For those with 1.1ml Dosers, How much time a day do you dose?

DVeit · Feb 15, 2015

I've been playing with my 1.1ml dosers and my apex program and it seems to me like I'm dosing a ton for my setup. It's making me question my redsea testing kit. I'm also dosing almost twice as much ca as alk, which is odd to me. My current CA reading is 380 and my dkh is 9.3. In total I'm dosing ca for 24mins between 12am and 6am. And Alk for 15mins between 12am and 6am. I have a 75 gallon reef tank with mostly lps, shrooms, zoas, one large Monti, one medium sized monti, and about 10 acro frags I just put in 3 days ago. Does this sound like too much to you guys?

Lazys Coral House · Feb 15, 2015

I dose 23 min every hour using BRS 1.1 ml. I do have lots of acros though. My ca runs 380 - 420 and Alk 9.5 with mag 1350. How is your mag

DVeit · Feb 15, 2015

lazylivin said:
I dose 23 min every hour using BRS 1.1 ml. I do have lots of acros though. My ca runs 380 - 420 and Alk 9.5 with mag 1350. How is your mag

mag is 1400, How large is your system? Every hour of the day, 24 times??

miggs76 · Feb 15, 2015

I have an apex and set it to 55ml a day running every hour....I believe it is just under 2 minutes per time.

ritter6788 · Feb 15, 2015

Are you making your mix or using a commercial product? If you're making it what recipe are you using?

naso tang · Feb 15, 2015

Doesnt sound like too much. I dose 8 cycles 10 min a piece for a 125 gal with a ton of acros. About 90 mls each part a day. To achieve dkh 9 and ca 420-440.

cginter · Feb 15, 2015

I'm dosing 60ml every night spread out over 8 hours.

DVeit · Feb 15, 2015

ritter6788 said:
Are you making your mix or using a commercial product? If you're making it what recipe are you using?

I'm using the BRS kit, mixing the powder/water in gallon jugs, using their instructions.

cope413 · Feb 15, 2015

It's a good idea to measure the output of your doser. Supposed to be 1.1ml/min but I've got those BRS dosers and 1 of them is actually about .8 ml and 1 is right at 1.1ml. I would use water and run it for 30 minutes and see what it's putting out before you go any further

Lazys Coral House · Feb 15, 2015

DVeit said:
mag is 1400, How large is your system? Every hour of the day, 24 times??

Yes about 600ml per day. System is 250g total volume.

DVeit · Feb 15, 2015

lazylivin said:
Yes about 600ml per day. System is 250g total volume.

lol well cant compare that to my measly 75g.

wangspeed · Feb 16, 2015

Sounds high for what you have unless you have a ton of coralline. I'm around 37ml of each per day and I have a ton of acro frags, some LPS and 2 hand sized caps. Dose in reasonably high food areas and not at the same time. Also, you should be pretty much equal in parts unless you under mixed one.

DVeit · Feb 16, 2015

wangspeed said:
Sounds high for what you have unless you have a ton of coralline. I'm around 37ml of each per day and I have a ton of acro frags, some LPS and 2 hand sized caps. Dose in reasonably high food areas and not at the same time. Also, you should be pretty much equal in parts unless you under mixed one.

Don't have a ton of coraline, a decent amount, by no means a ton.. I Dose into my sump and 30 mins apart from each other. I'm positive I mixed the parts correctly because I'm OCD when it comes to that kind of stuff and getting all the measurements, etc perfect per the instructions, lol. I too thought I should be dosing near equal amounts.. Unless my test kit is off (red Sea)... Idk..

Greenstreet.1 · Feb 16, 2015

Cal 8am to 9pm 65ml
Alk 12mid to 7am 50ml

DVeit · Feb 16, 2015

Greenstreet.1 said:
Cal 8am to 9pm 65ml
Alk 12mid to 7am 50ml

what size system with how many/type of corals?

Reef_in_Denver · Feb 17, 2015

Tagging along here.

Having to dose 200+ ML(of each) to keep my ALK anywhere above 7. 75 Gal tank - two medium size acro colonies 5 frags. A lot of xenia and some other zoas, softies, etc.

Does xenia consume a lot more than normal corals?

cope413 · Feb 17, 2015

Do you have a lot of precipitation on your heater or your pumps?

Reef_in_Denver · Feb 17, 2015

cope413 said:
Do you have a lot of precipitation on your heater or your pumps?

In the past I have, I recently have cleared it all out.

cope413 · Feb 17, 2015

If you are getting a lot of precipitation, then you are likely dosing too much. 200ml for a 75 is a lot. If you aren't heavily stocked, and I see your stock list, then I would consider starting over from a dosing perspective.

I would suggest doing a large water change... 30% at least, and recording parameters. Start with .3ml/gal per day. Measure alk and cal each day for 5 days. That should give you a good idea of what your actual demand is. Adjustments can be made from there.