Less Frequent Water Changes With EI Dosing?

[Mattlikesfish36]

I am currently running a high light co2 injected 17 gallon aquarium. Heavily planted with rotala, bacopa, baby tears, and working on a Monte Carlo carpet. My best estimate is that plants cover 80ish% of the substrate. I am dosing EI with dry salts alternating micros/macros with a weekly 50% water change. I am able to dedicate less and less time to the upkeep of my aquarium because my daughter is now a toddler and requires lots of time/energy so I’m looking for ways to reduce maintenance time. Can I cut dosing in half and perform a water change every other week instead of every week? Or is the math not as simple as that? Thanks for any feedback/suggestions!

[Scapexghost]

Iirc, thr purpose of EL dosing is to overdose ferts and remove the excess at the end of the week. So, if you half dose, the plants may have deficiencies.

[Mattlikesfish36]

On 4/21/2023 at 12:39 PM, Scapexghost said:

Iirc, thr purpose of EL dosing is to overdose ferts and remove the excess at the end of the week. So, if you half dose, the plants may have deficiencies.

@Scapexghost thanks for the comment. That’s the part where I’m stuck and will probably have to experiment with dosing

[Mmiller2001]

You could switch to PPS and use a TDS meter to determine when to water change. It's an older method but must have worked back then.

[Mattlikesfish36]

On 4/21/2023 at 1:36 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

You could switch to PPS and use a TDS meter to determine when to water change. It's an older method but must have worked back then.

@Mmiller2001 thanks for that suggestion. I’ll have to do some research on how that system works but it definitely seems worth exploring!

[Mmiller2001]

https://greenleafaquariums.com/products/pps-pro-aquarium-fertilizer-package-jars.html

https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer

 

[Mattlikesfish36]

On 4/22/2023 at 3:21 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

https://greenleafaquariums.com/products/pps-pro-aquarium-fertilizer-package-jars.html

https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer

 

@Mmiller2001 thanks for sharing the links! Oddly enough, I’m using those exact fertilizers from GLA but I have been dosing them based on their EI recommendations 

[Mmiller2001]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:42 PM, Mattlikesfish36 said:

@Mmiller2001 thanks for sharing the links! Oddly enough, I’m using those exact fertilizers from GLA but I have been dosing them based on their EI recommendations 

There's a link on that page about ppspro

[Mattlikesfish36]

On 4/22/2023 at 4:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

There's a link on that page about ppspro

@Mmiller2001 definitely more confusing than EI dosing but I think if I can wrap my head around the TDS meter guiding water changes it could be a system that works well for me 

[JoeQ]

There is also some good information on rotalabutterfly.com, including a dosage calculator using different methods.