How do you dose Ca, KH, and Mg?

moosevandyke

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I am getting a little frustrated with dosing. I have a new tank 150 gallon prostar that has gone through cycle. I waited to check CA, MG and KH for about 3 weeks. I did have a drop in Kh to 6.6. I have been reading @Randy Holmes-Farley articles on water chemistry. I am about to get my first fish next week. No corals yet but soon and want to figure out the process. It seems like you can cause alot more harm than good if you dont have a good understanding.

My current water parameters as of today after doing a large post cycle water change a couple days ago are..

ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.5
KH 7.3 or 131 ppm
phosphates o
Ca 415
Mag 1247

If i wanted to bring up CA to 420, KH to 8 and Mag to 1350 the dosing using Aguaforest 3 part it would be 141 mls of Ca (part 1) 189 mls for Kh and 1700ml for mag. Now i can use the other product they have which is CA plus, KH plus and MG plus and numbers are less but still alot which seems to be the case with other products as well.


How do you figure out what your tank needs without killing stuff:)? I assume that this wont be daily for a new tank?
I have researched dosing pumps but seems that they can cause more harm than good sometimes... the new redsea 4 pump look cool.


So how did you all figure this out and where should i start.

Thank you!!!
 

jgirardnrg

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I tested the parameters and adjusted the tank to where I want to run. I then tested the next day and wrote down where I was... dosed back up manually. Tested again... same thing. Doing this helped me figure out what the tank consumes daily. I set the dose to dose every 4 hours and let it run for a couple days and tested again. From there it was just fine tuning.

Given where you are, you're going to want to bring that up slowly. Once you're where you want to be, test daily and manual dose until you see the pattern of what the tank consumes daily. I'm waiting on the Red Sea doser as well. Right now I'm using Kamoer dosers and they've been far better than the others I tried before these.
 

Rmckoy

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A system that new and with no corals. ,
Water changes alone will be enough .

What tests kits are you using ?

Once you get into corals that demand more I would cross the dosing bridge when you get there .
I’d work in getting phosphates above 0

your alk is good where it is .

Mine is 7.5
Cal is 425
Mag 1350
 

Gungo

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You used that volume of liquid because you have a 150-gallon tank, maybe it has something to do with your salt mix. To bring KH from 6.6 to 8 on 150g would take that much liquid. The thing is that you won't have that daily drop from 8 to 6.6 so you don't need to dose that much daily. You need to get the parameters to the levels you want, then you wait 24 hours to see the drop of your parameters, let's say kh dropped from 8 to 7.8, and it takes 20ml to get to 8 again. 20ml will be your daily dose.

You would need a fully established tank to get to 1+ drop in KH.
 
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moosevandyke

moosevandyke

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I tested the parameters and adjusted the tank to where I want to run. I then tested the next day and wrote down where I was... dosed back up manually. Tested again... same thing. Doing this helped me figure out what the tank consumes daily. I set the dose to dose every 4 hours and let it run for a couple days and tested again. From there it was just fine tuning.

Given where you are, you're going to want to bring that up slowly. Once you're where you want to be, test daily and manual dose until you see the pattern of what the tank consumes daily. I'm waiting on the Red Sea doser as well. Right now I'm using Kamoer dosers and they've been far better than the others I tried before these.
That makes sense and sounds like a plan. When you say slowly,,, we are talking days correct? I see that you dont want to raise your KH more than o.5 at most in a day while being sure to monitor PH So guessing your dosing small amounts throughout the day? I was looking at the trident and dos but the reviews are pretty bad. I have the apex fusion and its been okay.
 

jgirardnrg

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That makes sense and sounds like a plan. When you say slowly,,, we are talking days correct? I see that you dont want to raise your KH more than o.5 at most in a day while being sure to monitor PH So guessing your dosing small amounts throughout the day? I was looking at the trident and dos but the reviews are pretty bad. I have the apex fusion and its been okay.
Well given that you have no life in the tank yet you can do it all at once. You're a way off from having to setup a dose though. Just test regularly and dose by hand and get a feel for it. You'll start seeing that you dose the same amount often and you'll figure out your daily dose.
 
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moosevandyke

moosevandyke

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A system that new and with no corals. ,
Water changes alone will be enough .

What tests kits are you using ?

Once you get into corals that demand more I would cross the dosing bridge when you get there .
I’d work in getting phosphates above 0

your alk is good where it is .

Mine is 7.5
Cal is 425
Mag 1350
Yea i just want to figure out process:) but makes sense that changes are enough for now.
My LFS has the API machine. I also tested it with my Hanna. They numbers are very similar.

How do you raise phosphates safely?
 
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moosevandyke

moosevandyke

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Well given that you have no life in the tank yet you can do it all at once. You're a way off from having to setup a dose though. Just test regularly and dose by hand and get a feel for it. You'll start seeing that you dose the same amount often and you'll figure out your daily dose.
Thank you! i was in the hobby 20 years ago and just started back in wow things have changed regarding tech etc. I was young and dumb in college just want too makes sure i do it right this time.
 

jgirardnrg

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Thank you! i was in the hobby 20 years ago and just started back in wow things have changed regarding tech etc. I was young and dumb in college just want too makes sure i do it right this time.
Like I said, test and test often... you'll get a feel for everything. Then you can setup things like the doser to automate.

As for phosphates, you can dose for those if need be but you'll get them naturally once you have fish and start feeding.
 

Rmckoy

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Yea i just want to figure out process:) but makes sense that changes are enough for now.
My LFS has the API machine. I also tested it with my Hanna. They numbers are very similar.

How do you raise phosphates safely?
They will come .......
give it time you will be posting threads asking how to lower them. .

feeding fish will increase phosphates .

remember , what goes in , must come out. .
Have a good understanding of nutrient export
 

Rmckoy

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Yea i just want to figure out process:) but makes sense that changes are enough for now.
My LFS has the API machine. I also tested it with my Hanna. They numbers are very similar.

How do you raise phosphates safely?
Try to avoid api test kits as much as possible .
As I’m sure you know . This can be a expensive hobby .
knowing something is a little more accurate is worth it in the end
 
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moosevandyke

moosevandyke

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Try to avoid api test kits as much as possible .
As I’m sure you know . This can be a expensive hobby .
knowing something is a little more accurate is worth it in the end
What would you recommend? The api is that fancy digital one at LFS.
 
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moosevandyke

moosevandyke

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There was a post on a digital one the other day i cant seem to find it. They are only available to retailers. Agree The API are pretty useless and hard to tell color differences etc. I have the Hanna Checkers. They seem fine but nitrate is a pain to get right.
 

Rmckoy

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There was a post on a digital one the other day i cant seem to find it. They are only available to retailers. Agree The API are pretty useless and hard to tell color differences etc. I have the Hanna Checkers. They seem fine but nitrate is a pain to get right.
They apparently changed the nitrate .
to a new kit with no dilution step .

I agree , it’s a pain
Apparently the calcium test is the same .

salifert for cal and nitrate and mag
Hanna for salinity , alk , and phosphorus
 

jgirardnrg

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They apparently changed the nitrate .
to a new kit with no dilution step .

I agree , it’s a pain
Apparently the calcium test is the same .

salifert for cal and nitrate and mag
Hanna for salinity , alk , and phosphorus
The Hanna calcium test is easy... nothing like the nitrate test.
  1. 1ml of solution
  2. Fill cuvette to line with deionized water
  3. Insert as C1
  4. Dump in packet
  5. .1ml of tank water and shake
  6. Insert as C2 and get reading
Only takes a couple minutes
 

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