Making the leap to Dosing My Aquarium. Yikes!

[R33fDaddy]

Hi Everyone, this summer or fall I will be taking the leap into dosing my Redsea 250. I'm in the planning stage currently and just trying to figure out what I will need as far as equipment and what to dose. I've been dosing Calcium and Reef Plus via my auto top off and that has worked for my GSP and Xenia but My Gonipora (which is my favorite Coral) are not so happy.


A few bullet points

1. I was planning on dosing Calcium, magnesium, Alk and Redsea Coral Colors (open to suggestions based on what I plan on keeping in my aquarium). I know I need to dose Iodine for the Zoas not sure about anything else.

2. My favorite Corals are Xenia, GSP, Goniopora, Acans, Hammers and torch coral.

3. Currently in my display tank: Captain America Palythoas, Electrified Gonipora, Blue Gonipora, Tweet Bird Gonipora, Rainbow Acan, Pink Meteor Shower Cyphastrea, Xenia. All of these are frag plugvsize except the Electrified Goni and the Xenia.

4. I currently have in Quarantine: Candy Corn Chalice, about 50 Polyps of Zoas, Pipe Organ, Favia, Montipora, Firework Clove Polyp, Barnstorm Aussie Lord, Boogie Nights Blastomussa, Earthbound Echinata and Vanna Styloceniella. None of these Corals are that large and most of them are one rock.

The additional equipment I have on my aquarium at the moment is two MP10s and a Protein Skimmer. I ordered an Algae Scrubber last week and it's on the way.

My current parameters are:
Nitrate: 40 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Alk: 250 ppm (kh)
PH: 8
Phosphates: 0.25 ppm
Temp: 77
Salinity: 1.026

Saltmix: I was using Tropic Marin Pro but it seems to be some kind of shortage going on and I can't find it anywhere. So I'm probably switching to Redsea Coral Pro.

Equipment:

I have no idea what I actually need lol. I see everyone with Apex Equipment that seems pricey and I'm not sure if it's really needed.


I also plan on getting a 300 or 400 gallon Aquarium in the next few years, if that matters.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ZoWhat]

I have no idea what I actually need lol.

I know exactly what you need...

...with two part-time gigs on top
of your full-time

 

[R33fDaddy]

I got like no replies to this, maybe everyone hates dosing lol

Anyway, after much research I decided to go the Redsea Foundation+ route. So I'm going to get The Redsea Foundation and The Trace Colors; which means I'll be dosing eight things Alk, Mag, Calcium, iodine, potassium, Iron, Bioactive elements and I'll dose Reef Energy AB+ by hand (AB+ is amazing btw). Also switched to RedSea Coral Pro Saltmix.

Dosing pumps are kinda pricey so I'm going to start with two of the Jabeo Wifi Dosers. They are small and two of them can fit in my cabinet neatly; that gets me 8 heads for less than $200.

Parameters I'll be shooting for:

Salinity 1.027
Calcium 450ppm
Magnesium 1350
Alkalinity 11.5 dkh
Nitrate 2ppm
Phosphates 0.1ppm

This is for a mixed reef. Any thoughts?

 

[PeterC99]

I got like no replies to this, maybe everyone hates dosing lol

Anyway, after much research I decided to go the Redsea Foundation+ route. So I'm going to get The Redsea Foundation and The Trace Colors; which means I'll be dosing eight things Alk, Mag, Calcium, iodine, potassium, Iron, Bioactive elements and I'll dose Reef Energy AB+ by hand (AB+ is amazing btw). Also switched to RedSea Coral Pro Saltmix.

Dosing pumps are kinda pricey so I'm going to start with two of the Jabeo Wifi Dosers. They are small and two of them can fit in my cabinet neatly; that gets me 8 heads for less than $200.

Parameters I'll be shooting for:

Salinity 1.027
Calcium 450ppm
Magnesium 1350
Alkalinity 11.5 dkh
Nitrate 2ppm
Phosphates 0.1ppm

This is for a mixed reef. Any thoughts?

Do you do water changes regularly? If so and you are using a high quality salt, you probably won’t need to dose so many things. Also what are your aquarium’s demands for the different elements.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Only dose things you have a test kit for is my recommendations, or if sending out monthly ICP tests. I dose trace elements weekly and two part depending on my cal / alk levels no water changes

 

[klimfish]

Are you measuring your levels between water changes and noticing they are falling further than you want? Just wondering what makes you want to dose all of this to start.

IF you are seeing your levels drop of things like Alk, Calcium, and Mag between water changes, then it's a good idea to start dosing those 3 elements. I've found trace dosing is not needed as much in tanks that do frequent water changes.

Have you bought test kits for test your trace elements and determined they are below what you want?

Don't just start dosing because it's been a "certain amount of time". Get the test kits, do the measurements, and let the hard numbers dictate your path. Otherwise you are aiming for a target you cannot even see.

That Alkalinity target of 11.5 is SUPER high. I'd recommend Red Sea blue bucket salt for a more manageable Alk level. Somewhere between 7-9. 12 is very likely overkill and not appropriate for your system given it's age and lack of SPS corals and low nutrients.

Given that you've put so much effort into getting good dosing chemicals, and will be doing a lot of testing and measuring and logging before you buy anything, why would you negate all of that effort by getting "budget" dosing pumps? You can get all the best chemicals and perfect the amount you need to dose per hour but if one of the dosers fails in the "on" position, it doesn't matter. Just a thought. Maybe wait for it to be too much of a pain to dose by hand, chemical by chemical, and get a nice, single headed dosing pump as needed. Something like an Ecotech Marine Versa. There is no need to jump all in at once.

 

[dedragon]

I got like no replies to this, maybe everyone hates dosing lol

Anyway, after much research I decided to go the Redsea Foundation+ route. So I'm going to get The Redsea Foundation and The Trace Colors; which means I'll be dosing eight things Alk, Mag, Calcium, iodine, potassium, Iron, Bioactive elements and I'll dose Reef Energy AB+ by hand (AB+ is amazing btw). Also switched to RedSea Coral Pro Saltmix.

Dosing pumps are kinda pricey so I'm going to start with two of the Jabeo Wifi Dosers. They are small and two of them can fit in my cabinet neatly; that gets me 8 heads for less than $200.

Parameters I'll be shooting for:

Salinity 1.027
Calcium 450ppm
Magnesium 1350
Alkalinity 11.5 dkh
Nitrate 2ppm
Phosphates 0.1ppm

This is for a mixed reef. Any thoughts?

Planning acros in the reef or mostly lps and soft corals? Coral pro mixes a little high in alk for what it seems my acros prefer which is around 8dkH

 

[R33fDaddy]

Do you do water changes regularly? If so and you are using a high quality salt, you probably won’t need to dose so many things. Also what are your aquarium’s demands for the different elements.

I'm not sure what the demands are just yet; I'm currently doing weekly 10% Water changes (was doing 20% weekly). However I do notice a big difference in Corals after I do a 10% Water change on Thursday. By Tuesday everything is looking closed up and not as fluffy. I'm using Redsea Coral Pro Saltmix.

Will be ordering: Hanna Alk Tester, Aquaforest Magnesium tester and Redsea Calcium checker along with The Redsea Foundation and Trace Colors.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Planning acros in the reef or mostly lps and soft corals? Coral pro mixes a little high in alk for what it seems my acros prefer which is around 8dkH

Would the higher Alk be harmful to acros?

 

[R33fDaddy]

Only dose things you have a test kit for is my recommendations, or if sending out monthly ICP tests. I dose trace elements weekly and two part depending on my cal / alk levels no water changes

I'll be ordering the test kits with the Reef Foundation and Trace Colors. The thing that sold me on Redsea was the high concentration levels (so I could have smaller dosing containers under my cabinet), the trace elements are dosed based on Calcium consumption which should make it easy. Definitely will test to see exactly what's being consumed, just to figure out what numbers to target.

 

[CK00020]

I would suggest buying the auto aqua stirrer for your cal and mag tests, it makes it so easy

 

[dedragon]

Would the higher Alk be harmful to acros?

Not completely sure, in my tank i just found that some acros dont acclimate well to higher alk. started losing less to rtn when I targeted lower alk. Also i would target 1.025-1.026 for red sea salt, just so it doesnt have precipitation and increased parameters

 

[PeterC99]

I'm not sure what the demands are just yet; I'm currently doing weekly 10% Water changes (was doing 20% weekly). However I do notice a big difference in Corals after I do a 10% Water change on Thursdays by Tuesday everything is looking closed up and not as fluffy. I'm using Redsea Coral Pro Saltmix.

Will be ordering: Hanna Alk Tester, Aquaforest Magnesium tester and Redsea Calcium checker along with The Redsea Foundation and Trace Colors.

Start testing parameters first. After you get familiar with them, THEN you can start dosing.

You are putting the cart before the horse. How much are you going to dose if you don’t the demand/consumption of your aquarium?

 

[R33fDaddy]

Are you measuring your levels between water changes and noticing they are falling further than you want? Just wondering what makes you want to dose all of this to start.

IF you are seeing your levels drop of things like Alk, Calcium, and Mag between water changes, then it's a good idea to start dosing those 3 elements. I've found trace dosing is not needed as much in tanks that do frequent water changes.

Have you bought test kits for test your trace elements and determined they are below what you want?

Don't just start dosing because it's been a "certain amount of time". Get the test kits, do the measurements, and let the hard numbers dictate your path. Otherwise you are aiming for a target you cannot even see.

That Alkalinity target of 11.5 is SUPER high. I'd recommend Red Sea blue bucket salt for a more manageable Alk level. Somewhere between 7-9. 12 is very likely overkill and not appropriate for your system given it's age and lack of SPS corals and low nutrients.

Given that you've put so much effort into getting good dosing chemicals, and will be doing a lot of testing and measuring and logging before you buy anything, why would you negate all of that effort by getting "budget" dosing pumps? You can get all the best chemicals and perfect the amount you need to dose per hour but if one of the dosers fails in the "on" position, it doesn't matter. Just a thought. Maybe wait for it to be too much of a pain to dose by hand, chemical by chemical, and get a nice, single headed dosing pump as needed. Something like an Ecotech Marine Versa. There is no need to jump all in at once.

Thanks for that reply:

The reason I know I should start dosing is because my Corals look fluffy and extended after I do a water change. After about three days things start to fall off until the next water change. I do weekly water changes at 10% for now. I do have an Algae Scrubber so once it gets going maybe the need for water changes as Nutirent export will be reduced which means that I'll have to dose since I see such visible differences currently with just water changes. Does that make sense lol?

I'm also about to pull a bunch of Coral out of my Quarantine Tank and put in My Display so I'm sure the demand will increase. See my original post for what I'll be putting in my display.

I'm ordering the test kits when I get the dosing chemicals: Hannah Alk, Aquaforest Mag and Redsea for Calcium.
Far as the dosing pumps I have two options because I want to keep everything neat and within the cabinet. I really want the Redsea Dosing Pumps but who knows when those will be available for purchase (they would fit nicely in my cabinet). The Jabeo ones are cheaply priced but from my research seem to work well. I'll probably end up upgrading to the Redsea pumps eventually. I heard that you have to dose things at different times of the day or not all at once which why I decided hand dosing may be too much.

I got that Alk number of 11.5 directly from Redsea. They have a calculator which you put in your Aquarium and Coral and it gives you parameters. My display tank looks really good after I do a water change with Redsea Coral Pro Salt, so should I just try stick with the parameters of that salt or lower Alk?

Also you said my nutrients are low; isn't 40ppm of Nitrates really high?

 

[dedragon]

you wrote 2ppm nitrate a couple of posts back...

 

[R33fDaddy]

Not completely sure, in my tank i just found that some acros dont acclimate well to higher alk. started losing less to rtn when I targeted lower alk. Also i would target 1.025-1.026 for red sea salt, just so it doesnt have precipitation and increased parameters

Okay I go for 1.026 that's not a bjg adjustment. I'll adjust on my next water change.

 

[dedragon]

i think most thought you had gotten parameters to those or very close to that

 

[R33fDaddy]

you wrote 2ppm nitrate a couple of posts back...

2PPM is what I'll be targeting, 40 PPM is what I have now. Sorry if that was confusing.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Only dose things you have a test kit for is my recommendations, or if sending out monthly ICP tests. I dose trace elements weekly and two part depending on my cal / alk levels no water changes

What do you do for Nutirent export that allows you not to do water changes?

 

[dedragon]

40ppm nitrate is very high, i would probably stick to the 20% water changes just to get that in check first. 40 to 2ppm is a large change though. Also checked some stuff from previous posts, 250 ppm alk is about 14dkH and was way too high. Red sea coral pro is actually fine for now because it will allow your tank to adjust to lower alk, if you want to go a little lower you can switch to blue bucket when you are low on coral pro salt.