Doser question

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

I have a 29 gallon bio cube.. would a doser for Kh, calcium and magnesium be over kill? I check the water like 3 times a week and adjust the Kh Several times a week.. been doing it for years.. just looking for a easier way..

dkray944 · Nov 30, 2015

Not really unless it makes your life that much easier. Personally if it's not that big of a pain then I would Manuel dose. I've heard and experienced dosers going bad and crashing the tank. I don't think the risk will be worth the reward.

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

Never really thought about the failure side.. thank you for your input. Old way works just fine vs loosing the tank..

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

Unless ur willing to drop 500 on a reliable dosing pump use kalk?

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

I would does all three.. and nothing in this hobby is cheap.. lol

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

Steve Dillon said:
I would dose all three.. and nothing in this hobby is cheap.. lol

saltyhog · Nov 30, 2015

I use BRS dosers controlled by my APEX. Safer than I am in my experience. My only dosing mishap was not equipment caused but caused by my own stupidity/inattentiveness. I do dose magnesium manually. I only have to dose it every 6-8 weeks or so. It goes down very slowly.

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

My magnesium drops slow too.. just thought it would better on the corals to keep everything at one level vs it dropping in between manual doses.. but with it being a smaller tank I was looking for input..

wpeterson · Nov 30, 2015

It sounds like your current strategy is working for you but it's a hassle. I'm in favor of automating anything you can in this hobby so you're more likely to be happy and successful in your reefing.

What is your time 3-4 times a week worth to you? You could buy a cheap Jebao 4 head doser for $75. I've been using one on my tank for a year and it works well enough, but it's not as reliable or fancy as a lot of other dosing options.

http://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Programmable-Auto-Dosing-DP-4/dp/B014KKCILE

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

Thanks everyone..

Steve Dillon · Nov 30, 2015

Im always home so the only time im not looking in the tank is when im sleeping

cmcoker · Nov 30, 2015

Do you have an ATO? What is your evaporation like? Using kalk maybe another way to automate.

I did this on my sumpless 55g, and use the same on my 120g since I upgraded. I have an avast marine ATO, and this may not work on all ATO systems.

I use a digital timer set to run 2 minute (one min before the upgrade) every 30min all day, aqualifter pump so slowish feed, (a brs 1.1ml pump would be better.)
So ATO only allows water level to set level, timer keeps kalk addition slow and spaced out to not spike pH. I would recommend a pH meter when setting up.
I'd be happy to discuss more if your interested.
This takes care of alk/Ca, I manually dose mag when needed (not often, depends on water change routine)