Reef doser needed?

[juneebear]

I have a 40 gallon tank for a year now and have a few corals in it. My question is do I have to use an doser for my calcium, magnesium and kH.

 

[alysak6075]

You need to measure all those first before dosing anything. To actually figure out how much to dose. And a doser is a nice to have, not a must have. You can dose by hand.

 

[juneebear]

I been dosing by hand for a year now. And sometimes I forget to do it because of work. I've been using the red sea to monitor my Ca, Mg and kH.

 

[alysak6075]

I been dosing by hand for a year now. And sometimes I forget to do it because of work. I've been using the red sea to monitor my Ca, Mg and kH.

Well you asked if you "have to" use a doser No you dont have to, but im sure it would make it easier for you.

 

[juneebear]

Thank you for the input.

 

[Uncle99]

You need to dose when regular water changes can’t keep chemistry in line.
You can manually dose but that’s a PITA and for less than $100 bucks, you can both make it easy and make it stable.

 

[juneebear]

You gave me an idea on what containers to use. Thank you.

 

[Uncle99]

$1.00 per jar!
Make sure you label them...

 

[juneebear]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[ryan265]

You need to dose when regular water changes can’t keep chemistry in line.
You can manually dose but that’s a PITA and for less than $100 bucks, you can both make it easy and make it stable.

what type of doser is this?

 

[Heabel7]

what type of doser is this?

Jebao. Been using mine for 2 years ZERO issues and inexpensive

 

[juneebear]

I think i've seen this on Amazon.

 

[Uncle99]

Yup, Amazon, this is my second, $88.00 Canadian....

 

[ryan265]

Reason I ask is bc I bought a jebao last summer and never set it up. Must be the exact same one. Kinda dreading getting it dialed in...was it as bad as I’m thinking it’s goin to be setting it up?

 

[Uncle99]

Five things.
1. -calibrate it as per instructions first
2. -test each channel to ensure if you request 10mls, it pushes 10mls.
3. -manually dose daily to bring up each element for a week and see what weekly dose would be, divide by 7 for daily.
4. -program that daily dosage into the doser.
5. -keep a watch on the levels through testing and adjust up or down as required.

It takes a bit of time to dial but well worth it.

Remember don’t dose CA and Alk at the same time, keep these two at least 30 minutes apart.

I dose my Alk hourly, during lights out when PH is low.
I dose my CA hourly throughout the lighted time.

 

[ryan265]

Good insight...imma give it a go. Thx

 

[juneebear]

Five things.
1. -calibrate it as per instructions first
2. -test each channel to ensure if you request 10mls, it pushes 10mls.
3. -manually dose daily to bring up each element for a week and see what weekly dose would be, divide by 7 for daily.
4. -program that daily dosage into the doser.
5. -keep a watch on the levels through testing and adjust up or down as required.

It takes a bit of time to dial but well worth it.

Remember don’t dose CA and Alk at the same time, keep these two at least 30 minutes apart.

I dose my Alk hourly, during lights out when PH is low.
I dose my CA hourly throughout the lighted time.

Nice looking tank. Love it.

 

[Uncle99]

Thank you
Nothing complex, no sump, just super stable water, day in, day out.
My ATO and doser really really helped the stability, and after that was achieved, everything became easy.

I see a lot of people bash this doser, but as you can see, it obviously works great.

 

[juneebear]

Just Bought the Jabao doser on Amazon.