Balling Light Dosing

Scottiemac · Nov 24, 2023

I've just set up my dosing pumps and mixed my solutions and am ready to dose. Problem is I have no idea where to start. The AquaCalculator app may not be tended to anymore, as I've been waiting for quite a while to get my activation email.
Guess what I need to know is what is a good amount to dose per day with my Actual:Desired levels:

Calcium 303:425
Magnesium 790:1300
Alkalinity 8.01:8.5

I just want to get started and will modify as needed.

Pod_01 · Nov 24, 2023

Zeeter said:
Guess what I need to know is what is a good amount to dose per day with my Actual:Desired levels:

Just a general comment, there is no such thing as “good amount of dose per day”. But based on your tank consumption of Alk, calcium etc... you can determine what is required.
For example to determine Alk consumption you measure your Alk over a week or longer and see how long before Alk dropped by 1 dKh. From that you can get your daily consumption and if you use this table the dose per day:

Or you can use the AquaCalculator but you need to give it the consumption.

Good luck,

Scottiemac · Nov 24, 2023

Yeah that seems to be the going answer. The Aquacalculator app won't email me back to activate my account which is why I asked here.
I understand that it depends on my consumption. My assumption based on the chart above is that if I want to raise the Calcium 11 mg/L I need to add 10ml per 100L volume.

Pod_01 · Nov 24, 2023

Zeeter said:
Yeah that seems to be the going answer. The Aquacalculator app won't email me back to activate my account which is why I asked here.
I understand that it depends on my consumption. My assumption based on the chart above is that if I want to raise the Calcium 11 mg/L I need to add 10ml per 100L volume.

That is correct, for one time adjustments you can create account on FM ICP site and use the provided dosing calculator.

Here is a sample:

Your daily dose can be derived from this.
I use the Aquacalculator from Apple App Store but I need to pay for it.
The free version from the kit is for Windows machines only and I have none at home.

wculver · Nov 24, 2023

Zeeter said:
I've just set up my dosing pumps and mixed my solutions and am ready to dose. Problem is I have no idea where to start. The AquaCalculator app may not be tended to anymore, as I've been waiting for quite a while to get my activation email.
Guess what I need to know is what is a good amount to dose per day with my Actual:Desired levels:

Calcium 303:425
Magnesium 790:1300
Alkalinity 8.01:8.5

I just want to get started and will modify as needed.

You have a good start on the numbers and where to dig in. I won't get too caught up on the perfect number because if your doser is anything like mine you end up tweaking them extensively anyway to dose an appropriate amount. Just make sure to stick to your weekly tests and monitor your progress as levels increase. I think you'll find your footing as the levels improve toward your target.