Dosing ? and help

[donkey77]

Ok i got a 90 reef with a 33g sump, iam using instant ocean reef salt, reg water changes, i grow some cheato in the sump also, i have a mixed tank of mostly LPS, lots of zoa's, lots of corals, I check my tanks parm and its using some of the elements, cal,alk, mag. I want to start using my 3 channel dosing unit, i got red sea abc reef foundation, Iam having a hard time judging how much my tank is using so iam going to start off with 20ml a day dose 8 times a day 7 days a week with a 10 min delay, what should i dose first
My coraline algae is not really growing great. what should i start off my mag at
I know its hit or miss with dosers, i don't want to over dose my tank so i will start off low and work my way up
any help
thanks

[Craigdillman]

Before you start dosing I would ask a few things

first check levels preferable just before water change then in a week check the levels again and see what changed, what dropped? What stayed the same?

You need to figure out demand and usage before just dosing or you'll end up with parameters that are out of whack

How often do you do your WCs ?

For example I test before wc.... 2 weeks go by I test again before next one I see what levels dropped say for me it was Alk by 1.5 points and calcium by 30ish points and mag never changed

So for dosing I need to set up to replace the 1.5 Alk and calcium in between my WC

Set your doser and check the para every day for next few days to make sure your not over doing it or under doing it

[riceboy]

List what you have for mag, alk and cal. If ur gonna dose u need to check where your at. I keep mine at 1300 for mag and 7.8 for alk. And calcium is about 450. Make sure your mag is at probe levels first before dosing alk and calcium. That really controls the alk level. Then look at the bottle to see how muchof the solution will raise your dkh, mag, and cal for your v
water volume. Test next day and see how much it has go e down by. What ever it has gone down by that is your daily dosage. Bring up ur levels to where they should be first Slowly tho. Pretty sure I've posted this up on ur last thread as well.

[Craigdillman]

There also should be calculators on BRS.com or other sites you can put your product in and figure out how to mix it up and how to determine how many ml of x product raises your tsnk volume by x ppm

[newbie2]

Hey there, just to get an idea on how much to start at I have about 20 small sps frags that are just starting to settle in and grow and I currently dose 8ml/day of each part of esv bionic 2 part to keep my alk at 8.0. I test everyday to see when it drifts. I started out dosing 5ml/day when I first put the frags in and up'd from there. This is in a 120gallon tank.

I do anywhere from 5% to 10% a week water changes as well.

I also have a nano that has mostly zoas, softies and a few sps frags and I don't dose at all. just 10% water changes a week.

Hope that helps you with your starting point.

[donkey77]

i try do change out 15g a week for WC
Ive tested and tested and my levels are just under or stay the same

[donkey77]

iam going to test my water right now and post it i did a 10g water change a week ago

[donkey77]

cal 480
alk 8.2
mag 1350
using salifert

[newbie2]

cool, really can't say anymore than the other guys said above.

1. Start daily tests of alkalinity.
2. If it is falling daily, then look at a calculator online for the product and dose to maintain a steady level
3. Continue to test daily until all levels stabilize with dosing
4. Test before and after water changes to make sure you don't have any drastic bumps in levels that will through you out of wack

Also, make sure you are dosing according to the ratios of the product -most products dose 1 to 1 the calcium and alk parts. This way you only have to test cal weekly after a bit because you know that if your alk is in line, then your calcium should follow as long as your mag is in a good range.


If your doing regular water changes, then you shouldn't need to dose mag. I rarely add any at this point.

[newbie2]

PS, all your levels look fine.

Good luck!!