Dosing 101 needed...

[Lylelovett]

Hi all,

So I'm interesting in starting to dose.

Is anyone aware of a Dosing 101 type primer? I need to wrap my head around the concept of it and then the first steps to doing it.

Where is a good place to start?

Thanks all!

 

[laverda]

What do you want to dose and why?
1. Get good test kits to measure what your dosing for.
2. Determine if you really have a need to dose.
A. Test your water. You want to test at the same time each day as closely as possible.
B. Log your results. A simple spreadsheet works or there are ones that help calculate doses needed.
c. test it again in a week to determine how much you need to dose. Don’t do a water change in this time span.
D. Log your results.
E. Do a water change and retest after a few hours. Your water change may or may not be enough so you do not need to dose.
3. select products to dose.
4. Calculate dosage daily or weekly base on product selected.
5. Select method of dosing. The product you dose may affect this.
A manual dosing is simple cheap and acceptable if you can be consistent about it.
B. Dosing pumps - you don’t have to remember to do it daily or weekly. Need to remember to replenish dosing containers, and adjust as needs change.
6. Start dosing at 50-75% of you calculated dose. It is safer to not dose the full amount Incase you miscalculated.
7. Test a few hours after dosing or the next day.
8. Log results
9. Adjust dosage if needed
10. Continue dosing, logging and adjusting as needed.
Once you get you dose dialed in you can increase the time between tests to weekly or more.
Note: salinity will affect your test results for most things. For example higher salinity will mean higher, Alkalinity, Calcium, magnesium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi all,

So I'm interesting in starting to dose.

Is anyone aware of a Dosing 101 type primer? I need to wrap my head around the concept of it and then the first steps to doing it.

Where is a good place to start?

Thanks all!

These may help. Start witht he firs tone as that is by far the most important:

The Many Methods for Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity - REEFEDITION

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Dom]

What do you want to dose and why?

@laverda Agreed.

Dosing is something we do in the hobby. But unless your consumption rates are greater than what you can replenish through water changes, I don't see the need.

This hobby can get expensive. Why add the expense of dosing if it isn't necessary?

Tell us more.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@laverda Agreed.

Dosing is something we do in the hobby. But unless your consumption rates are greater than what you can replenish through water changes, I don't see the need.

This hobby can get expensive. Why add the expense of dosing if it isn't necessary?

Tell us more.

I would just point out that while that plan is cost effective if you otherwise plan to do those same water changes, doing them just to maintain calcium and alkalinity, or doing larger or more frequent ones for that purpose than you would otherwise do, is substantially more expensive than dosing of calcium and alkalinity.

 

[Dom]

I would just point out that while that plan is cost effective if you otherwise plan to do those same water changes, doing them just to maintain calcium and alkalinity, or doing larger or more frequent ones for that purpose than you would otherwise do, is substantially more expensive than dosing of calcium and alkalinity.

Fair point.

But it should be done to address a need and not because it is “in style” in the hobby.

 

[Lylelovett]

@laverda Agreed.

Dosing is something we do in the hobby. But unless your consumption rates are greater than what you can replenish through water changes, I don't see the need.

This hobby can get expensive. Why add the expense of dosing if it isn't necessary?

Tell us more.

I have had my tank running for two years. I can grow softies and leathers and am trying to move up to LPS, and ultimately beyond. Consequently, I want to start wrapping my head around dosing and work toward water stability.

My recent trigger is my alkalinity dropping over time. I have just started to test and log daily to understand what's happening.