When did you start dosing

[Perthegallon]

Hello guys so I just wanted to ask when you started dosing. I have about 10-15 corals and never see any flux In parameters and never need to dos so when is that point you hit the stage we’re you need to dos

 

[Perthegallon]

No one?

 

[Hallowhead]

I asked myself the same question, there is no wrong time to dose unless your doser can't dose smaller quantities

Here is what I did...

Do a water change to elevate alk / ca levels do a test of both parameters than wait exactly 24 hours from the time you did the water change and measure again. You'll see your tanks consumption over 24 hours and know how much you need to dose daily to keep up

 

[Bfragale]

I started with Kelkwasser in ato and just water changes. This was sufficient and I dose once in a while. I’m getting to the point kelkwasser is not enough. For me it’s probably time to start dosing.

dosing too early could cause levels to rise, but if you have enough consumption then a doser would help keep it stable. I don’t think it’s the number of corals you have but more the consumption of alk and cal.
Hope this helps.
HAPPY REEFING

 

[Perthegallon]

I started with Kelkwasser in ato and just water changes. This was sufficient and I dose once in a while. I’m getting to the point kelkwasser is not enough. For me it’s probably time to start dosing.

dosing too early could cause levels to rise, but if you have enough consumption then a doser would help keep it stable. I don’t think it’s the number of corals you have but more the consumption of alk and cal.
Hope this helps.
HAPPY REEFING

I’m trying to decided to use a trident or not

 

[Perthegallon]

I asked myself the same question, there is no wrong time to dose unless your doser can't dose smaller quantities

Here is what I did...

Do a water change to elevate alk / ca levels do a test of both parameters than wait exactly 24 hours from the time you did the water change and measure again. You'll see your tanks consumption over 24 hours and know how much you need to dose daily to keep up

Okay interesting I’ll try

 

[Hallowhead]

Okay interesting I’ll try

If it's minimal you have to wait till corals and tanks mature and you can manually dose.

I don't recommend trident - get yourself salifert ca and phosphate and a hanna alk tester.. takes me 7 mins total to test all parameters

 

[Tastee]

I started dosing my tanks as soon as I saw Alk dropping. I do infrequent water changes and dose Aquaforest 3 part to maintain parameters.

 

[Perthegallon]

I started dosing my tanks as soon as I saw Alk dropping. I do infrequent water changes and dose Aquaforest 3 part to maintain parameters.

when did that happen?

 

[Tastee]

As soon as you have something in the tank starting to build calcuim deposits. Most likely the first significant consumer will be corraline algae, but it depends what you have in your tank. Certainly any corals you add will consume Alk, Ca and Mg as long as they are healthy. Even softies consume some of these, just not as much as LPS and SPS. Inverts will also consume this as they build their shells, even Hermit crabs for their legs and claws.

I set my RSR 250 up on 23 Sep 17 with live rock with inverts soon after. First fish went in 21 Oct. Then a couple of early corals. By the end of Oct I could see Alk and Ca starting to drop a little so I started dosing in small volumes. As the tank matured and I added corals the demands drew and I increased the dosage as needed to maintain constant parameters. I now dose 46 ml/day.

My newer RSR 525 was setup on 1 Mar 20 with mostly dry rock, seeded with some live rock from my RSR 250. I started adding fish mid Apr along with a couple of LPS. By the start of May I saw Alk start to significantly drop so I started dosing. Initially I dosed more Alk than Ca and Mg but as things stabilised I moved to my normal 3 part dosing at the same levels in Jun at 30 ml/day. It is now up to 70 ml/day with a few more LPS. I expect corraline algae is still consuming a lot of it in this tank but that should stabilise after 6 months or so when those algae levels start to become more constant.

FYI I dose Aquaforest 3 part.

 

[Perthegallon]

As soon as you have something in the tank starting to build calcuim deposits. Most likely the first significant consumer will be corraline algae, but it depends what you have in your tank. Certainly any corals you add will consume Alk, Ca and Mg as long as they are healthy. Even softies consume some of these, just not as much as LPS and SPS. Inverts will also consume this as they build their shells, even Hermit crabs for their legs and claws.

I set my RSR 250 up on 23 Sep 17 with live rock with inverts soon after. First fish went in 21 Oct. Then a couple of early corals. By the end of Oct I could see Alk and Ca starting to drop a little so I started dosing in small volumes. As the tank matured and I added corals the demands drew and I increased the dosage as needed to maintain constant parameters. I now dose 46 ml/day.

My newer RSR 525 was setup on 1 Mar 20 with mostly dry rock, seeded with some live rock from my RSR 250. I started adding fish mid Apr along with a couple of LPS. By the start of May I saw Alk start to significantly drop so I started dosing. Initially I dosed more Alk than Ca and Mg but as things stabilised I moved to my normal 3 part dosing at the same levels in Jun at 30 ml/day. It is now up to 70 ml/day with a few more LPS. I expect corraline algae is still consuming a lot of it in this tank but that should stabilise after 6 months or so when those algae levels start to become more constant.

FYI I dose Aquaforest 3 part.

Oh okay because I had my tank set up around April it’s a 45 gallon that is just starting to get corlaine I have a few corals mainly softies good amount of fish and snails I really haven’t checked my consumption in a while and I’m kinda excited to start to dos.