Dosing questions

[ScubaSkeets]

Hi folks!
As I prepare for the next step in my reefing journey (actually adding corals), I am in the beginning stages of shopping for a dosing station. Probably a 4 head one.
Thing is, I do not know the first thing about them. All I know is that I should get one .
So, in addition to the pump, container, tubing and whatever other accessories I need, what else do I need to know? What do I dose? How much? I know that is dependent on specific aquariums and needs, but I don't even know where to start. Is it as simple as dosing small amounts via the doser of what I would normally put in by hand?
Any thing else? What do you use your dosed for?

Thanks!

 

[GillMeister]

Are you running a controller of any kind? I have an Apex running a DOS and DDR. I like to keep it simple and the setup was super easy. I dose ATI Essentials pro and it keeps my levels fairly stable with just two additives, two pumps, and two reservoirs. I have noticed my alk is declining recently so I may need to bump up the dosage.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

dosing is very over-rated IMO. I guess I'm old fashioned but good old water changes will replenish your tank with whatever it needs, especially when your at the "just adding corals" stage

 

[GillMeister]

dosing is very over-rated IMO. I guess I'm old fashioned but good old water changes will replenish your tank with whatever it needs, especially when your at the "just adding corals" stage

It probably depends on the amount of coral and coralline in the tank. With a heavy load the consumption of alk, Ca and Mg would warrant additional dosing between water changes. Otherwise you'll see fluctuations in alkalinity that could be deadly to your coral. I dose a 4.5ml dilution of each part every other hour and I just had to bump the dosage due to declining values. My alk had dropped 0.7 and Calcium dropped from 460 to 440 in a week even with the dosage I had. Imagine if I wasn't dosing at all and I did a water change after 1 month. It would probably stress my system. Stability is the key and if he's looking at daily or hourly dosing I think it's a very good idea. Now we need to help him figure out how best to get it done.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

Are you running a controller of any kind? I have an Apex running a DOS and DDR. I like to keep it simple and the setup was super easy. I dose ATI Essentials pro and it keeps my levels fairly stable with just two additives, two pumps, and two reservoirs. I have noticed my alk is declining recently so I may need to bump up the dosage.

No, I'm not. Do I need to?

 

[Dkmoo]

If you dont have any corals yet you probsbly don't need a doser right away. Once you add corals, they will consume Alk and CA generally in a 1dkh to 6 or 7 ppm CA. Mg consumption is generally 1/10th the consumption of CA.

Until your daily consumption is getting so high that it's hard to keep the tank stable with either weekly WC or weekly manual dosing, you won't necessarily need a doser.

Imo, as long as your weekly Alk/CA consumption stays under 2dkh/16ppm, you can manage with weekly or 2x a week manual dosing.

My tanks use a cheap 4 head jebao doser. I use 2 - one for alk, one for mg. I plan to use a 3rd one as rodi for evaporation (basically a cheap ato). My daily consumption is 1.5dkh and 10ppm CA. (Pretty heavily stocked) i manually dose mg every 2 weeks bc mg consumption is roughly 1ppm per day so really not worth auto dosing.

 

[GillMeister]

No, I'm not. Do I need to?

No. It just greatly simplifies the process.

 

[Oscar47f]

It’s good to prepare but you don’t have much in the way of corals I assume I would stock the tank slowly and test one the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels start to drop and your water change schedule isn’t covering it anymore then start dosing... I like the kamoer dosers they’re cheap and easy to use you can start with 1 and daisy chain them if you need more... I use all for reef but all my tanks are 50 gallons or less so it works for me if it’s a bug tank I would go another route or it’ll be pricey.... I start with kalkwasser on my bigger system and then I supplemented with all for reef...

 

[Oscar47f]

Once*^ not one lol

 

[Rmckoy]

Before dosing .
Adding corals and letting them settle , start growing .
You will
Need to calculate your daily consumption to know what you’re dosing and how
Much .
Knowing every setup is different but here is my
System .
230 gal with 6 lps colonies including open brain , lobo , donut , favia , acan ,
30 acro frags at roughly 2” tall some bigger ,

a large 12”
Dia tabling acro abs daily consumption is 0
I don’t dose anything .
Everything is happy , polyp extensions , encrusting , and growing . Assuming I’m keeping up with replenishing everything with water changes alone .
this tanks as transferred from a 90 gal in oct 2020