Dosing vs. Doser

[AlvaradoL]

Hey guys, So I currently have a calcium reactor on my LPS tank but I just set up another 65 gallon tank I plan on putting SPS in. So I wanted to try something different, so I was wondering what is better/ easier? Buying a doser to dose my cal/alk/mag or just dosing the 2 part solution by hand? Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[joker295]

buy a dosing pump.. it make life easier and keeps your alk/ca stable.. it take a lil time to tune the amt of ML needed at first but after its smooth sailing

 

[swannyson7]

+1 on dosing pumps. Too easy to miss a day or measure inaccurately when dosing by hand. Dosing pumps will also allow you to go out of town for a few days without having to worry about your parameters.

 

[dougers31]

I'd do dosing pumps for the cal and alk but manually dose the mag since you can get by dosing that every week or so...

 

[SteezySPS]

doser is 10000000000000000000 X better

 

[AlvaradoL]

Whats better between a doser and calcium reactor?

 

[swannyson7]

Whats better between a doser and calcium reactor?

Seems to be a matter of personal preference. Many people have a hard time getting a Ca Rx dialed in properly, but once they are set, they're cheaper. Dosing 2 part is easier, but will cost more in the long run.

 

[Just Clownin Around]

Seems to be a matter of personal preference. Many people have a hard time getting a Ca Rx dialed in properly, but once they are set, they're cheaper. Dosing 2 part is easier, but will cost more in the long run.

+1
reactor is harder to set but once done its set and forget
dosing
easier to dial in but a big difference in cost maintanence

 

[AlvaradoL]

What brand is the best to dose?
And thanks guys for all the help!

 

[swannyson7]

What king of price range are you looking in? There more expensive ones like the litermeter, or the bubble magus dosers and then there's cheaper options like the peristaltic pumps from BRS. Personally, I use the pumps from BRS and haven't had any problems.

 

[AlvaradoL]

What king of price range are you looking in? There more expensive ones like the litermeter, or the bubble magus dosers and then there's cheaper options like the peristaltic pumps from BRS. Personally, I use the pumps from BRS and haven't had any problems.

Sorry for being vague. I meant the liquid ca/ and alk? And would I only dose those two?

 

[swannyson7]

There are several options for two part as well. The three most popular seem to be B-Ionic, Brightwells, and the BRS recipe. BRS is the cheapest, but some people prefer the B-ionic seeing as it doses trace elements as well. I only used the Birghtwells stuff once and suffered from a cyano outbreak after switching. Probably unrelated seeing as I've had a good experience with every other Brightwells product I used, but I switched back to BRS afterwards. You should also plan on dosing Mag if you're not doing that already because Ca, Alk, and Mag are all related.

 

[AlvaradoL]

Well the only reason I thought I wouldnt dose mag was because dougers31 stated "I'd do dosing pumps for the cal and alk but manually dose the mag since you can get by dosing that every week or so..."
So I should dose all 3?

 

[swannyson7]

Not necessary to dose Mag daily, but as with any parameter it should remain fairly steady. If you're out of town often for work/pleasure then I would invest in a 3rd doser, but if you're rarely gone for more than a week, I wouldn't bother. I dose 2 part with pumps, but Mag manually and it's worked well for me.

 

[DML08]

Profilux+Balling light.. FTW!..