Dosing

MonsterReef · Jun 6, 2016

How do you figure out how much to dose with a dosing pump

Aaron4890 · Jun 6, 2016

The way I did it was to test my levels, wait 24 hours and test them again and see what the difference is. Then used the BRS calcium and alkalinity calculator. To determine how much to dose to reach the level of the first test i did. since I was using BRS two part.
This would keep my levels consistent. Since my levels were low to begin with I manually added more each day. To reach the levels I wanted to maintain. While keeping The doser at the same settings. Once the levels were correct I stopped manually dosing and just let the doser continue to cal and alk levels steady.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 7, 2016

Do you know how much you are dosing manually now?

MonsterReef · Jun 7, 2016

It varys

MonsterReef · Jun 7, 2016

Aaron4890 said:
The way I did it was to test my levels, wait 24 hours and test them again and see what the difference is. Then used the BRS calcium and alkalinity calculator. To determine how much to dose to reach the level of the first test i did. since I was using BRS two part.
This would keep my levels consistent. Since my levels were low to begin with I manually added more each day. To reach the levels I wanted to maintain. While keeping The doser at the same settings. Once the levels were correct I stopped manually dosing and just let the doser continue to cal and alk levels steady.

What brand of test did you use

Aaron4890 · Jun 8, 2016

When I dosed manually I would measure it Using the measuring cups from BRS

Aaron4890 · Jun 8, 2016

matthew crowson said:
What brand of test did you use

I test using Red Sea test kits and double checked with LaMotte test kit

Brett H whitt · Jun 8, 2016

The amount you dose will vary if your tank is new and if you add additional corals, rocks or substrate.
Before I purchased a dose pump I dosed weekly. Once my dose pumps were installed I simply took
the amount of fluid I was dosing weekly and divided it by seven. That was a good starting point.
I tested my water daily for the first two weeks and tweaked the dose amounts until the values stabilized.

I test my water weekly for Calcium, magnesium, nitrate and phosphate . Every other day for Alkalinity.
I dose calcium during the day and soda ash at night.

I use Red Sea pro test kits for Magnesium, calcium and nitrates, Hana for alkalinity and phosphates.

MonsterReef · Jun 8, 2016

Thanks

MonsterReef · Jun 8, 2016

Why soda ash at night

Brett H whitt · Jun 8, 2016

I did a lot of reading before I started dosing and lots of people recommend dosing soda ash at night to reduce the nightly PH swing

HiddenUser · Jun 8, 2016

I got my parameters to the values I wanted, waited 3 days (without any dosing) then measured again. I then used the BRS reef calculator to figure out how much I needed to dose to get the values I wanted and divided by 3 (to figure out the amount to dose per day). Then I did another manual dosing then let the automatic dosing the next day take over.

I've had to repeat this method a couple of times to get it figured out, but working now.

jsker · Jun 8, 2016

I switched away the from the traditional dosing to the Balling Method I test once a week since I made some changes to the system, once I get things set I would go back to testing every two week. I use the Aquaforest 1+2+3 5000ml size so there is no mixing.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 8, 2016

matthew crowson said:
It varys

We'll somehow you either need to determine how much you want to dose, or take a guess that's an average of what you usually dose each day, and dose that each day, and see if, over a week or so, you need to move up or down in dosing.

G8trBait16 · Jun 8, 2016

jsker said:
I switched away the from the traditional dosing to the Balling Method I test once a week since I made some changes to the system, once I get things set I would go back to testing every two week. I use the Aquaforest 1+2+3 5000ml size so there is no mixing.

jsker, how much are you dosing daily. I just got my 1+2+3 in yesterday. My next water change is Friday and ill clean out my ATO bucket and get all of my kalk residue out of there, fill with just RO water and be able to test more accurately for how much gets used up everyday.

jsker · Jun 8, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
jsker, how much are you dosing daily. I just got my 1+2+3 in yesterday. My next water change is Friday and ill clean out my ATO bucket and get all of my kalk residue out of there, fill with just RO water and be able to test more accurately for how much gets used up everyday.

How many gallons do you have? I have 80 gal water volume, and I am dosing 80 ml(40 mil in the morning and 40 ml at night) on the 1+ and 3+ and 60ml on the 2+(30 ml in the morning and 30 at night. my alk was a little high, so I backed off on the 3+. I have to check today to see were I am at.

G8trBait16 · Jun 8, 2016

jsker said:
How many gallons do you have? I have 80 gal water volume, and I am dosing 80 ml(40 mil in the morning and 40 ml at night) on the 1+ and 3+ and 60ml on the 2+(30 ml in the morning and 30 at night. my alk was a little high, so I backed off on the 3+. I have to check today to see were I am at.

My tank and sump is total water volume of about 90G.