Dosing in ATO tank

[roadrashpaul]

How do you guys figure how to dose through your ATO? I haven't totally finished it yet but I set up a gravity fed ATO with a brute and a shut off valve. I would like to dose through this to keep things more consistent but not sure how to figure how much to add. Do I need to find out how much my tank is evaporating a day and use that calculation to figure or what?

Just FYI... currently I am only dosing to keep my alk up. I have not dosed calc in about 2 weeks and it is SLOWLY dropping to where I want it. I am keeping my alc right at 8-8.3 and my calc is currently at 430.

 

[Dowtish]

You can only dose kalk through your ATO. You cannot mix 2 part together as they will cancel each other out.

 

[pelagic]

let's do some math...

Assuming:
Your ATO container 1 gallon
You add 0.5 Gallon to your tank a day
You dose 10cc to your tank a day

Solution: 20cc ALK for each ATO refill (1gallon)

it's pretty straight forward

if you are dosing the CA, you can't do it this way, cause if you mix alk and CA solution together, it will just become crystals, and it won't dissolve in the water.

 

[roadrashpaul]

That makes perfect sense guys however at the time I am not dosing two part, just baking soda for alk. Honestly with my tank being 95% lps I may not have to dose calc as it seems to stay high with water changes. That could change when I get a clam or two at the swap.

So it sounds like I would need to figure my daily consumption rate (evaporation amount) and then figure that for the amount I add to my ato daily. Just a guess but I think my tank is evaporating 2-3 gallon a day. That's why I went with the brute for my ato container. It could hold more water and I wouldn't have to add to it all the time.

 

[Dowtish]

But if you only dose ALK from your ATO it will drive down your Calcium. Kalkwasser is best for ATO dosing. You get your numbers where you want them by manually dosing 2 part and then the kalk will maintain those numbers. Depending on the amount of evaporation you can overdose kalk. But if you are running LED's, this probably wont be an issue.

 

[roadrashpaul]

Great info Chris. I guess I need to do some reading on kalk and think about dosing that. I am running t5 for lights.

 

[Tennsquire]

Salifert makes an all-in-one product that I had good luck with when I was dosing via the ATO. It's pricey, but it works. I manually dosed 2 part for a while, but finally invested in a couple of dosers from BRS. They handle the alk and CA, and the Mg is added to the ATO resovior.