Dosing: What do I need?

[amanda_marie]

Now that I've got some LPS corals in my tank I'm getting what I need to monitor additional levels in my tank and want to have on hand what I'll need to dose.

I'm ordering the Red Sea kit that will allow me to test for mag, alk, and cal. I wanted to go ahead and order any supplements I would need to hopefully avoid additional shipping charges in the near future. (I don't have much of an option in terms of LFSs)

My problem is that I'm not quite sure what I'll need. I know not to dose anything I can not test for and because of that have only added supplements for dosing each mag, cal, and alk. I'm not sure if or what supplements might be better than others, so any advice there would be great. Or if there is more of a combination supplement that would make things easier.

I obviously don't know my cal, mag, and alk levels yet so am unsure of if I'll even need to dose yet. I'll have to learn more about the actual dosing process when its time.

I'm currently using Instant Ocean salt mix. I was thinking of upgrading now because of the corals I have. Any suggestions there would be great. I also do at least a weekly PWC and do more if/when needed.

Advice on what I need to look into ordering and even preferred brand suggestions I would really appreciate.

I'm feeling pretty lost on this topic at the moment.

 

[Mrc8858]

A quality reef salt and a regular water change schedule will keep your parameters in a good range most of the time. Once you start getting packed with stony corals and I mean a few for every gallon of water you'll start to see drastic enough swings that dosing may be needed. To give you an idea I have about 150 corals in my 46 (mostly frags) and I need about a 25ml dose of alkalinity and calcium to keep my preferred levels. b-ionic is a good, tried and tested dosing solution or you can get brs powder mix which is more economical. What you will want to do (when you have more corals since now I doubt it'll be noticeable) is test every day for a week maybe even twice a day (morning and night) and you'll start to see a depletion trend of your elements which will pretty much be the same all the time given the same water parameters. From there you can use a calculator suited to the specific dosed that your using to figure out how many ml per gallon it will take to raise each element so much. Also remember you only dose what you can test for in the reef hobby. So like most of us you will only need to dose the three main elements if any (alkalinity, calcium, magnesium)

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Sounds like you have some wisdom in this! I know certain salt mix contains higher cal or alk red sea is one kent is another which might help your levels stay up. Many options for dosing I use oceans blend cal and alk the cal contains trace elements and mag. You could look up online oceans blend also Dr gs has a good salt mix these products seem to be more southeast but can be shipped anywhere.

 

[Mrc8858]

I highly reccomend Kent to anyone that keeps a heavy stock of corals which is what I've been using for over a year now. It tends to mix the highest calcium readings I've found (550ppm range) along with fantastic alk and mag levels. On top of it all its usually $10 cheaper then most other mixes for their 200 gallon bucket!

 

[amanda_marie]

Thanks so much for the quick replies!

I don't have a whole lot in terms of corals yet, I started getting corals at most a month ago. I thought the salt mix would provide what I needed, at least for some time, but just wasn't sure. Especially since I haven't tested yet.

For now my corals are:

Ricordias
Snowflake Polyp Colony
Zoa Colony
Paly Colony
Sinularia Leather
Rhodactis Purple Mushrooms
Blastos
Branching Hammer (5 heads)
Australian Rainbow Lobophyllia
Australian Trachyphyllia

It was the addition of the LPS that concerned me in terms of calcium and such being used up. I just wasn't sure what to expect since this is my first reef tank and all.

Once I get my test kit in would it be best to test for about a week, starting like day after water change and up until the next one? Will that give me a good idea on the depletion? Or would it even be noticeable yet with my few corals?

I'll definitely look into gettting the Kents salt mix, seems I've heard/read good things about it before too. I was wanting to switch from the Instant Ocean now with more corals and thought I'd go ahead and order some since I'm already placing an order at Dr.Fosters and Smith.

I have a mostly full bucket of Instant Ocean right now, think the trace elements in that mix would be sufficient for me for some time? I'm thinking so from your examples, I really expected the levels to be affected more than it seems like they really will be.

Also, its sounding like I shouldn't even worry about purchasing any supplements as of yet?

Sorry for the question overload, just want to make sure I've got this down.

 

[Mrc8858]

Honestly you shouldnt see more then 20-60ppm depletion at most from those corals in your tank a week so don't waste the precious test liquids testing daily just yet. I would wait until you either have a colony per couple gallons of water or a few frags per gallon til I would suspect your levels to be effected enough that your wc isn't completely correcting them. For now I would just test before and after every water change to get a rough idea of your tanks trend. When you start to see major fluctuations or your water changes not keeping up then you'll want to start dosing.

 

[Daniel Fishy]

I agree with wc you should be fine for now.

 

[ccCapt]

I'll definitely look into gettting the Kents salt mix, seems I've heard/read good things about it before too. I was wanting to switch from the Instant Ocean now with more corals and thought I'd go ahead and order some since I'm already placing an order at Dr.Fosters and Smith.

I have a mostly full bucket of Instant Ocean right now, think the trace elements in that mix would be sufficient for me for some time? I'm thinking so from your examples, I really expected the levels to be affected more than it seems like they really will be.

Just an FYI. Instant Ocean is a perfectly fine salt to use. You can, of course, switch salts if you like but it's not necessary.

Here's my tank and I use regular Instant Ocean and have been for well over 20 yrs.

 

[amanda_marie]

Honestly you shouldnt see more then 20-60ppm depletion at most from those corals in your tank a week so don't waste the precious test liquids testing daily just yet. I would wait until you either have a colony per couple gallons of water or a few frags per gallon til I would suspect your levels to be effected enough that your wc isn't completely correcting them. For now I would just test before and after every water change to get a rough idea of your tanks trend. When you start to see major fluctuations or your water changes not keeping up then you'll want to start dosing.

Daniel Fishy I agree with wc you should be fine for now.

Thank you both!

I'll continue water changes weekly as I have been and test as suggested. That makes the most sense and I certainly don't want to be using up all the tests when its not necessary.

ccCapt
Quote:
I'll definitely look into gettting the Kents salt mix, seems I've heard/read good things about it before too. I was wanting to switch from the Instant Ocean now with more corals and thought I'd go ahead and order some since I'm already placing an order at Dr.Fosters and Smith.

I have a mostly full bucket of Instant Ocean right now, think the trace elements in that mix would be sufficient for me for some time? I'm thinking so from your examples, I really expected the levels to be affected more than it seems like they really will be.
Just an FYI. Instant Ocean is a perfectly fine salt to use. You can, of course, switch salts if you like but it's not necessary.

Here's my tank and I use regular Instant Ocean and have been for well over 20 yrs.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1600x444.

Thanks so much. Your tank looks amazing by the way! I've still got a ways to go.

I wasn't sure about the levels of calcium and such in the Instant Ocean compared to some other brands, I had been trying to look into that before I purchased more salt. I just thought it'd be best to have a salt with higher levels to save some work with dosing, or maybe put it off. But not being sure of what to expect in terms of what Instant Ocean contains and how fast the corals would deplete, I didn't know whether or not it could be beneficial to switch. I believe I may wait until I'm at least able to test with my current mix and stock before I just decided to switch since I haven't had any issues with Instant Ocean or anything yet. I'm just waiting on the test kit to ship and arrive now.

 

[fort384]

If you decide to get into dosing:

I dose 2 part solution I make using supplies from Bulk Reef Supply. They have easy instructions to follow. I also installed timers and perastaltic pumps so the system is largely automated. It only requires filling the dosing vessels every 4-5 weeks or so and that is it.

Here is what my system setup looks like. The timers are the white boxes in the upper right, and the dosing pumps are hard to see but are lower left. The two containers hold the Calcium and Alkalinity Solutions:

Here is the system I have:
BRS 2 Part Calcium & Alkalinity Total Package with Dosers - Bulk Reef Supply

Here is their instructions:
Instructions for Bulk Packaged Materials - Instructions - Bulk Reef Supply

 

[amanda_marie]

If you decide to get into dosing:

I dose 2 part solution I make using supplies from Bulk Reef Supply. They have easy instructions to follow. I also installed timers and perastaltic pumps so the system is largely automated. It only requires filling the dosing vessels every 4-5 weeks or so and that is it.

Here is what my system setup looks like. The timers are the white boxes in the upper right, and the dosing pumps are hard to see but are lower left. The two containers hold the Calcium and Alkalinity Solutions:

Here is the system I have:
BRS 2 Part Calcium & Alkalinity Total Package with Dosers - Bulk Reef Supply

Here is their instructions:
Instructions for Bulk Packaged Materials - Instructions - Bulk Reef Supply

I'll definitely dose when needed, I just wasn't sure when that would be, what to expect, whats best to use, etc. I wouldn't want the corals health/growth to be affected by anything I can help. I also wouldn't dose anything I can't test for.

That seems like it would make the dosing part much easier once a system like that was installed. I'd say it would be some time before I would need a setup like that. I would definitely have something like that if I had a larger tank and all to make things simpler.

If you don't mind me asking, where do you have that system set up? Like under the tank, in relation to a sump or something?

I ask because I don't have a sump or really any area under the tank where I'd be able to place anything like that, at least not without some more modifications. When I originally purchased the tank I did I wasn't thinking I was even going to house corals otherwise I would have done some things differently. Now thought I couldn't imagine not having corals, I find myself frequently wanting to order more.

 

[bavass]

BRS 2 Part Calcium & Alkalinity Total Package with Dosers - Bulk Reef Supply

 

[fort384]

Lol Brian I posted the same link.


Yes it is setting next to my sump. You could very easily run it into a display tank though.

 

[amanda_marie]

Lol Brian I posted the same link.


Yes it is setting next to my sump. You could very easily run it into a display tank though.

I will have to look into that. I had seen setups like this in browsing but never thought much about it as I didn't think I'd need a setup like that. Or rather need to dose an amount at some point that would make this much simpler and keep parameters more stable.

Was this a setup you invested in once your tank was full with corals and because it was easier and kept things more stable?

 

[fort384]

Yes, I added it about 7 months after setting my tank up.

 

[amanda_marie]

Yes, I added it about 7 months after setting my tank up.

Thanks for all the information. Now I know this will be a good option for down the road. I'm sure it would make things much easier on myself, less time consuming also, when I get to a point that I'm stocked with a larger amount and sizes of coral.

 

[bavass]

Lol Brian I posted the same link.


Yes it is setting next to my sump. You could very easily run it into a display tank though.

Nice, its a popular item and works great! Hands free for the most part once its set-up. Few adjustments and the demand grows but easy

 

[MikeYQM]

If you're already using an auto topoff, you can add kalk (lime) to keep Alk & Ca levels up. It's quite effective for light-moderate demands and is as simple as mixing to your ATO reservoir.

 

[amanda_marie]

If you're already using an auto topoff, you can add kalk (lime) to keep Alk & Ca levels up. It's quite effective for light-moderate demands and is as simple as mixing to your ATO reservoir.

I'm not using an auto topoff, or sump, etc.

The only equipment I have for the tank, that isn't in the tank exactly, is my HOB skimmer. Reef Octopus BH2000.

For now I was wondering what supplements I should get, to at least have on hand even if I didn't need to dose just yet. I was just thinking about it in terms of me doing the dosing when needed, no setup.

Now though, I am beginning to wonder if a setup may be easiest, at least down the road.

I just don't know what to to expect in terms of my dosing schedule and when it may get difficult dosing without any sort of setup to take care of that. It is definitely something I'll have to look into.

I think I'll be okay for a while with what stock I have currently, especially after the replies I have gotten in this thread.

Just so much to take in as I'm just now really looking into dosing since I began adding corals a month or so ago, and LPS only recently.

 

[MikeYQM]

Your dosing needs will increase incrementally as you increase demands (adding coral or significant growth). It can be as simple as manual dosing between water changes. Once you get tired of that or can't keep up, then look at dosing pumps etc.

One thing you can do, since you don't have an ATO, is what I started off doing: dosing lime with my manual top off water. I imagine you add a bit of water daily to keep your water level in check so your skimmer operates properly. You can mix lime into it in a 1 gallon jug and slow drip it into your tank (1 drop every 1-2 seconds) over night.

Start with a mix of 1 tbsp per gallon of RODI water in the jug, drip through airline tubing using a ball valve or knots to control the drip rate. Depending on needs, you can mix up to 2 tbsp per gallon maximum. Don't add the milky stuff on the bottom of the mix & be sure to drip slow so your pH doesn't rise too much. Even if you only do this once or twice between water changes, it can help keep both alkalinity and calcium more stable. You can also do this with 2 part dosing as well on with calcium and Alk additions on opposite nights.