Aquascape Guide - What is the EI (Estimative Index) Method?
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- #AquascapeGuide #Nutrients #PlantedAquarium
In this video we talk about:
0:00 - Introduction
0:12 - What the heck is the EI Method?
1:32 - What makes the EI Method so special?
4:03 - How do I do the EI Method?
5:11 - How do I make dis stuff?
7:47 - How much should we dose?
10:16 - How do we know if we are dosing too much or not enough?
12:03 - Recap
ASG has its own fertilization kit! Check it out with the link below:
www.aquascapeguide.com/produc...
Have some 500ml bottles and just want some ASG labels for them, grab some labels here:
www.aquascapeguide.com/produc...
We even have refills packs so you don't have to buy the kit over and over:
www.aquascapeguide.com/produc...
Compounds included in the kit:
KNO3 (Nitrates)
KH2PO4 (Phosphates)
K2SO4 (Potassium)
CSM+B (Trace elements)
Recipe in 500mls of HOT HOT water:
KN03 (Potassium Nitrate) - 4 TSP / 30G
KH2PO4 (Mono Potassium Phosphate) - 1 TSP / 5G
K2S04 (Potassium Sulfate) - 6 TSP / 35G
In the EI method we target these nutrient ranges:
CO2 range 25-35 ppm
NO3 range 10-30 ppm
K+ range 10-30 ppm
PO4 range 1.0-2.0 ppm
Fe 0.2-0.5ppm or higher
GH range 1-2 degrees "extra" 17-40 ppm or higher
OUR LINKS:
Free online ASG Course: www.aquascapeguide.com/asgu
ASG's Store - www.aquascapeguide.com/shop
REFERENCED VIDEOS:
Aquascape Guide - Providing Nutrients in a Planted Aquarium / EP 4 - Nutrients
• Aquascape Guide - Prov...
Aquascape Guide - Best Fertilizer For a Planted Aquarium
• Aquascape Guide - Thri...
Find the recipe for the EI method on our website here. Scroll down to Dosing the EI Method: www.aquascapeguide.com/nutrients
![[REVIEW] APFUK Estimative Index fertiliser (EI) Starter Kit](/img/n.gif)
This is what I need, extremely helpful. You deserve more than 1 mill subs :) keep it up, almost watch all of your content
Thank you for thr kind words! We love sharing our knowledge with everyone. Make sure to share what you have learned with others.
Thanks for the great videos! They are extremely helpful. I’m slowly getting all my supplies to set up a 30g. Excited to get started with the EI method and CO2!
Carson! Thank you for the kind words. I've owned a 28gal bowed front my entire jouney through freshwater keeping. I LOVE that water volume. Its super cheap to run, and quick for water changes, but large enough for impactful scapes. Nano tanks and massive tanks are just a pain in the butt. We're excited for you man! If you feel inclined, you could join our private facebook group and our members could collectively help you with our methods if you feel like you'd like the guidance. Or, if you'd like to share your experience with others, tag your socials with #ASGMethod! We'd love to see your tank come together :) Later scaper!
Awesome video (others too!). Can't wait to get started on EI method.
Thank you Jake! Good luck! Reach out if you have questions and I'm sure it would help other passing by ;)
Great Video!!!
Why thank you Jeroge! Trying to help others save money with fertilization. Check out the ASG Fertilizations kit in the description, or by using this link. Its based off the EI method, but has a modified recipe - www.aquascapeguide.com/product-page/asg-fertilization-kit
Thank you for this!!!
You're welcome! I think it will serve the community well :) We had to re-upload due to come text errors in the last video, but we should be sitting pretty now! Feel free to share it with those looking to get into the EI Method. #NoSwamps #EI4Life
I'm just starting and this is very helpful!
Awesome! Glad it was able to help. Once you got to the 2 part ferts, you never go back. You can push your potassium SO much further than an all in one, and you can also customize the ratio. Lastly, its SUPER cheap. When you buy the ASG refill kits, it can be ask cheap at $1.75 to refill both bottles! Its awesome ;) Also, make sure you check out our Part 1 playlist if you're staring out. That is the bread and butter of the ASG method, and tons of metrics you follow to help balance your tank out - czcams.com/play/PL4JK1fROtWxcja1_5UJU3evmRnBhpy76e.html
If you want the ASG method in a free PDF, you can download it from our website here :) Reach out if you have any questions! - www.aquascapeguide.com/product-page/aquascapeguide-checklist
Great Work Brother Go Ahead 😋
Thank you! :)
Hey, just want to say, this video has been great. I watched it several times a long time ago when I was looking into dry ferts. It seemed so confusing back then and this video did a great job of making it accessible knowledge. I’ve since successfully implemented modified EI in multiple tanks and have learned a ton about fertilizers in the meantime. This video got me into dry ferts and just wanted to let you guys know I’m still very appreciative.
These days, I’m looking into EI daily for my newly rescaped tank. Have you tried it? Thoughts?
Aaawww, thank you so much for reaching out and sharing. This is exactly why I started making these videos! I love to teach these more daunting aspects of the hobby and make them easy to understand 😊 So glad that theyve been able to help you and know that we sell kits and salts on our website. We started doing so after this video was created.
And the term EI daily Im not familiar with. Is that just where you dose the salts dry everyday? Pinch of this, dash of that?
Just bought my set. Looks like to 10% discount code doesn't work but no worries. All good. Thx for the video
Awesome! Yeah, NilocG redid their website and the code went bye bye. I should reach out and see if they will reinstate it.
Ive already bought one bottle of frourish & two bottles of leaf zone. Would it be possible to use this Fertilizer with those and just leave some of the ingredients out when making it? That way I don't waste the bottles I've already bought before I seen this video. I wish i seen this sooner! 😅
Well that is a bummer! lol. But I feel ya on that one. I hate wasting a product if I've already purchased it. But to answer your question, this fertilizer would completely replace Flourish, and API Leaf Zone is a TERRIBLE fertilizer. Its just potassium and iron. Flourish tries to be an all in one, but its really weak. Our fertilizer kicks Flourish's butt in concentration, thats for sure. I would ditch the Leaf Zone, as its not going to do anything, and just use up your Flourish. And when Flourish is up, move to our kit. You'll definitely see a difference. And if you have a smaller tank or its not CO2 injected, our kit will last a looooong time ;)
thank you for this video. I use reverse osmosis water to fill my tank with EI method do you need Equillibrium to remineralize my water?
Yes! Equalirium only raises your GH, not KH. I'd suggest sodium bicarbonate to raise your KH. Check out our water chemistry video in the Part 1 playlist. It goes over all of this.
Here it is - czcams.com/video/3-rJePrlGec/video.html
@@aquascapeguide I just watched all your videos wowww you are a machine... thanks
Why thank you! I've worked really hard to make these concepts simple to understand and easy to follow! I hope you've been able to learn something :)
Excellent informative video. I am using branded fert now and soon switch to EI. Since I started with APT Complete, I get both Green Dust and Green Spot alages. I have been using APT Complete for two weeks. Weekly dosage is Phosphate 2.8 ppm and nitrate 7.2 ppm according to the instruction in the bottle. Appearance both alage means what? You mentioned algae indiactes whethwr to increase or descrease the dosage.
If I have either increase or decrease how long should I wait before adjusting the dosage?
Thank you so much!
What is your water change schedule like?
@@aquascapeguide Thanks for responding! Weekly 30% R.O water remineralized with Seachem Equilibrium
I always suggest doing 50% water changes weekly when there isn't an issue, and 75% when you start seeing GDA. So moving forward I would suggest you go 2x 75% water changes over the course of a week. This will remove any excess DOCs or nutrients you have in the tank. While you are doing these, before removing all that water, clean then GDA off the glass THEN remove the water. You won't want to clean the glass and let the GDA just stay in the tank. Also clean off the glass or trim all the plants with GSA on them. Then get back to normal dosing. Resetting the water column will help reset your nutrient levels thus helping remove the algae. From there if GDA comes back, you're just dosing too much, which is the issue you were probably running into with just doing 30% water changes weekly.
@@aquascapeguide Thank you so much! This helps. I will follow your advice.
Just curious, why are your formulas different than the EI dosing recipes on NilocG’s website? Especially the K2SO4, the other two are pretty close. The micros are a pretty big difference also.
Wanted to caveat that I’m not trying to nitpick, just understand. I have the ferts lined up in front of me and just noticed that difference. I purchase the, using your link so I hope it’s an affiliate link so you get some kick back for your time.
Hey, thanks you for asking! We at the Aquascape Guide follow the original recipe created back in 2005 by Tom Barr and friends. Over time others have taken liberties with the original recipe, which isn't a terrible thing, but it can be confusing. We've started talking about the EI method in Facebook groups and found that in other countries they dose different recipes and sometimes compounds. As far as NilocG's recipe goes, theirs has less potassium than the OG recipe, and we know plants like Java Ferns and swords really like extra potassium. I'm also just not a fan of dosing 3 salts in 1/16 teaspoons every morning. lol. The longer I are in the hobby, the less I want to be micromanage my tanks ;) If you feel like you want to deep dive the original post from 2005, you can do so here - barrreport.com/threads/the-estimative-index-of-dosing-or-no-need-for-test-kits.52/
let's say i have 20G tank but do i need to subtract the substrate/hardscape which might be 10% of the tank?
Yeah, give or take. At that point you are splitting hairs thought. The 1ml per gallon is just a starting point and you may need more or less depending on your plant mass and PAR output of your light. You'll really want to measure and track your nitrates to see where your fertilization table is ;) Hope that helps.
Where could i purchase something like these salts from NiloCG in australia do you know? I tried the link but wont ship here and cant seem to find anything similar online.😢
Aaaahhh, bummer. Google search the compounds and see if you can just get the salts outside of a kit in small quantities. Worth a shot. If you know that customs will let it through, I could get some for you and ship it to you. Might be kind of pricey, but we have an online store in the states and I have the means to?! Just an offer ;)
Thanks for the great video. I’m dosing a 30L tank that has 25L of water in it. I dosing 5ml of micros and macros every other day as per the guide.
I’m starting to have a few algae issues and some of my plants are developing pin holes in their leaves.
You said you should try and keep nitrates around 20ppm, testing mine they are at 40ppm. Does this mean I should half my dosing amount?
Thanks
Hi Matt! Thank you for asking your question as there might be others in your situation as well :) It just seems like a balancing issues. Pin holes are generally a sign of a potassium deficiency which would mean we need to dose heavier. We need to BOOST our nitrates up an ADDITIONAL 10-20ppm from there they sit naturally in your tank. So with your bioload (aka fish), if you normally sit around 30ppm, you'll need to boost your nitrates up to around 40-50ppm to make sure you are getting enough fertilizer in the water which would prevent the pin holes. But then nitrates start getting real high. This is where we can reduce the amount of potassium nitrate KNO3 that we mix into the macros to reduce the amount of nitrates in the tank, because they are being supplied by the fish, but still make sure the plants are getting enough potassium and phosphate. Make sense? We'll just need to keep in mind that we won't need to boost our nitrates up as much (10-20ppm), because we have less in our macro mix. This is the power of the EI method. We can reduce the amount of a specific fertilizer if the tank is being provided that nutrient else where. Like some people use their tap water to process water changes, which can have phosphates in it already. And to prevent phosphates from getting too high when dosing the EI method, we can just back out some of the phosphates out of the macro mix. It's pretty convenient! I hope this answers your question. Feel free to shot me more if you think of them :) Later scaper!
@@aquascapeguide thank you for the detailed reply.
If the pinholes are caused by a potassium deficiency, therefore meaning I need to dose higher. Isn’t it counter productive to reduce the potassium nitrate in the mix? Yes doing this will keep the nitrates lower but isn’t it going to reduce the potassium as well?
Great question! But no, it is not coutner productive as the main source of potassium is provided by the potassium sulfate that is added to the mix. We also get a little potassium in the potassium phosphate, but that is our main source of phosphates. The potassium nitrates is our main source of nitrates. Luckily in the recipe I talked about the in the video, the mix is REALLY heavy on potassium which plants like java ferns and amazon swords really love :)
@@aquascapeguide Thank you so much, it’s a massive help!
I’m in the uk and the kit I have got is slightly different to the on you have, the mix is:
4tsb potassium nitrate
1tsb potassium phosphate
6tsb magnesium sulphate
500ml water
Any ideas on how to “tweak” this recipe would be amazing!
So yeah, this is a bummer. I follow the original recipe from Tom Barr from 2005, and some have taken it upon themselves to change the recipe which sucks. Because when someone says EI, it's like "what recipe are you running?". And I know the UK uses the recipe you are dosing at the moment. I would ditch the magnesium sulfate and replace that with potassium sulfate, and then do what we talked about. The magnesium sulfate is just going to raise your GH as magnesium is part of our GH reading. Magnesium will not provide the macros needed for growth. Potassium is a big one as you can see, as you are showing signs of potassium deficiency... aka the pinhole. See if you can get a single bad of the potassium sulfate and switch to the recipe in the video. Its also on our website - www.aquascapeguide.com/nutrients
Nice Animation. What did you use for your character?
What character? My name is Phyl! Hahaha. Adobe Illustrator and character Animator. Then I put it all together in After Effects ;) Character Animator is a live puppet tool so you dont have to key every frame. It's dope!
@@aquascapeguide Right. Very familiar with CA and AE. Just thought you might have used something different. Nice animation.
@@daxcastro oh cool! Another creative that knows our language! Lol. I keep it as simple an lean as possible. Even then these video take a long time to create. But it is fun to do so :)
I have a hair algae and GSA issue in my tanks. What is the solution as the hair algae is beyond irritating
Hair alages are generally due to an imbalance between phosphates and nitrates. We try to teach the red field ratio which keeps phosphates and nitrates in a 1:10 ratio. 1ppm of phos to 10pps of nitrates.. When phosphates get too high, that is when we see hair algaes come up. And this is fillement algae as well as BBA. But BBA can also be a Co2. I have an interactive algae guide I built that will be on our website soon. If you want to check it out now, click this link - 360.articulate.com/review/content/8ffe5caa-774b-4061-8305-d7b5be306f78/review - people passing by in the future, if the link is dead, check our website at aquascapeguide.com!
How can I get good results by using CaSo4 and MgSo4 ?
I look forward to your reply.
Thank-you
Debasish Roy
@Dabasish! Thank you for asking your question! CaSo4 and MgSo4 are GH boosters (calcium and magnesium) and not fertilizers (micros and macros). If you have access to those compounds, you should be able to get the compounds referenced in the video. I'll update the video description with them if they are not there already. For some reason in Europe, these are labeled as macros nutrients, when they are really just trace elements that may or may not be in your CSM+B or MicroPlex mix. I address GH/KH separately. You can watch how I address those in EP 5 - Water Parameters - czcams.com/video/3-rJePrlGec/video.html
@@aquascapeguide sir I know . Actually I apply fertilizer in EI method,So I like to use CaSo4 and MgSo4 as dry salt.
Can you help me ?
@@debasishroy7664 Unfortunlety, I have not used those before comspounds before and don't want to give advice on something I am unfamiliar with. Sorry! :/
My nitrates are zero consistantly. My tank is a 29 with co2 and have 3 nicrew lights blasting on the 5ank. My plants are DEEP ted and EVERYTHING grows like crazy and have near ZERO algea except on the anubis leves which only have a few small specs of green spot or dust. I dont know the difference.
I'm new to hobby but my question is why should I add nitrates if my tank looks amazing? What benifits will I get??
Hey Supreme! Thank you posting this question again!!! This is a great one. And sorry we had to delete the prior video... we had some spelling errors (oopps!). So you plants need micro and macro nutrients to survive. If you were to just toss them in RO water and blast them in CO2 and high light, they would simply die. So, if you have any livestock in your tank, including fish, snails, crawfish, shrimp, whatever, they are producing waste which is broken down into nitrates which your plants would be soaking up. If you were running an aquasoil, they could be getting macros like nitrates from that. If you're feeding your livestock, the uneaten food provides small amounts of nitrates and phosphates which is why reef keepers run skimmers. But as we know, all good things much come to an end, and nutrients will run out in a tank. This is why we also don't recommend NO water changes. Over time our closed systems are going to be drained of essential nutrients and minerals. As stated in the video, you're probably seeing green spot algae on you anubias due to 1) your high light setup, and 2) a phosphate depletion. However, we at ASG really like control. We like to control our PAR, CO2 injection, water parameters and nutrients is no different... hence why we like control over how much nutrient the tank is getting. We don't want too little, or too much, just like everything else in this hobby. Its all about that balance :) Thanks again for asking this! Later scaper!
@@aquascapeguide
Ok, but if I add nitrogen what is going to change in my tank. It already grows insane and has deep red. I could make a video and show u how it looks tomorrow and see what u think.
I just dont understand why I would start dosing nitrogen...thanks!!
As explain in the video, if you already have a source of nitrogen, you don't need to add more. If what you are doing is working, go with it. Just know that its not all about nitrogen. There are many more micro and macro nutrients that your plants need... and if not dosed, will lead to the decay of the plants healthy. BUT, if you plants are already healthy, keep doing what you are doing because it must be working. This video was directed at helping those that need to find a dosing regimen for their planted tanks :)
@@aquascapeguide
I'll make a video and see what u think tomorrow. I'm new to the hobby and started in April...
Ok, but what if i am using Miller microplex rather then CSM+B? I am using the 500ML bottles. How much micro Plex should i use ?
Great question! Miller microplex is great. We've been leaning towards that more often these days because it has more Trace elements in it. And it's the same recipe, one teaspoon for 500 ml. And then you dose 1 ml per gallon like you do with the macros.
@@aquascapeguide i ended up only putting half a teaspoon. Compared to csm+b it's more potent or something. May bump it though, thanks.
I Found the video very informative.
Well the nice thing is that if its a little too diluted, you can always dose more! Just keep an eye out for deficencies. If your macros are where they need to be, and you're seeing yellowing, then you need to bump your micros.
Will the copper amount in the NilocG El kit hurt shrimp?
Hello! We ran the EI method with no issues in a heavily planted tank with an aquasoil. I think people freak out about copper too much. If you were to have an inert substrate, fertilizers might build up a little too high to run the EI safely. Nonetheless, we didn't have any issues. The one problem we did run into was running the EI method requires 50% water changes and big water changes cause neos to prematurely molt. SO, if you do decide to run an aquasoil and EI method, you could half the recommended dosage and run it more lean, or process 25% water change twice a week. You can read about our experience with neos in a CO2 inject tank here - www.aquascapeguide.com/post/neocaridina-shrimp-in-planted-aquariums
@@aquascapeguide thanks for the reply, really appreciate it. I’m just curious, what is the difference between the CSM+B and Miller Microplex in the 2 EI kits? I know you said to get CSM+B, just curious what the other one is for. Thanks again!
@@chrise1004 Its just different blends of the same trace elements. Depending on who make the blends they could be omitting some elements, so just check they analysis of the mix you're buying. I've just always used CSM+B and it's worked well, so I've stuck with it :)
ps: You have to update your NiloCG links...
Thank you for the heads up! :)
Excellent video. Unfortunately the code ASG10 does not work
Yatin! Im sorry it didn't work. NilocG updated their website and got rid of the code. This video was made a couple years ago at this point. We are working on putting our own bags of salt together, so we can extend this discount to our website in the near future. Sorry about that. Reach out and ask NilocG if they will honor the code they once had. The owner might do it :)
Ghetto funnel for life!
#GhettoFunnel4Life 😄 That is all I used for over a decade.
ghetto paper funnel :)
#GhettoPaperFunnel4Life
why does the character has an xmas hat on
Phyl posted this video close to Christmas last year ;) Check out the posted date. He had his hat on this year as well. Hehehe.