Carbon, Mg, Alk & Ca dosing related questions

[potatocouch]

So let's say that you are doing carbon, Mg, Alk & Ca dosing in your tank.

The questions are:

1. Which one goes first (in sequence order)?
2. Are there any elements from the 4 that can be dosed at the same time (together)?
3. What's the gap (timing) between each dose?
4. Is there any special consideration in terms of timing gap between particular elements? (i.e. Alk & Ca).
5. What system are you keeping and what level of Mg, Alk & Ca are you shooting for?

 

[Sabellafella]

So let's say that you are doing carbon, Mg, Alk & Ca dosing in your tank.

The questions are:

1. Which one goes first (in sequence order)?
2. Are there any elements from the 4 that can be dosed at the same time (together)?
3. What's the gap (timing) between each dose?
4. Is there any special consideration in terms of timing gap between particular elements? (i.e. Alk & Ca).
5. What system are you keeping and what level of Mg, Alk & Ca are you shooting for?

I drop a days worth of mag at 1 in the morning. Then from 6am to 12pm i dose alk ,then from 2 - 7 i dose calc (and when i was carbon dosing i did the same time as calc during the day because it would drop my ph so i did it at the hours of my lighting peak) then from 8 - 12am i dose alk, then from 2-5am i dose calc
(edit- as for carbon dosing, i would do during the day when your ph is highest,mag and calc dont really matter when their dosed,as long as the water its dosed into isnt stagnent you should be fine. As for alk,i have a high ph to begin with so i dose in the morning hours and late night when my ph starts to drop so i could maybe try keeping it stable. For my numbers, it comes down to my salt mix, if i have my 3part dosing all tuned in correctly, my parameters will match my saltmix that im using. I dose less alk then my normal uptake so my parameters stay around 9.2 dkh. 425 calc. 1320 mag)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So let's say that you are doing carbon, Mg, Alk & Ca dosing in your tank.

The questions are:

1. Which one goes first (in sequence order)?
2. Are there any elements from the 4 that can be dosed at the same time (together)?
3. What's the gap (timing) between each dose?
4. Is there any special consideration in terms of timing gap between particular elements? (i.e. Alk & Ca).
5. What system are you keeping and what level of Mg, Alk & Ca are you shooting for?

I'd be careful to not overthink a fairly simply idea: you do not want calcium and alkalinity concentrates mixing together before they disperse in the tank. That's about it.

More important than many of these is to add to a high flow/mixing area away from corals.

The order does not matter, unless magnesium is incredibly low, in which case I'd add it first.

Magnesium and calcium can be dosed at the same time, and depending on what they additives are, sometimes even come in the same bottle, but if your method uses any magnesium sulfate, that cannot be mixed with calcium chloride before dosing.

Timing simply requires the first dose to be dispersed so the second does not mix with it before dispersal. That might be 1 minute in some tanks, or a longer. Hard to believe it is ever more than about 10 minutes unless it is a very extended sump system with low flow.

I discuss my parameter recommendations here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/o...-reef-aquarium-by-randy-holmes-farley.173563/

 

[potatocouch]

Thanks @Randy Holmes-Farley !

Thanks @Sabellafella !

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing!