24 Gallon AIO | Is this an overkill?

[Skylar.Hale]

My LFS talked me into an ATO and a dosing setup today for my 24 Gallon AIO Aquatop tank.

Is this overkill? Please ignore my freshwater supplies I hideaway under here as well.

Also the photo of the tank itself is a few months old and tons of new corals have been added since.

 

[Gedxin]

You'll eventually use all that equipment. Depending on your tank age though, it may be overkill at the moment. Are you testing your water params regularly? Do you actually need to be dosing anything?

 

[mdb_talon]

I think ATO makes a ton of sense ..even moreso on smaller tanks. A doser is also very useful if it is actually needed which is a question we cant answer without more info. I doubt dosing makes a ton of sense right now given the age of the tank and the pictures i saw but it may make sense if your key elements are dropping steadily and a simple WC is not enough to get that back up

 

[dedragon]

no problem with the equipment, but they did sell you on two of the best, yet most expensive dosers and ato systems. Why are you dosing kH buffer (alkalin 8.3) and calcion instead of regular 2 part? i find chasing pH is a bigger issue than solution to chemistry problems in a reef tank

 

[chousecat]

Depending on the demands of your tank. An ATO is perfect for your tank but you'll eventually use the dosers too once your corals demand more than what your water changes can refill based on Alk/Calc/Mag.

 

[Skylar.Hale]

You'll eventually use all that equipment. Depending on your tank age though, it may be overkill at the moment. Are you testing your water params regularly? Do you actually need to be dosing anything?

I am about 3 days into testing my water prams daily. I was told to test for 2 weeks, every day, at the same time each day before starting to dose. I was told to log my results in a spreadsheet and this will give me a good baseline understanding of what my tank is doing. Please feel free to give me your input on this I am here to learn and be a sponge!

 

[Skylar.Hale]

no problem with the equipment, but they did sell you on two of the best, yet most expensive dosers and ato systems. Why are you dosing kH buffer (alkalin 8.3) and calcion instead of regular 2 part? i find chasing pH is a bigger issue than solution to chemistry problems in a reef tank

I may have been a bit overwhelmed at the LFS and just purchased what they suggested before doing my research. Sounds like this was a mistake on my part. Thank you for the input!

 

[mdb_talon]

I am about 3 days into testing my water prams daily. I was told to test for 2 weeks, every day, at the same time each day before starting to dose. I was told to log my results in a spreadsheet and this will give me a good baseline understanding of what my tank is doing. Please feel free to give me your input on this I am here to learn and be a sponge!

Its good advice though personally i would not dose at all during at least the first week period. There is a margin of error to the tests and dosing daily based off the test that day just complicates it in my opinion. Unless you see kh dropping more than 1 dkh a day i would just go at least a week and compare beginning and end values. Determine dosing based off that. Then test for another week and adjust as necessary

 

[dedragon]

I may have been a bit overwhelmed at the LFS and just purchased what they suggested before doing my research. Sounds like this was a mistake on my part. Thank you for the input!

gotcha, i see the clownfish post now. Best to take it slow on anymore purchasing until the tank has settled in and corals start to take off. Testing will help dial in 2 part and magnesium dosing, and make sure to test. A lot of the time you can end up overdosing if not testing at the very least weekly in the beginning

 

[dedragon]

lol, mdb* beat me to it ...same info