How Much To Dose?

sbash · Aug 21, 2018

Hi Everybody,

I'm curious how other people calculate how much to dose for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. For my 220 gallon and my 150 gallon systems I took measurements every day and manually dosed (daily as required) based on a reef chemistry calculator. Once I was pretty doing the same thing every day, I turned that into my 'formula' for each system and only test once a week now and it is pretty solid.

What are some other techniques you all use?

Heabel7 · Aug 21, 2018

Same here. Found a reef calculator for the manufacturer I use. Manually dosed to get my parameters where I wanted them. Then tested daily at the same time of day for a few days. Found the trend and now dose the same thing daily with a dosing unit. Check alk once a week for modifications. Test the others maybe once a month. And adjust if needed.

Side note. I don’t have a reef controller. But getting a dosing unit has been a game changer. Best automation investment so far.

madweazl · Aug 21, 2018

Took a baseline measurement, waited 24 hours, and took another measurement. The delta became my dose.

Gareth elliott · Aug 21, 2018

When i switched dosing brands i diluted both original and the new. Then ran alkalinity tests on both. The ratio between the two was how i adjusted. I was off by about .1 dkh and readjusted after a few tests.

NY_Caveman · Aug 22, 2018

Whenever I create a dosing solution I will actually calculate an exact, appropriate amount using molarity. I will usually mix a solution so that 1 ml solution is a logical amount of additive. Sounds like hard Chemistry, but really nothing more than high school level. If math makes sense to you, try it, it is easy.

Most of my recent dosings were things like Iron, Phosphate and Nitrate in planted tanks. For the big three of reefing, since I have recently returned to reefing, I would probably run a web calculator just to double check my math.

EDIT: when dosing something new, I will definitely test levels over a few days too.