New to dosing. Nervous.

[charbel101]

So my tank is finally taking off. And my corals are happy. After been months of having instability in my tank. Things are looking pretty good. My tank going to be mixed reef but mostly stoney corals. Like LPS.

My tak is 36 gallons display, and 18 gallon sump. 54 gallons system. With a water volume of 46-50 gallons.

My alk dropped from the last water change which was 5 days ago from 7.4 to 7.1. My calcium dropped from 426 to 405. My mag is 1300. And i would it to have to it at 1500 if possible.

I know nothing abou dosing. I prefer liquid stuff i dont care about the price i just want less headache mixing powder.

Whats the best product for me out there. I dosed red sea (b) before once and i took 6ml to achieve 0.3dkh.

 

[nuxx]

Don't be too nervous, just start slow and really monitor.

 

[EricR]

If you're trying to figure out how much to dose, there are online calculators.
BRS website has one and here's just one other example:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[John Bolden]

To test your self test your levels add 5ml to your tank test again and get a base line of how much the additives affect my levels. Then I add enough of that to get to the desired level. To raise would do in your case for alk I do 1ppm per day. And for cal i would do 10 ppm per day. So use your testing base line for your cal alk and mag.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So my tank is finally taking off. And my corals are happy. After been months of having instability in my tank. Things are looking pretty good. My tank going to be mixed reef but mostly stoney corals. Like LPS.

My tak is 36 gallons display, and 18 gallon sump. 54 gallons system. With a water volume of 46-50 gallons.

My alk dropped from the last water change which was 5 days ago from 7.4 to 7.1. My calcium dropped from 426 to 405. My mag is 1300. And i would it to have to it at 1500 if possible.

I know nothing abou dosing. I prefer liquid stuff i dont care about the price i just want less headache mixing powder.

Whats the best product for me out there. I dosed red sea (b) before once and i took 6ml to achieve 0.3dkh.

There is a balance between alk and calcium . For alk, it doesn’t take much to stabilize the alk in the tank with baking soda using about 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gal of water. Once it has been added, you just wait about 24 hrs and test again to see where the alkalinity is then at. Additionally before running MAG at 1500, see how corals are doing at 1400. Adding CA at times can create lower alk as well as water changes at lower CA can lower the alk or higher CA readings.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Be slow and cautious about it and use the Reef Chemistry calculator to figure out how much you need to add. Best of luck to you!!

 

[bushdoc]

ESV B-Ionic is stuff I would recommend. It is popular, lots of LFS carry it. It does have some trace elements and it comes ready to use In a container,

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

B-ionic esv 2 part, aquaforest balling or just mix bulk products, its all relatively easy, start now so you can use little increments its good your seeing uptake

 

[Jason Scalise]

there are a lot of products that are commonly used including pre-mixed liquids.
RedSea is popular. ESV 2-part is also popular.
another strategy is Kalkwasser.
as said, all have good instructions and online calculators on how to apply.

That said, I would suggest you keep in mind a number of things if you have not already:

• a water change can effectively replenish your CA and Alk (and other things).
• resit the urge to 'chase numbers'.
  • a 0.3 change in your alk is likely within the margin of error of your test kit.
  • some test kits are more consistent than others.
    • I prefer the digital Hanna checkers for CA and Alk, personally.
• you should try to understand your daily consumption based on growth. then try to subsidize or replenish that to where your corals seem happy.
• a 0.3 drop of alk every day means you should aim for adding 0.3 equivalent.
  • but keep in mind it can be a moving target as your tank stabilizes, happiness and growth may accelerate or coraline algae may take off ...or all of the above. that will likely increase your alk/CA demand (which is not a bad thing). But testing should be able to track that. You want to know the trends...and less so "what it is exactly today"
• Speaking of testing, endeavor to test around the same time of the day as normal swings due to daily consumption with lights on, pH, etc...can all affect results....and causes people to chase numbers when they should not be.
• CA and alk additives are typically designed to be dosed in similar amounts as they affect each other. hence the concept of "2-part" dosing.
• dont forget about Mag...as it very much influences CA readings and biologic availability.
  • for instance, someone who neglects Mag and it gets too low and then they raise it to appropriate levels...may find Alk and CA drop after that as coral happiness improves and growth and consumption improve.
• a tank thriving at 7.5dKH in for one person may also thrive at 8.5dKh for another person.

Most important....

• resit the urge to make rapid corrections to the "correct number".
• GO SLOW.
• and if your corals are doing fine...then that is telling you that they dont need a lot of adjustment. Better can be the enemy of really good, for sure.

lots of really good advice out there, so you should be in good shape with stuff to read.

 

[exnisstech]

ESV B-Ionic is stuff I would recommend. It is popular, lots of LFS carry it. It does have some trace elements and it comes ready to use In a container,

This is what I use as well. I personally have never dosed mag. I rarely even test for it any longer. I depend on my water changes for that and I guess it's working because things are doing well and not dying. I manually dose my 2 part. No pumps to fail and over or under dose. Kalk may be another option for alk and cal. Just go slow and research as much as you can. And remember each system is different and there usually isn't a one size fits all recommendation to dosing. I also try not to get caught up in all the miracle in bottle products out there. I like to keep things as simple as I can to avoid excess frustration, there's enough of that already in the hobby at times.

 

[charbel101]

This is what I use as well. I personally have never dosed mag. I rarely even test for it any longer. I depend on my water changes for that and I guess it's working because things are doing well and not dying. I manually dose my 2 part. No pumps to fail and over or under dose. Kalk may be another option for alk and cal. Just go slow and research as much as you can. And remember each system is different and there usually isn't a one size fits all recommendation to dosing. I also try not to get caught up in all the miracle in bottle products out there. I like to keep things as simple as I can to avoid excess frustration, there's enough of that already in the hobby at times.

What about all for reef? Isnt same stuff?

 

[exnisstech]

What about all for reef? Isnt same stuff?

I haven't used AFR but it's different and has some mystery ingredients. I had considered switching a while back but ended up staying with ESV bionic 2 part after doing some research.

 

[Pistondog]

I started with b ionic. Dose 2 equal parts once a day for starters.
Read directions for suggested start dose. Measure alk after a week and adjust.
So easy.

 

[charbel101]

I started with b ionic. Dose 2 equal parts once a day for starters.
Read directions for suggested start dose. Measure alk after a week and adjust.
So easy.

Like for now as my alk was 7.0. I dosed red sea and got it up to 7.3

 

[102ttran]

What kind of salt are you using and do you do water change? Because in 5 days and your alk drop only 0.3dkh is not much. You can do water change to match up your level again. But if you just want to boost up your alk and calcium by dosing you can use the bulkreefsupply calculator and dose by there recommendation. It doesn't have to be exact number for gallon total you can be off by 10% and its still fine.

 

[charbel101]

What kind of salt are you using and do you do water change? Because in 5 days and your alk drop only 0.3dkh is not much. You can do water change to match up your level again. But if you just want to boost up your alk and calcium by dosing you can use the bulkreefsupply calculator and dose by there recommendation. It doesn't have to be exact number for gallon total you can be off by 10% and its still fine.

Previously a month ago. I had my nutrients bottom out to 0 phosphate and nitrate. So i started dosing that back up. And dosing phosphate caused instability in my tank, and all my corals closed up. So is stopped dosing. And my phosphate without any dosing, balanced itself out to 0.03-0.04. Sp now i do water changes when my phosphate goes back up to 0.07. It gives me room. So to be fair i dont do water changes weekly. And my salt is the tropic marin pro. It mixes at 7.5 as i tested the batch before. My calcium rn sitting at 400. And mag at 1350

 

[102ttran]

Previously a month ago. I had my nutrients bottom out to 0 phosphate and nitrate. So i started dosing that back up. And dosing phosphate caused instability in my tank, and all my corals closed up. So is stopped dosing. And my phosphate without any dosing, balanced itself out to 0.03-0.04. Sp now i do water changes when my phosphate goes back up to 0.07. It gives me room. So to be fair i dont do water changes weekly. And my salt is the tropic marin pro. It mixes at 7.5 as i tested the batch before. My calcium rn sitting at 400. And mag at 1350

So when you do water change it doesn't boost up your alk or calcium? Like I said it's fine if you don't want to do water change but dose accordingly half of the recommendation dose and then slowly increase your dose. Your corals is not fully open can be other factor too not only your alk calcium and mag. Because like I said in 5 days and your alk drop only 0.3dkh that's not a big deal. I just started my tank 3 months ago and I have about 20 acro frags and my daily swing is 0.3dkh and using a calcium reactor for dosing and I'm happy about that. See how much your tank alkalinity consumption is in 2 days is then calculate it out how much you need to dose.

 

[charbel101]

there are a lot of products that are commonly used including pre-mixed liquids.
RedSea is popular. ESV 2-part is also popular.
another strategy is Kalkwasser.
as said, all have good instructions and online calculators on how to apply.

That said, I would suggest you keep in mind a number of things if you have not already:

• a water change can effectively replenish your CA and Alk (and other things).
• resit the urge to 'chase numbers'.
  • a 0.3 change in your alk is likely within the margin of error of your test kit.
  • some test kits are more consistent than others.
    • I prefer the digital Hanna checkers for CA and Alk, personally.
• you should try to understand your daily consumption based on growth. then try to subsidize or replenish that to where your corals seem happy.
• a 0.3 drop of alk every day means you should aim for adding 0.3 equivalent.
  • but keep in mind it can be a moving target as your tank stabilizes, happiness and growth may accelerate or coraline algae may take off ...or all of the above. that will likely increase your alk/CA demand (which is not a bad thing). But testing should be able to track that. You want to know the trends...and less so "what it is exactly today"
• Speaking of testing, endeavor to test around the same time of the day as normal swings due to daily consumption with lights on, pH, etc...can all affect results....and causes people to chase numbers when they should not be.
• CA and alk additives are typically designed to be dosed in similar amounts as they affect each other. hence the concept of "2-part" dosing.
• dont forget about Mag...as it very much influences CA readings and biologic availability.
  • for instance, someone who neglects Mag and it gets too low and then they raise it to appropriate levels...may find Alk and CA drop after that as coral happiness improves and growth and consumption improve.
• a tank thriving at 7.5dKH in for one person may also thrive at 8.5dKh for another person.

Most important....

• resit the urge to make rapid corrections to the "correct number".
• GO SLOW.
• and if your corals are doing fine...then that is telling you that they dont need a lot of adjustment. Better can be the enemy of really good, for sure.

lots of really good advice out there, so you should be in good shape with stuff to read.

I doses alk by red sea b from 7.1 to 7.5 in 2 days. My calcium is 400. Can i raise that to 450?

 

[Jason Scalise]

You can certainly raise it if desired. But you don’t need to go quickly and if your corals are doing ok now, then you really don’t need to go quickly.
I would consider raising it over a week or so. Be mindful of mag too.
Ca of 400 is not super-low. On the lower side of things, yes. But not problematically low. Increase if desired but don’t think of it as “need to do asap”….because you don’t