was how can you blindly dose up to 60ppm on NO3 in a tank and not kill your fish? How can you dose so much PO4 that you don't have algae all over the tank because of the low levels NO3? What was the basics behind this that made it work and not kill our fish? It was very easy once I set this up and realized that every day, a certain amount is being used up. If I dose 10ppm of NO3 on Sunday and by the next dose on Tuesday, there should only be a max of 6ppm left, assuming only 2ppm used by the plants each day. I always figured there was a huge amount of NO3 and I didn't want more than 20ppm. I also figured that a little excess PO4 was ok but to have up to 3.5ppm dosed in my tank and then have my NO3 bottom out would lead to a major algae bloom and a monster green tank.

So for all of you out there that have been reluctant to use EI take a look. The best part of the worksheet is it really shows just how much of a role the 50% water change has in keeping our tanks healthy and balanced. With it you can set up a dosing schedule and should see for absolute certain what your plants are missing and be able to adjust your dosing to help them. If you dose enough to make sure you have excess and your plants show a deficiency you should be able to pinpoint the nutrient instead of trying to figure out what combination of things could be causing it. No more worries of: It says that I need to dose 10ppm NO3 every other day but 30ppm of NO3 is not good for the fish. The worksheet also shows what your maximum ppm should be and allows you to adjust so that you can target low nitrates and low phosphates. It just allows you to do anything you want to do and be able to see and understand the way your tank should be using the nutrients.

I hope it works for some of you and any feedback, god or bad as long as constructive would be appreciated. I know I had to oversimplify it to understand it so don't rub it in too hard

[coolchinchilla]

At the risk of sounding really really dumb what does EI stand for?

[Jchillin]

It's the "Estimative Index", created by Tom Barr.

[mr funktastic]

i dont have microsoft excell and i cant use this. i really wanted to check it out though. any other application that will open it?

[Lonewolfblue]

What operating system are you using? Go to the Microsoft site, and there's a free download in which you can view documents created by Word, Excel, Power Point, etc. But if you are running a MAC, then you may not be able to. The downloads should be in the place where you download updates for MS Office.

[7Enigma]

Originally Posted by mr funktastic

i dont have microsoft excell and i cant use this. i really wanted to check it out though. any other application that will open it?

http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/index.html

IMO better than Microsofts bloatware, except in very specific instances that 99.9% of people will never need.

What’s in OpenOffice.org?

WRITER is OpenOffice.org’s word processor: use it for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book with embedded illustrations, cross-references, tables of contents, indexes, bibliographies... Auto-complete, auto-format, and real-time spelling check make light work of the hardest task. Writer is powerful enough to tackle desktop publishing tasks such as creating multi-column newsletters, brochures – the only limit is your imagination.

Use CALC to bring your numbers under control. This powerful spreadsheet has all the tools you need to calculate, analyse, summarise, and present your data in numerical reports or sizzling graphics. A fully-integrated help system makes entering complex formulas a breeze. Sophisticated decision-making tools are just a few mouse clicks away. Pull in external data using the Data Pilot, and sort it, filter it, and produce subtotals and statistical analyses. Use previews to select from thirteen categories of 2-D and 3-D charts including line, area, column, pie, XY, stock and net with dozens of variants.

IMPRESS is the fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations. Your presentations will truly stand out with special effects, animation and high-impact drawing tools.

DRAW will produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects.

New to Version 2, BASE enables you to manipulate database data seamlessly within OpenOffice.org. Create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports, either using your own database or Base’s own built-in HSQL database engine.

[JRagg]

Originally Posted by 7Enigma

http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/index.html

IMO better than Microsofts bloatware, except in very specific instances that 99.9% of people will never need.

Heh, I use openoffice 2.0 and I found an instance the other day that it didn't do what I wanted. The first time it's happened.

In excel when you make a trendline (linear fit, etc.) it won't give you the equation for the trendline. I know it's picky, but it is a deficiency.

Anyways, Openoffice.org is awesome. Like 7enigma said, it does the job very well and is priced very well (free!).

[rohitp78]

I think if you are looking for a web solution through browser, try out Google Spreadsheets. I am not sure what kind of functionality they handle, but they are pretty good.

Link

[Plantbrain]

Adding KNO3 to achieve 30ppm of NO3 and adding fish waste to achieve 30ppm of NO3 are entirely different.

Ask your self why that might be............why is it different?
Why are some tanks balanced and other's not?

Then think about algae, fish health and plants in the context of fish waste.

Hint: (something to do with NH4+)

30ppm is srelative number, in general if it's this or less, things are fine, you do not need more, but it has not shown to cause any noted issues for fish. I've gone to 120ppm NO3 with KNO3 dosing, no issues, started killing Amano shrimps at 150-160ppm ranges, but not one fish(wild SA fish at that).

10-30ppm is a big target to hit. If it's 20-40ppm, no big deal, you can adjust if you are obsessive......

Regards,
Tom Barr

[fish_4_all]

That is why it all works. I hope I now understand why it works. I will know if it works for me in the next couple weeks because I dosed according to my EI today and will for a couple weeks and will continue until it fails me.

KNO3 10ppm every other day
KH2PO4 1ppm same days, tap has .5ppm
K2SO4 6.8ppm same days
MgSO4 7ppm day of water change once a week

CSM+B 1 tsp in 100ml of water, dose 2 ml for .156ppm on opposite days of above

Anyone see anything wrong with the numbers? Any suggestions to change them?

But no comments on the spreadsheet, I at least thought someone would have found it useful. Maybe I am the only one who needed it to understand why it works.