New to dosing (and R2R)

[DMVReefer]

Hey guys I’m fairly new to the hobby so I’m reaching out to see if someone can finally help me understand how dosing works. I’ve mainly kept nano tanks for over a year and have had acceptable results by doing weekly water changes. I’ve upgraded my display tank to a Reefer 350 that I picked up from a member of my local reef club WAMAS. So with the new tank I’ve experienced a new set of challenges. I’ve been mainly having an issue maintaining my parameters as doing water changes doesn’t seem to be enough to make my corals thrive. I’ve recently picked up the BRS 2 part dosing and am having a bit of a hard time understanding the way it works. My current ALK (tested tonight) is 7.0 and it seems I have a 0.7 daily consumption. My tank is a mixed reef with 3 clams. However my calcium has been kept easily over 420 (which is where it tested tonight) and my mag is usually around 1400 which seems fairly high. I’m not entirely sure what’s the recommended DKH for my mixed reef but my buddy who’s a bit more familiar with dosing says 8.4. I’ve been reading very mixed things here and there so I’m hoping someone can clarify how I can find my proper dosage while taking into consideration the tanks daily consumption. Sorry if this post seems all over the place but I’m just very confused [emoji28]. Thanks in advance!

 

[YHSublime]

You know your consumption, use the brs calculator to see how much you need to dose of each solution now!

 

[DMVReefer]

You know your consumption, use the brs calculator to see how much you need to dose of each solution now!

Hey! Figures someone from WAMAS would help me out haha. That’s actually one of the things I’m having trouble understanding. When I use the calculator it says if I want to raise my ALK from 7.0 to 8.4 I need to dose 85ML. Do I need to factor the daily consumption into that or do I simply dose 85ML a day to maintain the 8.4?

 

[Talo’s Reef]

I think it means that is the total one time dose to bring it to 8.4. I would divide that up over a few days to not have a large swing and factor in the daily consumption. For example. 85ml over 7 days would be a little over 12ml a day plus your daily consumption. After your seven days just add your daily consumption. Just go slow and test frequently.

 

[BedrockIOMC]

That is what you dose to get it up to 8.4 and then you need to calculate what you need to dose to maintain it at the number. you have found what you use per day so just put all that info in the calculator and it will tell you what to dose daily and it will keep you right around 8.4. Just be sure to check it everyday for the first week to make sure you have it set right and everything is staying where it needs too. but be sure not to dose all of the 85 all at once. it has to have time to mix in system and not over load it.

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

Welcome to reef2reef.

 

[YHSublime]

Yup, everybody else nailed it. Rule of thumb that I've used is try not to raise it up over 1 dKH per 24 hours. It's glorious once you get it dialed in!

 

[Raege]

Welcome to R2R.

 

[DMVReefer]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I’ll be breaking up the dosage as to not raise more than 1 DKH per 24HRs.