MCI

[jewels]

I have been following THIS post on APC since last May. I was an early sceptic; it has evolved into quite the dicussion. Mr. Barr even got his nose in there - read it yourself to see how he fared. Grab a comfy chair it takes about two hours to read and cross refernce it in its entirity.

I am curious if anyone has heard of / read / practices the regime ?

I have been implementing it for sometime and would like to discuss it with folks 'round here.

I have read it over and over and would really enjoy to pick through it and possibly convert a few of 'yas over , , , to the sunny side of the street.

PS - I have seven planted tanks @ home with light intensity ranging from .5 WPG up to 7 WPG. There is ZERO algae to be found in any box. :thumbs:

[jvision]

Well, I may just have to give this a read...

[jvision]

Read the article and will be implimenting it after my 50% WC tomorrow.

[werner]

I just got my tank set up again this week (after moving) so I might have to give this a closer look. How labor intensive is it? The reason I chose PPS Pro was because it tolerated haphazard dosing and water changes well.

[jewels]

How labor intensive is it?

In a nutshell, 50% WC per week

Zero math, Zero tests. If you can source Nitrate and count to ten its very attainable. You could get away without a scale _btw

@ the same time you are not punished for lack of attention; you just see that it is capable of more and it inspires one to apply oneself more diligently

Assumming you using a rich bed and are highly driving the stems already - the work is done.

Meeting the pre-requisits honestly would be the largest stumbling block for most.

Its simplicity is laughable. :bang1:

[jvision]

Jewels, do you know about how much in tsp 1gram of KNO3 is?

[jewels]

MMMm, , ,

I am using GRANTS stump remover %98 KNO₃ after pestling the prills a loosely packed teaspoon (5ml) was as light as 6.4 grams - I could not pack, scrape, repack and cut more than 8.4 grams in.

, , , Although I had no trouble packing 1.27 grams into a 1/8 measure

Heres the beauty of it. Because the is no strict recipe in the ratio's; regardless of accuracy, one may increase the quantity of the stock solution dosed.

I may mix up a batch of juice and increase the breakfast portion incrementally ultimately finding the dose that works for my tank. By doing the same, You too, will find just how much poison your tank is looking for. Perhaps your mixing with a digital scale - I may be using the scoop that came with my last bin of coffee. Either way :w00t:

[jvision]

I've got a liquid batch of KNO3. I decided to start w. the equivalent of .5tsp per day to a 120 gal (I was dosing 2tsp 3x per week with EI) which may be a little light. We'll see how it goes.

[jvision]

OK, so the first week was a wreck... well not totally.

I bought an KNO3 solution that has 1L of dry dissolved into 4L of water. I used 10mL per day in my first week (after going with 40mL every other day EI). Guess what I saw? Major N deficiency, and some K dificiency! And, just about every kind of algae I'm not wanting!! However, they Hygro and Ludwigia went crazy! Shaune's enjoying that, now.

So today, I did a 50% WC and got rid of most of the algae and started dosing 30mL per day KNO3. I am hoping to find the magic number by the end of the week bc I need to do the KH2PO4 soon - Java fern, Anubias and some Crypts are starving! Once I have the KNO3 and the KH2PO4 figured out, I can dose traces again - the Hygro's looking veiny and twisted.

Here's hoping for a great 2nd go!

[heff]

Any suggestions as to where I could do some reading on deficiencies and what each looks like?

[jewels]

Major N deficiency, and some K dificiency! And, just about every kind of algae I'm not wanting!!

The N WILL push it out

and started dosing 30mL per day KNO3. I am hoping to find the magic number by the end of the week bc I need to do the KH2PO4 soon

Here's hoping for a great 2nd go!

You can up the allotment daily - double it daily if you wish. All algae will go away, and when you see the green spot - you win !!

Any suggestions as to where I could do some reading on deficiencies and what each looks like?

Read the entire MCI thread. Meet the pre-requisits. Follow the itinerary. The only deficiencies you will have is space

I have been implementing this for almost a year. I have added absolutely nothing but N. Absolutely no K no micro no nothing. ( my soil leaves a steady residual P reading @ 1 ppm)

I have never seen a deficiency.

Growth is unbelievable

APRIL 26th

Same perspective

MAY 27th

Edited August 24, 2010 by jewels

[jvision]

I don't have a soil substrate, and I have some real P pigs, so I know I'll need to add some PO4. I could probably get away with dosing 1/4 of the micros I was dosing if what the MCI says is true. Looking forward to week 3!

[jvision]

OK, I'm kinda getting tired of the KNO3 start-up. Another week, and I'm not getting any GSP. But, I am getting a lot of K,P and Micro deficiencies! I'm wondering if I should double it again (60mL/day) and just dose KNO3 for a bit longer, or do I give in and add some of what my plants need and just deal w. some of the algae problems later.... Tomorrow is WC day.

[Vallisneria]

What kind of nitrate readings do you get when you add 30/60ml of nitrate a day?

[jvision]

Readings??? I haven't owned a test kit it YEARS! However, I'd say 30ml still isn't enough. The tank goes from crystal clear on day 1; then some BGA will show up on surface growth at about day 3; followed by some more BBA days 6 and following. All are signs of low NO3 - and all are significantly less this week (30mL/day) than last week (10mL/day).

I will try one more week of KNO3 - this time 60mL/day. If I don't see the desired results this week, I'll have to go back to EI for at least a week to 'fix' some of this. It's my own fault really... I don't know what I was thinking week 1 only adding 10mL/day when I was already adding the equivalent of 20mL/day with EI, thinking I may need to increase KNO3 anyway.

Anyone know if NC has SAE in right now?