Hi
First of all, thank you for ordering my Estimative Index Kit! :-)
As promised, below you will find some tips to get the best results from your kit.
You already received a handy leaflet inside the Estimative Index Kit that explains with drawings how to make your stock solution. It is very simple and for the three different solutions almost the same working method.
Lost the flyer? No problem, below I explain it to you again!
Then fill your bottle with RO water and shake hard for 60 seconds. A weekly dosage of 30ml on 100 liters of aquarium water gives a value of 20ppm nitrate and 2ppm phosphate.
Then fill your bottle with RO water and shake hard for 60 seconds. A weekly dosage of 30ml on 100 liters of aquarium water gives a value of 0.5ppm iron, 2ppm magnesium, 3ppm sulfate and a whole lot of extra trace elements.
The Fe DTPA is optional and can be used if you have many iron eaters (eg Cryptocoryne), red plants or very hard water. In that case you add 0.5 ppm extra iron with the Fe DTPA at a dosage of 30ml on 100 liters of aquarium water.
Its function is twofold: on the one hand you acidify the water, which lowers the pH value of your stock solution and ensures that the chelates remain stable longer and the nutrients are better absorbed by the plants. On the other hand, most bacteria and fungi can’t tolerate acidic environments, so you prevent fungal growth as well.
The above dosage values are based on the “Estimative Index”. This means that your plants have unlimited minerals and can therefore grow to their full potential without any nutrient deficiencies, without any risk of algae and completely safe for your fish.
I would strongly advise against dosing less, as you could end up with nutritional deficiencies and poor plant growth or algae as a result. Do you have a larger aquarium, say 200 liters? Then just dose double, namely 60ml instead of 30ml.
Dose as indicated above, 30ml per week of each stock solution to a 100 liter aquarium.
Dose less, about 10ml per week of each stock solution to a 100 gallon aquarium.
You can use this weekly schedule:
Then you can just start over. Of course, you can adjust your dosage according to your own schedule and preferences.
No, you can’t make an All-in-One with the EI Kit, that’s because the raw materials are different. If you start combining the Micro and the Macro stock solution, the phosphate will clump together with the iron and become unusable.
What does go together? Well … everything except the phosphate together with iron from your bag of Fe DTPA or from your bag of trace elements. The rest can be combined just fine.
Water changes are not mandatory, but I definitely recommend it. Especially in aquariums with CO2 and a lot of fertilizers, the plants grow particularly fast and therefore produce more waste products than usual.
This is why I recommend the following: Change 50% of the aquarium water every week, your plants will love it. Most fish and shrimps also find this pleasant and it may even stimulate mating behavior. Make sure, of course, that the new water has about the same values (GH, KH, …) and temperature as the old aquarium water.
Would you rather have a weekly water change of less than 50%, for example 25% every week? Then just dose half of what you normally add. A dosage of 30ml then becomes 15ml per week on 100 liters of aquarium water. Because less water is changed there will be more nutrients left over in the aquarium and so you need to add less.
Yes, no problem, you can perfectly make your solutions based on your own “recipe”. Just keep in mind that the phosphate does not mix well with the iron, as I mentioned above.
If you prefer to work more precisely than with the measuring spoon, you can also use a precision scale, for which there are special “calculators” on the internet. For your plants, however, this makes little difference.
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