ATENTION.... dosing schedule and specifics

[TRex91]

I think this would be really interesting to see what everybody is doing for dosing.. for example I would like to see how people dose whether its a some brand auto doser and how often such as I dose x amount of calcium 5 times a day with my dosing controller and fill up my calcium x amount of times a week and mag x amount of times and even other minor elements that people dose... maybe even zeo vit or prodibio,,, im very interested in this and I think a lot of people could learn from this and get into it... please be as specific as possible and maybe even tell us if was a success or fail,,, maybe even how fast you had to up the cal because a heavy sps tank,,, thanks in advance everyone.. hope yall get into it like I will...have a great day and happy reefing

 

[Lokipsl]

I dose in the morning. Calcium before coffee, alk after breakfast.

 

[beaslbob]

Diy 2 part here. (well when I had tanks running).

measure alk, if down dose calcium and alk. Wait for alk to drop again. After a gallon of the diy calcium and alk, add magnesium.

also added a pinch (teaspoon?) of mrs wages pickling lime in top off gallon of water.


my .02

 

[redfishbluefish]

I use DIY Alk and Calc (and Mag), and dose using BRS dosing pumps (1.1 mls/min) controlled by a ReefKeeper II. The ReefKeeper allows three time sets per channel. Note that for some reason the first time set does not work, but you need to set something, so I set it for a minute.

For Alk I dose

12:00AM for 1 minute
1:00AM for 24 minutes
3:00AM for 24 minutes

For Calc I dose:

12:00AM for 1 minute
1:30AM for 24 minutes
5:30AM for 24 minutes.

I test about once a week using Red Sea Pro test kit and adjust times accordingly…typically up or down a minute here or there. Mag is dosed manually, if needed, after this weekly testing. .. typically 40 to 100 mls.


Other than a short stint with B-Ionic, I’ve been using DIY additives since 2008. Knock on wood, the tank has never looked better……90 gallon DT with a 40 breeder sump.

 

[TRex91]

thanks guys keep them coming ,,, the more the better

 

[KSzegi]

I dose diy alk and cal using Randy's recipe and a liter meter III pump. Tank is currently using .18L per day which the liter meter spreads out in even doses 150 times daily. I manually dose magnesium as needed - I check each time I have used a gallon of alk and calcium solution - average about 3 cups of diy mag solution once per month. Alkalinity I check weekly and calcium every other week.

I dose Prodibio Bio-Digest and Bioptim every other week and lugols (10 drops for 300 gallons) also every other week.

 

[backpack]

Why so much lugols? Washed out pink colors in corals or are you testing?

 

[TRex91]

Never used lugols but does it have any bad effects like mentioned above with washed or pinks?

 

[mike007]

I guess i am cheap i use a Kent manual doser for my alk. and ca. You do have to figure out your amount of supplements your aniamals are consuming in order to set up a dosing scedule. Now that i have a Apex i will probaly consider getting a dosing pump once i figure out how to setup.

 

[KSzegi]

Why so much lugols? Washed out pink colors in corals or are you testing?

Yes, I am testing. The most I have ever been able to test is close to the .03 level - and that has been after dosing and a water change. Most often it tests near zero. The "recommended" dose for the kent's lugols that I'm using is 1 drop per 25 gallons per week - so I decided to try dosing with about half the recommended amounts. Initially I started it as an experiment since I wasn't happy with the colors on my zoas and was seeing a little tissue loss on some of my sps. I continued with it because I felt there was a noticeable improvement in my zoas and also felt that my blues and greens in the sps became more vibrant. I know dosing it is rather controversial but I perceived benefits and have seen no drawbacks in my tank so will continue to do so unless my tested levels increase - at which point I will adjust or stop.

I have read that the test kits are not very reliable - but feel the need to have some gauge anyway..... and levels in freshly made asw do normally read between .03 and .06, which is higher than the tank tests. As with most things, I'm sure each tank is different and my guess is that mine uses more due to heavy skimming and a very deep sand bed - but thats just a guess. I also had a xenia takeover issue for awhile - which may have been using very high amounts of it. I have cleared the tank of that so am curious to see if the levels will now increase?

Never used lugols but does it have any bad effects like mentioned above with washed or pinks?

I have not noticed any bad effects whatsoever but each tank is different. I'm not advocating dosing with it ..... but it works for me.

 

[TRex91]

Alright,, sounds good, i might hafta check it out to see what's up...

 

[backpack]

When your pinks are washed out your low on iodine. Red sea has a pretty good separate trace system from what I read. But someone will publish what chemicals to diy all of it sooner or later. I dosed lugols along time ago but havent in a while but may again after reading that.

 

[TRex91]

Good info,, please keys keep more detailed dosing schedules coming,, I'm very interested in what people are dosing successfully, why they are dosing it,, and if of course it helped and in what way it helped... I think this will be a good place for info ifwe can keep people going... Please include pics if you have them.. Thanks guys for participating..