Red Sea Complete Reef System

[dolpator]

Can the 4 Part Red Sea Complete Reef Dosing System be set up without the Red Sea Doser. I love the concept, but do not love the price of the doser. Even though it would be pre programmed to dose accordingly referenced to your calcium reading. In a perfect world I would love the Red Sea Doser to go inline with the product, but that is a $650 start up cost, and just not in my budget for the reef right now. Just looking to get a cost effective all in one solution for my 80g... Yes I am considering Tropic Marin All for Reef as well, and looking at going with that one as well. Just looking at options. Thanks for your opinions....

 

[RoanokeReef]

Their concept seems busted to me, testing just calcium doesn't seem like a good idea.

 

[dolpator]

I talked with the Rep at Reefapalooza. The idea is based on the notion that if you know the calcium uptake everything is proportioned from that. You could have also probably done it via Alkalinity, but the do Calcium. I know the bottles for Alk is double that of Calcium. They said the science has been there since the beginning, they just made it easier...

 

[Wayofthereef]

Yes I purchased the Jebao 4 head doser.. the app was a bit tricky and you have to set up a 2.4ghz wifi channel with your home wifi. I have xfinity and that wasn't an issue setting that up.. I have the doser add 6mL off all but the potassium which is set for 3mL. If you go this route I cant stress enough to thoroughly read the directions. I didnt and I accidentally dosed 500mL of iron to the system.. its so good that i didnt realize i needed a vent hole in the redsea bottle till I came back an hour later and the bottle was sucked in and flat as a pancake.

 

[dolpator]

Very good this is a viable option for me. Yes I understand the programming aspects of the Jaebos, and have used some of their products in the past. I might look into this. I loved the concept from the rep. and $109 for 3 months for me is a pretty good price point to get everything you need for your tank.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I talked with the Rep at Reefapalooza. The idea is based on the notion that if you know the calcium uptake everything is proportioned from that. You could have also probably done it via Alkalinity, but the do Calcium. I know the bottles for Alk is double that of Calcium. They said the science has been there since the beginning, they just made it easier...

Randy’s response makes much more sense than what Red Sea is selling.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...4-part-and-recommend-it.1048734/post-12439808

 

[Tonycass12]

I talked with the Rep at Reefapalooza. The idea is based on the notion that if you know the calcium uptake everything is proportioned from that. You could have also probably done it via Alkalinity, but the do Calcium. I know the bottles for Alk is double that of Calcium. They said the science has been there since the beginning, they just made it easier...

I use red sea A,B,C and I would never trust my dosing based on a calcium reading alone. I would have killed all my sps many times over. My alk consumption can change much more often while calcium seams to barely sway with changes in the tank.

If anything I would test your alk. If you done 50ml of alk then dose 25ml of calcium. With the red sea products this tends to land you roughly where you need to be. I usually only test calcium once a month to make sure it hasn't drifter to far one way or the other. I test alk at least 2 times a week and tweak my doser if it's needed based on that.

 

[dolpator]

Randy’s response makes much more sense than what Red Sea is selling.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...4-part-and-recommend-it.1048734/post-12439808

Interesting. He is against both systems....Tropic Marin and Red Sea. Going to have to read more, I guess. Maybe I should just go back to ESV or stick with Kalk and dose trace elements. I go value Randy's opinions as he has been a staple in our hobby for many years....

 

[dolpator]

Interesting. He is against both systems....Tropic Marin and Red Sea. Going to have to read more, I guess. Maybe I should just go back to ESV or stick with Kalk and dose trace elements. I go value Randy's opinions as he has been a staple in our hobby for many years....

Lou Ekus explains Tropic Marin's Dosing System. Which is what I was leaning to.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I use all for reef personally and test ALK twice a week. Like @Tonycass12 my ALK changes much more than Calcium.

 

[Doctorgori]

love the concept, but do not love the price of the doser.

yeah and have you seen the price of those Red Sea supplement's?

 

[dolpator]

I use all for reef personally and test ALK twice a week. Like @Tonycass12 my ALK changes much more than Calcium.

What do you have to do if you are having to adjust Alk/Calcium in these one part solutions

 

[RoanokeReef]

What do you have to do if you are having to adjust Alk/Calcium in these one part solutions

I haven't had to raise my calcium but you would just use a Cal only supplement, same with ALK. I usually just raise my AFR dose up a little bit since we aren't talking wild swings here.

 

[exnisstech]

I switched from ESV to AFR 2 months ago and have not had to supplement calcium yet. Alk is 8.1-8.3 every test. Calcium was 425 last test. I still use esv in another system and it works well also. I switched one tank to AFR to see if it worked as well as I have read. I've been very happy with the results and will probably switch the other over once my esv supply gets low.

 

[dolpator]

yeah and have you seen the price of those Red Sea supplement's?

$109 for 80g system for 3 month supply. There is a cheaper one and a slightly more expensive one depending on tank sizes.

 

[dolpator]

I switched from ESV to AFR 2 months ago and have not had to supplement calcium yet. Alk is 8.1-8.3 every test. Calcium was 425 last test. I still use esv in another system and it works well also. I switched one tank to AFR to see if it worked as well as I have read. I've been very happy with the results and will probably switch the other over once my esv supply gets low.

This is promising results. I would be moving from Kalkwasser to this system....Since I am not getting the trace elements that need to be dosed separately and not wanting to spend on every test kit for every element, looking at something that is an all in one. I only have a 80g system....

 

[dolpator]

I haven't had to raise my calcium but you would just use a Cal only supplement, same with ALK. I usually just raise my AFR dose up a little bit since we aren't talking wild swings here.

Interesting, so I would have to purchase Balling A and Balling B for any corrections that would need to be made while dialing the system in.

 

[exnisstech]

This is promising results. I would be moving from Kalkwasser to this system....Since I am not getting the trace elements that need to be dosed separately and not wanting to spend on every test kit for every element, looking at something that is an all in one. I only have a 80g system....

I tend to experiment a bit. I also have another system that only gets kalk and water changes and it does great. That one is coming down as I move into my new build. I've had very good results with kalk but am not sure what I will do once everything is moved in. I pull kalk from a brute and dose but it's all done in the basement and I don't have the room upstairs where everything will now be. I may see if the brs doser will pull from the basement before deciding. I am liking this AFR tho.

 

[Doctorgori]

$109 for 80g system for 3 month supply. There is a cheaper one and a slightly more expensive one depending on tank sizes.

Also it’s a trade off between the number of dosing heads and how many supplements that need to be monitored and tracked… that whole issue with salinity creep, trace element depletion and pH issues seems just to add to the number of dosing heads, not subtract…
Red Sea is trying to address all those issues using a 4 part system but it seems pricey…
I think the Kalkwasser/AFR dosing combo get you down to two supplements with some balance of cost/simplicity
…I’m not doing it due to space limitations implementing a kalkwasser solution … might be more practical for a smaller tank like yours

This is promising results. I would be moving from Kalkwasser to this system....Since I am not getting the trace elements that need to be dosed separately and not wanting to spend on every test kit for every element, looking at something that is an all in one. I only have a 80g system....

see below

I tend to experiment a bit. I also have another system that only gets kalk and water changes and it does great. That one is coming down as I move into my new build. I've had very good results with kalk but am not sure what I will do once everything is moved in. I pull kalk from a brute and dose but it's all done in the basement and I don't have the room upstairs where everything will now be. I may see if the brs doser will pull from the basement before deciding. I am liking this AFR tho.

yes, this isn’t a bad strategy as many advocate using just Kalkwasser until demand says otherwise….implementing Kalkwasser is bulky but simple
BTW a lot of folks are using both AFR and Kalk

 

[dolpator]

I tend to experiment a bit. I also have another system that only gets kalk and water changes and it does great. That one is coming down as I move into my new build. I've had very good results with kalk but am not sure what I will do once everything is moved in. I pull kalk from a brute and dose but it's all done in the basement and I don't have the room upstairs where everything will now be. I may see if the brs doser will pull from the basement before deciding. I am liking this AFR tho.

I currently use Kalk though a Avast Marine Kalk Stirrer, pulling RODI from the ATO through a Neptune DOS and feeding the stirrer. Still dialing in a little. Started dosing assuming evaporation rate of tank, and feeding Kalk from those numbers. Had to start over, because the directions said to put 1/2 cup into the reactor, when there was a lot of readings that only 1 tablespoon per gallon was needed. So not sure if that was the reason, but I had to start over as 3700ml of kalk dosed over a 2400 hour period didn't seem right when I was watching levels going higher than I wanted to keep them. Now I am having to play the waiting game as I bring numbers back down, and looking at using something a little more forgiving so to speak...If I have to make little adjustments that is easier than having to wait for systems to stabilize....