Dosing with ATO or Doser for 20 Long?

[mimi117]

Hi,

I would like to know which is better, to dose Kalkwasser with my ATO, or to get a seperate doser that delivers a RO/Kalk mix every 15 mins to the tank continuously.

My two concerns are, if the doser is constantly dosing the tank, then essentially I in theory should have "less" evaporation that the ATO would turn on less frequently since every 15 mins the doser is pumping a few ML's of solution into the tank.

If I dose my ATO water directly then it would be pumping larger quantities of kalk into the tank per dose, the ATO turns on maybe 1-2 seconds then cuts off, and turns on maybe 1-2 an hour due to evaporation.

Now, I read you can't "over-dose" kalk since the water can only dissolve so much, the rest would stay undissolved in the bottom of the reservoir, so what do you think is better for my situation? Right now I am dealing with low PH, probably around 7.6-7.7, I'd like to push it to 8.0-8.3, I am purchasing and ALK test kit to see where the tank sits before I purchase any kalk.

I also will take a weeks reading to see how my alk fluctuates day by day.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[exnisstech]

When I used kalk on my 180g I dosed it 24/7 with a brs 50ml minute doser on a digital timer. I used the ATO for a while but my evap rate varies a lot so I switched.
I used a brute for kalk and just kept the dosing tube suspended above the sediment.
That said what is your reason for wanting to raise your pH? It seems many people are constantly chasing pH and I just don't understand why. My acro tank does just fine with pH 7.6 with a peak of 7.8.

 

[mimi117]

No specific reason outside that I want to mimic natural sea water as much as possible, I will probably just go the dose route, as we are about to start heading into Summer soon and I know my evap is going to increase and I don't want to pump too much kalkwasser in the tank with my ATO.

How are you enjoying that Milwaukee PH meter? I have heard mixed reviews. @exnisstech

 

[exnisstech]

The meter seems to work fine. The results are accurate compared to Hanna which is all I have to compare it to.

 

[56longroof]

My evaporation rate is pretty consistent so I use the ATO to dose kalk. Been working very well so far.

 

[mimi117]

Nice @56longroof how much is your ATO reservoir, and how much kalk do you use per Gallon?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

I did kalk in my old 20gal in the ato and it worked.

It was mostly mixed reef with few sps though. mostly lps, zoas, and a few montis

 

[mimi117]

@Justfebreezeit Nice, were your params pretty stable?

 

[ChiCity]

just kalk in ato
(occasional trace doses by hand)

 

[mimi117]

Nice, great colors on your acans!

I actually bought a few online but they were delayed in shipping, got them after 2 whole days, they are showing a lot of skeleton, any tips? Yours look really healthy and happy. @ChiCity

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Both dosers and ATO work. I delivered it by ATO for 20 years, but no one can claim that is better than by doser.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I used to have mine in an ato. But sometimes filter socks would clog or snails would cover the overflow and I pour way too much kalk in. I feel like having a doser is a much more safe route if you have a lot of money invested in your tank

 

[Justfebreezeit]

@Justfebreezeit Nice, were your params pretty stable?

Yea i live in. Florida and keep my ac between 70-75 year round so the evap rate never changed to much, or to fast

 

[mimi117]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a doser, the res is only 1500ML's so I will mix accordingly, I think the standard is 1 TSP per Gallon, up to 2 TSP at full strength, I'll probably start at 1 TSP per gallon and go from there.

I need to do a few tests.

1st test is testing new mixed (after 3 hours of mixing) salt water, I use reef crystals, then I will test DKH, I read the DKH is higher on the Reef Crystals 10-13.

2nd test is testing my tank for a week once a day at the same time, I also need to make note of what my evap rate is, based on where my ATO is sitting now, I have not refilled it in a week and its sitting at 1.7 gallons (out of 5)

So looks like my evap rate is probably around .5 gallons a day which is about 1892.71 ML per day (roughly)

That comes out to about 78ML an hour of evap, how should I go about the dose? do I strictly just need to dose X and monitor my PH, alk every other day and if its stable, leave it as is? Is it that simple?

Any recommendations would be great!

 

[purpfish]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a doser, the res is only 1500ML's so I will mix accordingly, I think the standard is 1 TSP per Gallon, up to 2 TSP at full strength, I'll probably start at 1 TSP per gallon and go from there.

I need to do a few tests.

1st test is testing new mixed (after 3 hours of mixing) salt water, I use reef crystals, then I will test DKH, I read the DKH is higher on the Reef Crystals 10-13.

2nd test is testing my tank for a week once a day at the same time, I also need to make note of what my evap rate is, based on where my ATO is sitting now, I have not refilled it in a week and its sitting at 1.7 gallons (out of 5)

So looks like my evap rate is probably around .5 gallons a day which is about 1892.71 ML per day (roughly)

That comes out to about 78ML an hour of evap, how should I go about the dose? do I strictly just need to dose X and monitor my PH, alk every other day and if its stable, leave it as is? Is it that simple?

Any recommendations would be great!

Why doser did you go with?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I plan to use BRS 1.1 mL per min dosers in my system.

 

[mimi117]

@purpfish I went with the 2 Head Chihiros (because I liked the app). I'll let yall know how it performs, waiting on my DKH tester to get here tomorrow, going to test fresh made salt water mix, then test my tank for a few days and see where my numbers are, also I am more than likely going to start dosing vinegar for carbon dosing, just to stabilize everything and track my numbers over a month journal. Anyone here Carbon dose with Vinegar?

Best,

 

[rishma]

@purpfish I went with the 2 Head Chihiros (because I liked the app). I'll let yall know how it performs, waiting on my DKH tester to get here tomorrow, going to test fresh made salt water mix, then test my tank for a few days and see where my numbers are, also I am more than likely going to start dosing vinegar for carbon dosing, just to stabilize everything and track my numbers over a month journal. Anyone here Carbon dose with Vinegar?

Best,

Here is the thread for you

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-vodka-and-vinegar-dosing-charts.1024056/