Survey: How much (2 part) do you dose per day for your tank?

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Matt Rogers, Sep 29, 2010.

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  1. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Time for a survey! I thought it might be helpful to myself :) and others if everybody that doses 2 part alkalinity and calcium additives successfully post the following:

    1) How much you are dosing of each (mL) a day to keep you aquarium stable.
    2) The total water volume (gal) of your aquarium.
    3) Your magnesium (ppm) and dosing rate.
    4) Coral load (light, med, heavy) and type majority (LPS, SPS, etc).
    5) Target values of alkalinity and calcium you are shooting for.


    ---

    Personally (and I am not a great 1st example as I have just been picking this up):

    I use ESV and I am still figuring this out a bit for daily dose rates as , but so far-

    1) 30 (ml) each (experience shows if I dose much less, alk drops fast. Calcium not as fast but does go down a bit)

    2) Using the 3reef advanced water volume calculator by ReefSparky and from 3reefer feedback I appear to have 30-34 gallons of water total volume.

    3) Mag is a bit over 1400. I try to keep it up here. Consumption rate is not very high and I don't need to deal with it daily. Every 2 weeks seems to work.

    4) Coral load: medium. Majority: SPS

    5) Target values: 4 meq/L alk 440 calcium (hard for me to maintain so far as just when I get it there it is time for a water change and that throws everything)
    What I often settle for lately: high 3's alk and 400 - 425 calcium


    EDIT - OPTIONAL: How did you determine your daily consumption rate?


    Still a lot of gray area here for me, hoping our survey helps me and others. Please post if you can add to this!

    matt
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2010
    1 person likes this.
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  3. yamaharider73

    yamaharider73 Kole Tang

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    Great thread Matt. I am definatly going to follow this one. I will probably learn something ;) Thanks for starting it.
     
  4. evolved

    evolved Wrasse Freak

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    Alright, I can play. I do think a big factor in this will be frequency/amount of WC's.

    That being said, I do a 15-20% change every two weeks, and dose in-between to keep parameters stable.

    I use the BRS for my dosing needs.

    1. 40ml/day of both
    2. ~120gal (it took 4 30gal trash cans to fill my tank when it was new, and I've only added fish/corals since then)
    3. 1500. I infrequently dose, only dose when needed per testing. My water changes are pretty sufficient to maintain this. If dosing is needed, it's probably once every 4-6 weeks.
    4. Med to heavy, will be more towards heavy once everything starts to get big. Lots of LPS and almost as much SPS.
    5. I try to maintain alk at 9-10dkh, Ca at 450.

    I determined my daily rate by using the BRS suggested amounts as a guide, and started on the low end. I then monitored (testing) parameters and gradually increased my dose till things stayed stable.
     
  5. crank2211

    crank2211 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Got the doser dialed in to deliver 56mL of Cal/Alk every day in 12 individual doses per day.

    This keeps my CAL at 425 and ALK at 9.5 dkh.

    55 gallon sumpless/refugiumless - total volume estimated 40-45 gallons

    Many sps frags/mini colonies - bunch of soft stuff and some LPS.

    6 gallon water changes every week or two maintains the Mag for me. I shoot for 1350.
     
  6. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    I agree. My salt 'salinity' is close to NSW numbers and pulls everything down if I don't spike it first.

    Thanks for posting yours.

    I find it interesting that you don't dose much more than me for a much bigger system. I think I dose too much presently playing catch up, but I think it would taper off when I get to the target values.
     
  7. Dr. Reefenstein

    Dr. Reefenstein Fire Shrimp

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    At the tip
    1) How much you are dosing of each (mL) a day to keep you aquarium stable.
    2) The total water volume (gal) of your aquarium.
    3) Your magnesium (ppm) and dosing rate.
    4) Coral load (light, med, heavy) and type majority (LPS, SPS, etc).
    5) Target values of alkalinity and calcium you are shooting for.

    I use NSW since I live on the coast of Florida and change out about 10 gallons every 2 weeks.

    1) I use 2 little fishes 2 part. 20ml of each every morning//my top off is also enriched with Kalk...
    2) 72g tank w/20sump = 66g of total water
    3) Don't test Mag as of right now....
    4) I'd say my coral load is a med load and it's mixed LPS and SPS
    5) I keep the Cal at 420 and the Alk at 9.42 dKh
     
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  9. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    Hey Matt. Ive been having issues with my Seachem ALK test since its in Meq/L, it just seems its not as precise and dKh. What do you use to test and track your useage. Im a horrible reefer and just dose a capful of reef carbonate every so often when I think my corals want more, im going to test today and track depletion for a week however. I have a decent load but they are all tiny right now.
     
  10. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    After nudging from 3reefers for years I switched to a Salifert alk test that I got from BRS. Very accurate and easy to use. I recommend it highly!

    Thanks for info crank2211 and Dr. Reefenstein by the way!
     
  11. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    but its in meq/l and has a color change at .5, 1, 1.5, 2, etc? Thats how the Seachem test works and it seems like having a test that reads in dKh at say 8.5 8.7 8.9 etc is far more precise
     
  12. reefmonkey

    reefmonkey Giant Squid

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    Once I had my clam and all the SPS/LPS I knew I was going to add I tested all three daily and recorded the results then took an average to get the daily dose. Mg is a pain for me because I have 27 sprouted red mangroves in a system with 71 total gallons of water. They suck up a ton of magnesium on an average day but if 3 or four are budding new leaves at the same time it's a mega-ton of usage. lol

    To keep my numbers at 11 dkH, 440 ca, 1500 mg I have to dose 22 ml of alk and 17 ml of ca daily. I dose 55 ml of mag every other day.