Where? When? What Time?

[cajunreef985]

When is the best time to dose Ca Mg Alk? (Morning? Night? Does it Matter?) Where should I dose? I have AIO should I dose near the return pumps or in display? Is Mag Alk Calcium the correct order to dose in? How long in between dosing should there be?

 

[Joseph Wrightson]

I too have an aio, and that is the correct order. I usually dose late morning early afternoon. (Whenever I wake up really) I try to wait 20 min or so in between each one. I've heard some people dose mg and alk earlier in the day and ca later. I've tried it never really noticed a difference. Currently ca is 430 alk is 8.7 and mg is 1400. I use red sea foundation supplements. Daily dose for me is ca 2ml alk 3ml and mg 1ml

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I'm not really sure if there is a best time to dose any of these, the best time would arguably be when they're needed. I dose in the same chamber as the return pump. The order doesn't really matter either but if you use a two part solution you need to leave some time in between doses so you don't have too much precipitation from the solution, I usually wait 10 minutes before added the second part.

 

[anthonys51]

The answer is it depends. If your only dosing 10 ml of brs in a 55 gallon tank to keep up with demand. Then I normally dose the alk all at once in the morning and calcium at night. I feed my fish 2 tines a day anyway so I just dose after I feed. Always dose the chemical in a high flow area so it spread around the tank quickly. As the dosing amount increases you want to spread the doses out more evenly to avoid spikes or that particular chemical. Also you don’t need to dose mg daily your tank won’t deplete it that fast.

ThAts the general answer. But now let’s get you a more specific answer. First how big is your tank and what and how much do you plan on dosing

Is this a new tank with little demand ? Will the tank have mostly lps and softies

 

[cajunreef985]

I too have an aio, and that is the correct order. I usually dose late morning early afternoon. (Whenever I wake up really) I try to wait 20 min or so in between each one. I've heard some people dose mg and alk earlier in the day and ca later. I've tried it never really noticed a difference. Currently ca is 430 alk is 8.7 and mg is 1400. I use red sea foundation supplements. Daily dose for me is ca 2ml alk 3ml and mg 1ml

Cool I have the liquid reef foundation care program. This will be my first time dosing their products as I previously used nature reef and have had very inconsistent results.

 

[cajunreef985]

The answer is it depends. If your only dosing 10 ml of brs in a 55 gallon tank to keep up with demand. Then I normally dose the alk all at once in the morning and calcium at night. I feed my fish 2 tines a day anyway so I just dose after I feed. Always dose the chemical in a high flow area so it spread around the tank quickly. As the dosing amount increases you want to spread the doses out more evenly to avoid spikes or that particular chemical. Also you don’t need to dose mg daily your tank won’t deplete it that fast.

ThAts the general answer. But now let’s get you a more specific answer. First how big is your tank and what and how much do you plan on dosing

Is this a new tank with little demand ? Will the tank have mostly lps and softies

So the tank is 28 g + my skimmer so 29 to be safe. I plan on going mix but mostly LPS dominant (currently have Duncan colony and frags of euphillia, zoas, acan, and FL Ric.) This is a new build, but im basically adding some type of LPS on average every 2-3 weeks. May I add im SUPER reluctant to dose and screw something up because everything has been fine, BUT I do want growth and stability so im not sure on how much i plan on dosing. i know where I want to be tho:

11DKH
440 Ca
1310 Mg

I will test again when home to check my own levels as i wasn't prepared to test Alk last night.

 

[anthonys51]

I normally test alk daily or at least every other day. This is the one that will deplete the fastest in your tank and imo is the most import. When you dose you just try to get this one at a set number. Imo I would dose 5 ml of brs 2 part daily. Your reluctant to dose because everything is fine. But you dose because your tank will be using up these elements. If you don’t replenish them eventually they will go down. Remember wheather you want alk st 8 ,9 , 10 imo really doesn’t matter it’s the stability that’s the key. Remember do things slow in this hobby

 

[Joseph Wrightson]

Cool I have the liquid reef foundation care program. This will be my first time dosing their products as I previously used nature reef and have had very inconsistent results.

So far I've had good luck with red sea products. To figure out what you need to dose first test your water then dose up to your specifications. Next don't dose anything for 4 days, after the 4 days test your water again, take note of how much of each supplement was used. Dose this amount to bring numbers back to normal. Divide the amounts by 4 and that's the daily dose. Try for a week and test again. Adjust your amounts if needed

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The order really makes no difference unless you are making massive magnesium corrections.

The time of day of calcium or magnesium dosing makes no difference.

Alk dosing can be done different times of the day, preferably spread out if the dose is significant.

Dosing at night can help offset the low pH at night (assuming you use a high pH additive, not all are).

Dosing during the day can offset the alk demand, which seems to be higher during the day.

 

[anthonys51]

That is a correct way to do it
I tend to just start the dose off small and test alk everyday. I use Hanna checker. If the alk is with 7.8 -8.2. I continue my dose. If not I’ll increase or decrease it 10% and go from there. Not that one way or the other is correct. Just thought I give you another option

 

[Reef Jeff]

+1 ^. I use Red Sea foundation liquids as well. Do what Joseph stated to get your baseline and then monitor every few days or weekly after that. Dosing isn't a perfect science so the does will vary, but if you do the baseline and then modify from there it will go well.

I dose alkalinity first thing in the morning and calcium after at least 10-15 minutes. I prefer alkalinity dosing in the am when PH is down. I tried doing it at night, but PH is higher at lights off so I opted to dose in the am instead. I doesn't matter much. I don't dose magnesium daily, so on the days I dose that I do it in the evening. No particular reason for the am/pm other than alkalinity...the important thing is magnesium first, then alkalinity and then calcium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

...the important thing is magnesium first, then alkalinity and then calcium.

Why do you claim that?

I know it is popular to say that (at least the magnesium first part), but really, there's no rationale for it. It is incorrect, IMO.

 

[Mombo]

For the where question. Does it matter where? A lot of people say the return pump chamber. My sumps dosing tube holders is in the skimmer section. Does it matter reallly if it drips in the skimmer section vs return vs fuge?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For the where question. Does it matter where? A lot of people say the return pump chamber. My sumps dosing tube holders is in the skimmer section. Does it matter reallly if it drips in the skimmer section vs return vs fuge?

Most important aspect of "where" is that it be added to a high flow area away from corals and other delicate organisms so it can mix in quickly (especially with the alk part, reducing the chance for local precipitation of calcium carbonate) and be diluted before before contacting the organisms.

Where that is in any given system will vary.

 

[Reef Jeff]

Why do you claim that?

I know it is popular to say that (at least the magnesium first part), but really, there's no rationale for it. It is incorrect, IMO.

Simply based on the Red Sea instructions shown below. I would be happy if I could deviate from that order when needed. I was trying to follow directions...my wife says I don't do that very well. Lol

 

[cajunreef985]

Thanks everyone for the help and experience when I'm home I will test all three and then have numbers for you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Simply based on the Red Sea instructions shown below. I would be happy if I could deviate from that order when needed. I was trying to follow directions...my wife says I don't do that very well. Lol

OK, I see where you got it from, but they are wrong. The order does not matter.

The only time any aspect of dosing order matters if if magnesium is very low and you are making a big correction (100 ppm +). In that case, you'd want to bring magnesium to normal levels to reduce the potential for precipitation of calcium carbonate, especially in the high pH area locally when the alk supplement is added.

 

[Reef Jeff]

OK, I see where you got it from, but they are wrong. The order does not matter.

The only time any aspect of dosing order matters if if magnesium is very low and you are making a big correction (100 ppm +). In that case, you'd want to bring magnesium to normal levels to reduce the potential for precipitation of calcium carbonate, especially in the high pH area locally when the alk supplement is added.

Thanks Randy. Appreciate the insight!

 

[Mombo]

Most important aspect of "where" is that it be added to a high flow area away from corals and other delicate organisms so it can mix in quickly (especially with the alk part, reducing the chance for local precipitation of calcium carbonate) and be diluted before before contacting the organisms.

Where that is in any given system will vary.

Bleh. My dosing tubes are in the skimmer section which I think has decent flow but it flows into my fuge before the return section and the fuge flow isn't great. I have about 900 gph flowing through the sump.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Bleh. My dosing tubes are in the skimmer section which I think has decent flow but it flows into my fuge before the return section and the fuge flow isn't great. I have about 900 gph flowing through the sump.

If you see precipitate on the sides of that are, then it might be worth changing. Otherwise it is probably OK if the dosing is not a big dump at once.