2 Part Dosing - In our smaller tanks

[Haggisman14]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to get an idea what people are doing. I"ve been running my 29 gallon biocube for over a year now, and have been having decent growth, but not the type of growth I"d like, especially on my SPS, and LPS such as my hammer corals.

I think i'm going to start dosing 2 part (ESV), and was just curious what everyone else is doing.

Thanks!

 

[Scurvy]

I used a jaebo dp-4 on my Biocube for a couple of years. Worked well without breaking the bank.

 

[Haggisman14]

Anyone else?

@Scurvy - have you ben using that jaebo dp-4 for the last 2 years? Happy with it...I know their pumps usually get a low reliability score...

 

[NY_Caveman]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to get an idea what people are doing. I"ve been running my 29 gallon biocube for over a year now, and have been having decent growth, but not the type of growth I"d like, especially on my SPS, and LPS such as my hammer corals.

I think i'm going to start dosing 2 part (ESV), and was just curious what everyone else is doing.

Thanks!

LOL, I was just typing. Have you tested your Alkalinity over a period of time. That will help you calculate how much is being used by corals and coralline.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I have used a Jebao DP-2 for the past couple of months dosing 2 Part. Works well and Alkalinity is dead on.

I tried Kalkwasser in the ATO and it was too inconsistent.

EDIT. It is a 45 gallon AIO.

 

[Scurvy]

used two of them actually for about 2 years. For the price I dont think you can beat the Jaebo. It may not be dead on accurate like the higher end models but four heads at $60 or $70 it does its job. Comes with an extra head should you need it. I did need to replace one of mine with the spare but otherwise no burnt out motors or anything.

 

[Katrina71]

About to start this myself in my 29 and my son's 32 in the near future. I'm looking forward to seeing what you work out with yours. I'm going to use the same as Scurvy did.

 

[tehSAC]

I do not dose in my Nano, but I also don't keep SPS.

When doing a water change, I put two drops of Brightwell Coral Amino in the water while I'm mixing, and then add to the tank. So if you consider that dosing, that is all I do.

 

[Oshengems]

I use apex doser with ESV, but the key is testing, one to make sure your doser is dosing correctly but the 2nd is to adjust, I have to increase the amount dosed about once ever 2 weeks. As sps grow it will be a bigger block absorbing nutrients from the water

 

[RFL]

I have a 25 gallon IM Lagoon AIO and dose ESV B-Ionic two part with an Apex and Neptune DOS. Works like a charm and super easy to set.

I agree with bronxreef though that testing is the key. You only need to dose two part if your corals are taking up Alkalinity and Calcium faster than you can replenish them with water changes. The only way to determine that is by testing your Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium levels each week to see if they are slipping or staying within the range where you want them to be.

An alternative to dosing, and a lot cheaper too, might be to change your salt mix to one that has elevated levels of Alkalinity and Calcium right at the start. Red Sea Pro (black bucket) and I think Instant Ocean Reef Crystals are two well known brands that fit that description. They might give you just enough extra Alkalinity and Calcium to satisfy your coral's demand and get you to the next water change for replenishment. That said, changing salt mix just isn't as exciting as getting all that new dosing gear! LOL.

 

[Salt1972]

An alternative to dosing, and a lot cheaper too, might be to change your salt mix to one that has elevated levels of Alkalinity and Calcium right at the start. Red Sea Pro (black bucket) and I think Instant Ocean Reef Crystals are two well known brands that fit that description. They might give you just enough extra Alkalinity and Calcium to satisfy your coral's demand and get you to the next water change for replenishment. That said, changing salt mix just isn't as exciting as getting all that new dosing gear! LOL.

If he's aiming for SPS or even LPS in a 29g, he might want to aim for more stability rather than a spike during water change. We ran into the Alk spike with RC and ended up having to mix RC & IO to avoid an Alk spike right after our WC.

 

[Haggisman14]

Hey everyone, thanks for your feedback - I wasn't getting the notifications for this over the weekend.

@RFL , I actually do use black bucket Red Sea salt, and do water changes every 2 weeks. I'll be checking my levels prior to when I begin dosing, but due to $$, I'll be manually dosing depending on uptake. Looking at everything, I'm assuming my lake of growth on certain corals is due to lower levels of Alk/Calcium.

Those of you using the APEX Dos, are you all using them with the full on Apex, or are you using it standalone?

 

[cpschult]

Has anyone tried dosing Kalkwasser via a dosing pump? I just ordered some 1.1ml brs dosing pumps. Was considering doing small doses of kalk with those.

Just curious if anyone has done that before. More consistency than with ATO.

Thanks!

 

[crawling junk]

Has anyone tried dosing Kalkwasser via a dosing pump? I just ordered some 1.1ml brs dosing pumps. Was considering doing small doses of kalk with those.

Just curious if anyone has done that before. More consistency than with ATO.

Thanks!

I used to does kalkwasser with brs1.1ml pump. Used apex and dosed it around the clock. I was going through 650 ml of fully saturated kalk in 7 days.

 

[reefwiser]

I use a GHL doser I have 6 of them all networked together dosing and Ato work on my aquariums. I love the reliability and networking of the units and expand on their use all the time. I have found that dosing by hand is too unreliable. The person that doses my tank gets lazy and misses dosing. So I fired him and I only let him fill containers anymore.

 

[cracker]

I have to dose by hand because my numbers keep changing a little . It's easier for me to add another ML with a syringe than constantly resetting a dosser all the time.

 

[cpschult]

I used to does kalkwasser with brs1.1ml pump. Used apex and dosed it around the clock. I was going through 650 ml of fully saturated kalk in 7 days.

I've only got a 25 gallon nano so I'll need to do some testing. I don't anticipate I'll need anything close.

Does anyone have the math for how much alk/calc the kalkwasser provides?

 

[CamInDFW]

I use a single channel doser and utilize Tropic Marin All For Reef. As we (those that have smaller tanks) don't have to dose as much; I find this to be very cost effective. I use the Zetlight D100 wifi dosing pump I picked up from BRS and a Marine Color storage container that I picked up from Amazon. All told.. right around $100. I have found the setup to be accurate and you can dose up to 6 times a day. PM me if you have any questions about the products.

 

[cpschult]

I use a single channel doser and utilize Tropic Marin All For Reef. As we (those that have smaller tanks) don't have to dose as much; I find this to be very cost effective. I use the Zetlight D100 wifi dosing pump I picked up from BRS and a Marine Color storage container that I picked up from Amazon. All told.. right around $100. I have found the setup to be accurate and you can dose up to 6 times a day. PM me if you have any questions about the products.

Shoot, wish i had seen that doser sooner!

 

[Haggisman14]

2Part ESV has arrived...let the dosing begin!!