When do you dose?

[Brandon McHenry]

So for years on my past tank I have always dosed 24/7 and managed to have decent stability of my major elements. However, I’ve noticed on my current tank, which is a 40 gallon AIO cube, that I have about a 0.5dkh fluctuation between day and night. In the morning my alkalinity is 7.0 (I keep NSW levels so that’s right where I want it) but in the evening the alkalinity tests at around 6.5. This is obviously because the corals are taking up more elements during the photoperiod than at night. Is this fluctuation ok for SPS? Is it more pronounced in a smaller tank than a larger one? What do you all think about dosing during the photoperiod and not at night? Hoping to get some ideas because I’d prefer a bit more stability in my alkalinity if possible. Thanks!

 

[andrewey]

For my current tank, my dosing needs are met with saturated kalkwasser. I monkey around with the exact numbers as needed, but I dose about 50% during the photoperiod and ~50% outside of the photoperiod. As my photoperiod is 8 hours, my dosing is proportionally weighted to these hours- this seems to keep my alkalinity stable for my needs.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

For my current tank, my dosing needs are met with saturated kalkwasser. I monkey around with the exact numbers as needed, but I dose about 50% during the photoperiod and ~50% outside of the photoperiod. As my photoperiod is 8 hours, my dosing is proportionally weighted to these hours- this seems to keep my alkalinity stable for my needs.

So it’s still 50% of your dosing amount just spread over less time? 50% over 8 hours and the other 50% over 16 hours?

 

[andrewey]

Correct. Right now, it's actually closer to ~43% of the daily kalk is delivered between 10am-6pm , but I originally started dosing evenly every 30 minutes 24/7 and slowly started moving the percentages as I noticed the alk would dip during the photperiod and increase overnight. This seems to work well in my system (I run a reverse photoperiod refugium to combat any pH swings), but your percentages will likely be different.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Correct. Right now, it's actually closer to ~43% of the daily kalk is delivered between 10am-6pm , but I originally started dosing evenly every 30 minutes 24/7 and slowly started moving the percentages as I noticed the alk would dip during the photperiod and increase overnight. This seems to work well in my system (I run a reverse photoperiod refugium to combat any pH swings), but your percentages will likely be different.

Okay cool. What size tank do you have?

 

[andrewey]

My current tank is a 40 gallon, which is why I suspect my percentages might not be completely representative. I can no longer remember the exact percentages, but I used a similar setup (plus 2 part) on my last tank, a 180.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

My current tank is a 40 gallon, which is why I suspect my percentages might not be completely representative. I can no longer remember the exact percentages, but I used a similar setup (plus 2 part) on my last tank, a 180.

So that’s that about the same size as my current tank. Did you notice the swing more so on the 40 than the 180?

 

[andrewey]

Honestly, it would be hard for me to say. The 40 is relatively young, so I mostly have large frags whereas the 180 had full sized colonies for most of it's life. As such, the 180 swung a lot more. It's been too long, so my memory is failing me on what the swing was like when the 180 was relatively new and had smaller corals (so I could compare apples and apples).

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Honestly, it would be hard for me to say. The 40 is relatively young, so I mostly have large frags whereas the 180 had full sized colonies for most of it's life. As such, the 180 swung a lot more. It's been too long, so my memory is failing me on what the swing was like when the 180 was relatively new and had smaller corals (so I could compare apples and apples).

No worries! It’s interesting to know that someone is dosing heavier during the photoperiod to compensate for consumption.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I’ve dosed at night and during the day ESV 2 part, no difference.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I’ve dosed at night and during the day ESV 2 part, no difference.

Is the alkalinity totally stable regardless or you have alkalinity swings regardless? I also dose ESV 2 part.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Not really sure lol. I keep my alk 6-7 and stopped having issues at that level, as opposed to trying to keep it between 7-8. When ever I would dose to keep in the 7-8 range I would get burnt tips.

I also run higher nutrient levels. .15 po4 and around 20 or so NO3

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Not really sure lol. I keep my alk 6-7 and stopped having issues at that level, as opposed to trying to keep it between 7-8. When ever I would dose to keep in the 7-8 range I would get burnt tips.

That’s where I’m at too. Just wondering if it would be better, or possible, to keep alkalinity right at 7 with little variation rather than 7 in the morning to 6.5 in the evening and back to 7 in the morning.

 

[tehmadreefer]

That’s where I’m at too. Just wondering if it would be better, or possible, to keep alkalinity right at 7 with little variation rather than 7 in the morning to 6.5 in the evening and back to 7 in the morning.

I see, I was wondering the same. But again I tried at night and in the morning and no real difference. So I just dose when I feel like it either in the day or at night. Just depends on when I get to it. I also only dose like 10 ml on a light stocked 180

 

[Robinson]

I had 24 equals dosing points, but after getting the Alkatronic I was able to see that the majority of the consumption is during the light period. I started to dose more during that period to keep my alk swing under .5 daily. Now Im dosing around 67% of my dosing during lights on and the rest 33% during lights off. This helps me keep an .25 alk swing during the day.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I see, I was wondering the same. But again I tried at night and in the morning and no real difference. So I just dose when I feel like it either in the day or at night. Just depends on when I get to it. I also only dose like 10 ml on a light stocked 180

Oh so you only dose once a day?

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I had 24 equals dosing points, but after getting the Alkatronic I was able to see that the majority of the consumption is during the light period. I started to dose more during that period to keep my alk swing under .5 daily. Now Im dosing around 67% of my dosing during lights on and the rest 33% during lights off. This helps me keep an .25 alk swing during the day.

Very nice! I feel like that’s what I am hoping to do as well, although I may not be able to be that precise. Have you seen any benefits to losing the Alk swing?

 

[Robinson]

Oh so you only dose once a day?

I still dose one time per hour (24) times a day but the dosing ml during the lights on are higher than the dosing ml during lights off.

 

[Robinson]

Very nice! I feel like that’s what I am hoping to do as well, although I may not be able to be that precise. Have you seen any benefits to losing the Alk swing?

For a .5 variation not really, but if you’re dosing only two times per day, your going to have more stability and benefits if you start to dose each hr. that will help a lot with the alk swings.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I still dose one time per hour (24) times a day but the dosing ml during the lights on are higher than the dosing ml during lights off.

For a .5 variation not really, but if you’re dosing only two times per day, your going to have more stability and benefits if you start to dose each hr. that will help a lot with the alk swings.

Same here, I dose once per hour for 24 hours. This has still resulted in a 0.5 dkh swing per day. I’m wondering if by modifying my dosing schedule I can compensate for the extra consumption during the day.