How do I dose?

[PegasisR]

How do I go about dosing? My parameters are a little low and I was wondering how do I get it to the levels I want slowly? I have an idea on how to do it but the calculator I'm using (http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html) is giving me a minor issue understanding it...

I'm using a jebao dp4 if that helps aswell!

Will be dosing calc, alk and mag

 

[reeflover_3303]

What do u wanna dose for

 

[PegasisR]

What do u wanna dose for

Oh yes! I'm dosing calc, alk, and mag for corals

 

[PatW]

There are dosing calculators. Bulk Reef Supply has them and they cover many common additives. I know about how much to add. For calcium, I just dump it in next to a power head. For ALK, I take my dose, dilute it in RODI (serves as a top off) and dump it in next to a power head. For magnesium, which I rarely have to dose, I add it in when I mix up the seawater for my water change. When your corals really get going, you will probably want to switch from hand dosing to running dosers especially for alkalinity. I think alkalinity is the most critical parameter to keep nearly constant. I like to keep it within .5 DKH. Calcium anywhere over 400. And magnesium over 1300.

 

[Buku]

Yeah the brs dosing Calculators are great. You enter current level and target level. It then tells you how much you need to dose.

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

Figure out how much of each part you need, decide how many days and doses you want it to take to raise your levels. Then program the doser accordingly. For large amounts i dose manually to get things back on track, then let the doser keep things stable.

Probably the most important thing is knowing the tanks daily consumption, until you have a baseline on that there isn’t any point running a doser.

 

[PegasisR]

What would be a good rule of thumb for slowly dosing? like what is a good spot to start? dose over the course of 1 week adding X amount each day or?

also i was trying brs but they only have a calculator for their products not red sea :(

 

[PegasisR]

You can see that alkalinity and magnesium has a direction to follow and i cant dump it in like i could with calcium and thats what is confusing me...

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

Ah, OK. Here’s my example, the tank needed about 1500ml of Randy’s 2 part calcium. Every morning I measured out 250ml of solution, then dosed about 50ml at a time into the return throughout the day. After 6days the calcium was up to the level I want it at. The tank inhabitants showed no adverse effects.

I was too lazy to setup the doser for this, I also work at home so small doses through the day wasn’t an issue.

If you want to use the doser, why not set it up to dose a 1/4 the total required amount in small doses throughout the day for 4 days. Start testing on day 2 to check your progress. Once the parameters are where you want them, begin figuring out a daily dose to maintain the levels. In a lightly stocked tank, testing once a week should provide decent data on usage.

Nothing good happens quickly in this hobby.

 

[PegasisR]

Ah, OK. Here’s my example, the tank needed about 1500ml of Randy’s 2 part calcium. Every morning I measured out 250ml of solution, then dosed about 50ml at a time into the return throughout the day. After 6days the calcium was up to the level I want it at. The tank inhabitants showed no adverse effects.

I was too lazy to setup the doser for this, I also work at home so small doses through the day wasn’t an issue.

If you want to use the doser, why not set it up to dose a 1/4 the total required amount in small doses throughout the day for 4 days. Start testing on day 2 to check your progress. Once the parameters are where you want them, begin figuring out a daily dose to maintain the levels. In a lightly stocked tank, testing once a week should provide decent data on usage.

Nothing good happens quickly in this hobby.

Okay :) that's more understandable! So would I dose 4 times a day for 4 days then? of all of them in their respective doses? but what about not exceeding and such?

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

That should be fine. 4 times a day would be 1/16(0.0625 x calculator value) of the totals the calculator says for each component. Eg. calcium would be 16 doses of 43ml.

Each component in a separate doser head.

That’s why you should test during the adjustment phase, to make sure there aren’t any surprises when it’s over. I only dose during the day then test in the evening or first thing in the morning. I don’t know of any particular reason for doing it that way, except that it’s what works for me.

Calibrate your doser before use, it’s easy to do. One of my heads was way out to lunch the other three were pretty close.

If you don’t know how to calibrate the doser, check YouTube, there are lots of good videos on Jebao dosers.

 

[PegasisR]

That should be fine. 4 times a day would be 1/16(0.0625 x calculator value) of the totals the calculator says for each component. Eg. calcium would be 16 doses of 43ml.

Each component in a separate doser head.

That’s why you should test during the adjustment phase, to make sure there aren’t any surprises when it’s over. I only dose during the day then test in the evening or first thing in the morning. I don’t know of any particular reason for doing it that way, except that it’s what works for me.

Calibrate your doser before use, it’s easy to do. One of my heads was way out to lunch the other three were pretty close.

If you don’t know how to calibrate the doser, check YouTube, there are lots of good videos on Jebao dosers.

Ive got the calibration and all ready to go :) how many hours in between would i need for dosing? and i will test :)

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

My schedule is 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm. Lights start to ramp up at noon and ramp off at midnight. Once again I don’t know of any right or wrong answer, my rule is slooooow changes.

 

[PegasisR]

My schedule is 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm. Lights start to ramp up at noon and ramp off at midnight. Once again I don’t know of any right or wrong answer, my rule is slooooow changes.

Okay awesome and that way of dosing would be slow right? Dosing 4 times daily for 4 days?

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

In my opinion that’s slow. If anyone else has differing information I’m sure they’d chime in and let us know. We’re all here to discuss and learn about our hobby!

 

[PegasisR]

In my opinion that’s slow. If anyone else has differing information I’m sure they’d chime in and let us know. We’re all here to discuss and learn about our hobby!

Last question! How do i find out what the value for 1/2ml per gallon is? as shown on the chart is posted for Alk

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

Your tank is 139gal so they are recommending no more than 69.5ml over a 12 hr period. You only need 57ml total to bring your levels up, so if you take 4 days to dose the that 57ml you are going way slower than the max recommended. If you setup to dose over 4 days that’s only 14.25 ml/24hrs.

The tank won’t even notice it’s so slow.