Dosing a 2 part is not hard. It can seem daunting but once you get into it, it will make sense. First thing to consider is your test kits. You want good quality, reliable, and accurate test kits. The second is your tank. You want to test your tank and figure out if dosing is even necessary and to determine if water changes are not sufficient. If you do not want to dose per se and find your water changes are not sufficient in replenishment of alkalinity and calcium, you have the options to add kalk to your ATO, or incorporate a more controlled method by using kalk dosing. But I won’t get into that since you did not ask about that. Just wanted to throw it out there to you that it is also a good and cheaper option if you have a lower demand. The third thing you want to consider is your dosing additive. Learning it’s strengths and following the instructions to start dosing your tank according to manufacturers directions and your alk demands replenishment. It’s just math at that point. And the last, I would say is adjusting. Also, it’s worth mentioning that dosing 2 part only and not doing water changes will throw off your water chemistry as your minor and trace elements will not be replenished, you will have an ionic imbalance.
To start off:
- Get into the habit of testing Alk every day or every couple of days before you decide to start dosing. Do this for atleast a week. You can also test Calcium and Magnesium at the same time but these are not depleted as quickly and so you may not have much of a different result between a couple days. Write down the results so you can keep track. Also, test at relatively the same time each time.
- once you see how much your alk is going down every day, you’ll know how much you your tank is consuming.
- decide which 2 part you want to use and start dosing that according to manufacturers direction and your tank consumption. It’s best to split dosing into smaller doses to minimize spikes. Also, dose in areas of high flow. You want to dose equally of both parts. But not at the same time. Stagger your doses and especially give a good bit of time before you dose the other part- example: if you dose part A at 8a, dose part B at 9a.
- After a day or two of dosing, test again. This is where you will be able to fine tune your dosing.
Here is a link with some videos pertaining to dosing 2 part. They cover it better than I could ever explain.
Two Part Dosing found in: How to select the initial 2 part dose for my reef tank? - BRStv ReefFAQs, 2-part dosing your reef tank. What does it actually cost each month? - BRStv Investigates, How To: Dosing Two Part in Your Reef..
aquarium.bulkreefsupply.com
