Kamoer X1 or Kamoer X1 Pro? And dosing questions/concerns! HELP!!

[MrsWeathers]

Which pump is best/easiest to use and maintain parameters? From my understanding the X1 only allows dosing 12 times a day while the X1 Pro allows dosing 24 times a day. We have a 125 gal display and a 40 gallon sump with about 110 gallons of water total, minus rock, sand, refugium, and all equipment. We don’t have a super high demand for dosing at the moment because we are just now getting into corals heavily, have about 15 corals total. Which dosing pump would be best for our system? We do plan on having a heavily stocked mixed reef system within the next year or so but have been taking it slowly to ensure the best possible outcome for all life that goes into our little ocean. We recently purchased Kalkwasser to add to our ATO to start out but I’m not understanding how it maintains both calcium and alkalinity at the levels you want by just dosing one amount. If we add 2 1/2 cups of Kalk and it keeps our calcium where we want it but it doesn’t quite keep our alk high enough, how do you get the alk to where you want without making the calcium too high? We are super new to dosing so could really use some help! HELP! Lol.

 

[Gtinnel]

I'm in the same situation as you with just starting to dose and deciding on a pump. From my research the biggest advantage of the x1 pro 2 vs the x1 IMO is that if your power goes out it will start back on its own. The x1 has to be started in the app which can only be done locally. I'm going with the pro because I'm afraid the power will go out while I'm out of town and my tank won't be getting alk/cal.

When alkalinity and calcium get used in your aquarium they get used in a constant ratio, so with kalkwasser I believe you're supposed to get your levels where you want them and then the kalk should maintain them. With kalk there is no way to add slightly more to one or the other. Although alkalinity and calcium have a pretty broad range of what is acceptable. Stability is more important than keeping them at any specific number.

 

[MrsWeathers]

I'm in the same situation as you with just starting to dose and deciding on a pump. From my research the biggest advantage of the x1 pro 2 vs the x1 IMO is that if your power goes out it will start back on its own. The x1 has to be started in the app which can only be done locally. I'm going with the pro because I'm afraid the power will go out while I'm out of town and my tank won't be getting alk/cal.

When alkalinity and calcium get used in your aquarium they get used in a constant ratio, so with kalkwasser I believe you're supposed to get your levels where you want them and then the kalk should maintain them. With kalk there is no way to add slightly more to one or the other. Although alkalinity and calcium have a pretty broad range of what is acceptable. Stability is more important than keeping them at any specific number.

On the Kamoer dosing pumps, that is definitely something to consider! We are usually always home, don’t go out of town long and if we do it’s only for a day. From what I read the X1 is super simple to set up and maintain but the X1 Pro is wifi connected, not Bluetooth, so if the power goes out, it still wouldn’t start back dosing until the power came back on and your internet reconnected, right?

For the Kalk, I purchased the starter set from BRS that includes a 2lb bag of Kalkwasser, 2lb bag of Magnesium, 1lb bag of calcium, and a 1lb bag of alkalinity, which you’re suppose to use to get your levels where you want them before you start dosing the Kalk. I’m also needing to know if I need to space it out over the course of a few days. We are at 420 calcium and 7.6 dkh and we want 450 calcium and at least 9.5-10 dkh as our constants. We did a water change last Sunday, a week ago, and afterwards we tested and our calcium was 420 and dkh was 8.4. So within that week we didn’t lose any calcium but lost .8 dkh. We use Red Sea coral pro salt, but just started using it about a month and a half ago, switched from instant ocean, which means our tank should have the same levels that the bucket shows for a mixed reef tank if we mix it that way, and we do, but it hasn’t ever showed the levels it shows on the coral pro salt. We did a 35 gallon water change, 4 days later we did another 35 gallon water change, then a week later we did a 50 gallon water change, then another 50 gallon water change the week after that but our levels just aren’t showing what they are suppose to. Moral of the story, maintaining levels and dosing is a tad bit frustrating and a headache. I can’t wait to get all the answers I need and know what I’m doing as far as dosing goes so I don’t have to worry about this again. ‍

 

[Gtinnel]

From what I read the X1 is super simple to set up and maintain but the X1 Pro is wifi connected, not Bluetooth, so if the power goes out, it still wouldn’t start back dosing until the power came back on and your internet reconnected, right?

I haven't gotten the kamoer x1 pro yet but I have read a lot of negatives about getting it connected initially. I don't believe your wifi has to come back on for it to start working again, just power to come back on.

As for adjusting your alkalinity and calcium it's better to not try to make the change all at once, spread it out over several days. I am a little confused on whether you are planning on using kalk or 2 part to maintain alkalinity and calcium. Generally kalk is put into top off water or in a reactor, but you are asking about dosing pumps, which are more commonly used with 2 part solutions.
I have very little experience with determining how much kalk to add to top off, but with a 2 part you just need to figure out your usage per day and then use a reef calculator to see what your daily dose should be. To figure out your tanks usage just measure the alk/calcium levels and then without adding 2 part or kalk, measure at the same time the next day and that difference is your consumption.

 

[SPR1968]

Either will be fine, I’ve just purchased the single head Pro version as I only need 1 head for something along with the Kamoer FX STP

For dosing the 3 elements you really need 3 heads or a combined version like below. For my S650 I’ve got an older Kamoer 4 head pump and it’s been faultless and very easy to use.

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

charterhouse-aquatics.com

If you have access to Red Sea you want the Foundation Elements A B and C and the 1kg powders are much cheaper than solutions but need mixing

Firstly you need to decide what levels you want. I go for around 8-8.5 alkalinity, 430-450 calcium and 1320- 1350 magnesium

Then you need to consider the salt your using. Coral Pro mixes to much higher levels than above (mainly alkalinity which is very important) so If your going to start dosing, you need to maintain those higher levels. Alternatively change to the standard Red Sea salt (I use it) which has more ‘normal’ levels, because by dosing your going to maintain them.

The Coral Pro is ideal for smaller tanks or if you want to run one with minimal dosing and for example the Red Sea ABC+ because it means many can maintain a reef tank with just a weekly water change and the addition of ABC+. But each of the element levels still need adjusting occasionally

So once you’ve decided what your aiming for, get the water to those levels and test the water

Dont add anything to the tank and then retest 4 or 5 days later. This tells you the difference and by simple division you can work out the daily dosage

Then add enough additives to bring the levels back up to were you want them, and then immediately start the dosing pumps set to the daily usage divided throughout the day. You can split It as you wish depending on the volumes involved. My calcium is dosed 4 times, alkalinity 12 (I use a lot!) and magnesium 2, within reason it doesn’t matter but if the doser does it anyway, just split it out as you wish.

Then after a week test the water and adjust the daily amount for each element for the following week and just repeat with weekly tests.

Keeping a reef tank doesn’t need to be difficult, but Stability is the key, it’s that simple

Hopefully this helps anyway

 

[ReefBeta]

For one, don't worry too much about calcium. Alkalinity is the one to watch and maintain closely. Calcium from 370 to 500 will all be fine if alk is kept stable within 0.5 dkh.

Secondly, kalk might slowly cause calcium to shift up. So it's helpful to have some soda ash at hand for adjustment later down the road. Not something you need to worry yet.

Thirdly, 0.8 dkh corresponding to less than 20 ppm calcium. That's within error margin of many test kit. So it's entirely possible that your test don't show the change. That's the reason to watch for alkalinity instead of calcium regularly.

Lastly, Kamoer X1 works just fine. I used it to dose kalk, and AFR, and foods. I had 4 X1 and a Versa as my doser team. My build thread has more details.

 

[MrsWeathers]

I haven't gotten the kamoer x1 pro yet but I have read a lot of negatives about getting it connected initially. I don't believe your wifi has to come back on for it to start working again, just power to come back on.

As for adjusting your alkalinity and calcium it's better to not try to make the change all at once, spread it out over several days. I am a little confused on whether you are planning on using kalk or 2 part to maintain alkalinity and calcium. Generally kalk is put into top off water or in a reactor, but you are asking about dosing pumps, which are more commonly used with 2 part solutions.
I have very little experience with determining how much kalk to add to top off, but with a 2 part you just need to figure out your usage per day and then use a reef calculator to see what your daily dose should be. To figure out your tanks usage just measure the alk/calcium levels and then without adding 2 part or kalk, measure at the same time the next day and that difference is your consumption.

I don’t know which one I’m gonna do yet! Lol. I have the Kalkwasser and brs calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium in hand just haven’t used it yet. But if we put it into our ato, we have to have a separate pump to keep the water stirring right? That’s what our lfs said. And also, we only have a 5 gal ato at the moment and it has to be filled every 3 days, maybe 4 depending how low the sump is when we get it filled up. So with all that factoring in, we would have to mix and fill every 3 days, even with a 10 or 15 gallon ato reservoir we would have to mix and fill every 5-7 days, and the entire point of getting some type of dosing system like Kalk or 2 part is to make things easier and more consistent. We don’t always get the ato filled right away either. If it becomes empty while we are sleeping it doesn’t get filled until we get home from work the next day, and I don’t know how crucial it is to make sure the Kalk gets in the system in an allotted amount of time. Ugh. I’m stressed. Lol. This is why I was just gonna say screw it and purchase 2 dosing pumps, and some 2 part solution, probably Red Sea calcium and alkalinity and then test every day for a week and see how much we lose everyday then dose that much everyday and be done, and adjust if needed as we add more stuff.

 

[MrsWeathers]

Either will be fine, I’ve just purchased the single head Pro version as I only need 1 head for something along with the Kamoer FX STP

For dosing the 3 elements you really need 3 heads or a combined version like below. For my S650 I’ve got an older Kamoer 4 head pump and it’s been faultless and very easy to use.

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

charterhouse-aquatics.com

If you have access to Red Sea you want the Foundation Elements A B and C and the 1kg powders are much cheaper than solutions but need mixing

Firstly you need to decide what levels you want. I go for around 8-8.5 alkalinity, 430-450 calcium and 1320- 1350 magnesium

Then you need to consider the salt your using. Coral Pro mixes to much higher levels than above (mainly alkalinity which is very important) so If your going to start dosing, you need to maintain those higher levels. Alternatively change to the standard Red Sea salt (I use it) which has more ‘normal’ levels, because by dosing your going to maintain them.

The Coral Pro is ideal for smaller tanks or if you want to run one with minimal dosing and for example the Red Sea ABC+ because it means many can maintain a reef tank with just a weekly water change and the addition of ABC+. But each of the element levels still need adjusting occasionally

So once you’ve decided what your aiming for, get the water to those levels and test the water

Dont add anything to the tank and then retest 4 or 5 days later. This tells you the difference and by simple division you can work out the daily dosage

Then add enough additives to bring the levels back up to were you want them, and then immediately start the dosing pumps set to the daily usage divided throughout the day. You can split It as you wish depending on the volumes involved. My calcium is dosed 4 times, alkalinity 12 (I use a lot!) and magnesium 2, within reason it doesn’t matter but if the doser does it anyway, just split it out as you wish.

Then after a week test the water and adjust the daily amount for each element for the following week and just repeat with weekly tests.

Keeping a reef tank doesn’t need to be difficult, but Stability is the key, it’s that simple

Hopefully this helps anyway

We were just going to do 2 part dosing and add brs powder magnesium when needed, which I heard was like once a month. Our magnesium is super high, 1480, and I have no idea how or why. Ever since we started preparing for corals and started testing all of these parameters our mag has been about 1400 or higher. We have very limited room underneath our tank(around our sump) and next to the tank, so just getting 2 individual dosers would allow me to put them on our sump door for easy access and monitoring, and to save space. We have done extensive research and watched tons of videos and went with the coral pro salt because of the high alkalinity. It shows that coral growth and color, including coralline algae, was way higher when the alkalinity was between 10.5-11.5. But as I stated above, we switched over from instant ocean salt to coral pro and neither our calcium or our alkalinity are testing what they are suppose to. So possibly we could dose and get all our levels where we want to and do a water change once a week and maintain those levels you think? When we do our initial dosing with brs powder calcium and alkalinity should we do it over the course of a few days or stretch it out to a week? And thank you for your help! It’s much appreciated!

 

[MrsWeathers]

For one, don't worry too much about calcium. Alkalinity is the one to watch and maintain closely. Calcium from 370 to 500 will all be fine if alk is kept stable within 0.5 dkh.

Secondly, kalk might slowly cause calcium to shift up. So it's helpful to have some soda ash at hand for adjustment later down the road. Not something you need to worry yet.

Thirdly, 0.8 dkh corresponding to less than 20 ppm calcium. That's within error margin of many test kit. So it's entirely possible that your test don't show the change. That's the reason to watch for alkalinity instead of calcium regularly.

Lastly, Kamoer X1 works just fine. I used it to dose kalk, and AFR, and foods. I had 4 X1 and a Versa as my doser team. My build thread has more details.

It seems our calcium stays decently stable right now. Our magnesium is and always has been Kinda high, like 1400-1500, usually about 1440-1480 so I don’t believe that’s something we will have to dose more than once a month if that. Soda ash? I’ve heard it mentioned many times but never really paid attention to what it does considering we weren’t to that point yet. What does it do? Just lowers calcium only? As for the amount of alk to keep in your tank, we have noticed almost all reef shops, including brs, and online shops keep theirs between 7 and 9 but from the research we have done and videos we have watched, a higher alk level prohibits coral and coralline algae growth significantly. Brs did a comparison over a set amount of time between 2 tanks, one with 7-9 dkh and one with, I believe 11-11.5 dkh, and the one with the higher alkalinity had quite a bit more growth and color in the tank. So I don’t even know which would be best! If we decide to use dosing pumps instead of Kalk in our ato and powder additives to start, we will probably start with the Kamoer X1 Bluetooth MicroPump and if for some reason it doesn’t live up to standards we can always get the Kamoer X1 Pro, especially if it starts getting to where we need to dose larger amounts so we can dose less, more often, instead of more, less often. I really appreciate the help! Thanks a bunch!

 

[ReefBeta]

It seems our calcium stays decently stable right now. Our magnesium is and always has been Kinda high, like 1400-1500, usually about 1440-1480 so I don’t believe that’s something we will have to dose more than once a month if that. Soda ash? I’ve heard it mentioned many times but never really paid attention to what it does considering we weren’t to that point yet. What does it do? Just lowers calcium only? As for the amount of alk to keep in your tank, we have noticed almost all reef shops, including brs, and online shops keep theirs between 7 and 9 but from the research we have done and videos we have watched, a higher alk level prohibits coral and coralline algae growth significantly. Brs did a comparison over a set amount of time between 2 tanks, one with 7-9 dkh and one with, I believe 11-11.5 dkh, and the one with the higher alkalinity had quite a bit more growth and color in the tank. So I don’t even know which would be best! If we decide to use dosing pumps instead of Kalk in our ato and powder additives to start, we will probably start with the Kamoer X1 Bluetooth MicroPump and if for some reason it doesn’t live up to standards we can always get the Kamoer X1 Pro, especially if it starts getting to where we need to dose larger amounts so we can dose less, more often, instead of more, less often. I really appreciate the help! Thanks a bunch!

Soda ash is one of the two parts. It adds alkalinity. If you only adds alkalinity without adding calcium, while both are being used, calcium will drop slowly.

DO NOT PUT KALK IN ATO, period. Forget that's even an option. Use a dosing pump to dose kalk is the only correct way of doing it.

Keep alkalinity around 9. Anywhere between 8 to 10 is fine. Stability is way more important than the actual value. You can find tune the actual value when you can keep it stable. 9 is a good start.

 

[MrsWeathers]

Soda ash is one of the two parts. It adds alkalinity. If you only adds alkalinity without adding calcium, while both are being used, calcium will drop slowly.

DO NOT PUT KALK IN ATO, period. Forget that's even an option. Use a dosing pump to dose kalk is the only correct way of doing it.

Keep alkalinity around 9. Anywhere between 8 to 10 is fine. Stability is way more important than the actual value. You can find tune the actual value when you can keep it stable. 9 is a good start.

Not in the ato? Really? I’ve read everywhere it’s the simplest way! Even brs videos say you can, but I have heard that it can be sketchy if it accidentally puts the stuff on the bottom of the ato into the tank. I was told to get a small pump and have it being stirred constantly, would that not work? Or just don’t do the ato way period? Lol. I want what’s best for my creatures, and I do not want to chance killing them at all. Oh yea I have a bag of powder alkalinity, but it’s not soda ash, it’s sodium bicarbonate. I will attach a photo of what I bought that they say I can use in ato. As for the value of alk, that’s what we will do. We will start at maintaining it at 9, then go from there. I’m assuming maintaining a 10.5-11 dkh would require a lot of alk supplement.

 

[Tamberav]

Evaporation rates change with season and such. Kalk in a ATO can work but its not the best way. It is also very hard on the pump.

 

[ReefBeta]

Not in the ato? Really? I’ve read everywhere it’s the simplest way! Even brs videos say you can, but I have heard that it can be sketchy if it accidentally puts the stuff on the bottom of the ato into the tank. I was told to get a small pump and have it being stirred constantly, would that not work? Or just don’t do the ato way period? Lol. I want what’s best for my creatures, and I do not want to chance killing them at all. Oh yea I have a bag of powder alkalinity, but it’s not soda ash, it’s sodium bicarbonate. I will attach a photo of what I bought that they say I can use in ato. As for the value of alk, that’s what we will do. We will start at maintaining it at 9, then go from there. I’m assuming maintaining a 10.5-11 dkh would require a lot of alk supplement.

Soda ash is sodium carbonate. Sodium bicarbonate work the same. It has lower pH impact per dkh added.

Kalk in ATO came many years back. It was so widely known that even BRS didn't dare to deny it. But I think that's one of those practice that should be abandoned, along with under gravel filter. The reason for it was the cheap cost. No additional pump needed. Also at that time, dosing pumps were expensive, $200+ per dosing head. There weren't much better alternative. But nowadays dosing pump are so affordable that it really make no sense to save the $60 to risk it.

So many things can go wrong with kalk in ATO. Evaporation rate varies day to day, means dosage varies. It's basically impossible to keep alkalinity stable within 0.5 that way. Then when you take water out, like move corals, thaw frozen food, coral dips, etc. You risk trigger ATO and dump a whole lot kalk. Also most ATO add water in short burst, which means high impact of pH in a short window. If ATO go haywire and dump whole 5 gallon freshwater to the tank, it might drop salinity by couple points, bad but not detrimental, and relatively easy to fix. But if it empty 5 gallon kalk in the tank, it will be enough to wipe the tank in an instant.

 

[Quokka]

Either will be fine, I’ve just purchased the single head Pro version as I only need 1 head for something along with the Kamoer FX STP

For dosing the 3 elements you really need 3 heads or a combined version like below. For my S650 I’ve got an older Kamoer 4 head pump and it’s been faultless and very easy to use.

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

Kamoer X4 WiFi Dosing Pump

charterhouse-aquatics.com

If you have access to Red Sea you want the Foundation Elements A B and C and the 1kg powders are much cheaper than solutions but need mixing

Firstly you need to decide what levels you want. I go for around 8-8.5 alkalinity, 430-450 calcium and 1320- 1350 magnesium

Then you need to consider the salt your using. Coral Pro mixes to much higher levels than above (mainly alkalinity which is very important) so If your going to start dosing, you need to maintain those higher levels. Alternatively change to the standard Red Sea salt (I use it) which has more ‘normal’ levels, because by dosing your going to maintain them.

The Coral Pro is ideal for smaller tanks or if you want to run one with minimal dosing and for example the Red Sea ABC+ because it means many can maintain a reef tank with just a weekly water change and the addition of ABC+. But each of the element levels still need adjusting occasionally

So once you’ve decided what your aiming for, get the water to those levels and test the water

Dont add anything to the tank and then retest 4 or 5 days later. This tells you the difference and by simple division you can work out the daily dosage

Then add enough additives to bring the levels back up to were you want them, and then immediately start the dosing pumps set to the daily usage divided throughout the day. You can split It as you wish depending on the volumes involved. My calcium is dosed 4 times, alkalinity 12 (I use a lot!) and magnesium 2, within reason it doesn’t matter but if the doser does it anyway, just split it out as you wish.

Then after a week test the water and adjust the daily amount for each element for the following week and just repeat with weekly tests.

Keeping a reef tank doesn’t need to be difficult, but Stability is the key, it’s that simple

Hopefully this helps anyway

Thank you for the excellent advice!

For one, don't worry too much about calcium. Alkalinity is the one to watch and maintain closely. Calcium from 370 to 500 will all be fine if alk is kept stable within 0.5 dkh.

I'm about to start dosing using Alk as the only indicator to dose TM all-for-reef and this helps a lot, thanks!