Additives / Dosing, what do you do/use?

[+SChrisEV]

I have not started adding anything to my tank yet, but an working on an overall plan. I currently have softies, LPS and SPS, I don't really have a coral plan other than to get what tickles my fancy at that given time. I have a few SPS, and I like them, so as they grow I'll likely need to watch my calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.

So I was hoping to get input for what you all use, and how you add it to your tank. I have about 110 gallons of water in my system with the DT and sump, so I'll have to plan around that.

I'm also interested in knowing basic costs of both equipment and additives for planning purposes.

Thanks in advance!

[victoly]

Just getting my feet wet with kalk, it was amazing how much happier everything looked and started growing when I got more Ca/Alk into the water

[Richard L]

For me the basics are calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. I use 2 part (really should be called 3 part) solutions dosed every hour using diastolic pumps contolled by my Apex controller. I love this method because I can easily dial in my dosing to match the demands of the tank. The pumps and the controller are a little pricey but the 2 part chemicals are dirt cheap and I would never run a large reef tank without a controller anyways.

As far as other additives I've tried a bunch but found most of them to have little or no effect. I did see some good results with my LPS using BRS's Reef Chili. But I have stopped using in my vain effort to get my phosphates down to natural seawater levels.

2 months ago I started using the Zeovit system which has a whole host of additives to play with but my tank is still adjusting.

I live off of 2222 so feel free to come by some time and I'll show you my dosing setup.

[BBMarlin]

I dose BRS two part via a aquamedic dosing pump. The aquamedic is autonomous which is nice because I can tweak my dosage quickly and easily. There are cheaper solutions out there, especially if you have a controller (BRS dosing pump is one option). The 2 part solution is pretty cheap, I'll go through the half gallon containers about once a year on my 76 that is heavily stocked (SPS/LPS/Clams). The aquamedic was around 300 for the twin, I think there may be other dosers out there that may be a bit cheaper, not sure.

I dose MG manually whenever I get around to testing for it

-brett

[FarmerTy]

Do yourself a favor and check out Richard's setup if you get a chance.

I manually dosed, then went with the 2-part dosing, and now I have a calcium reactor hooked up. All have their pluses and minuses but I am happy with the calcium reactor.

Calcium, alk, and mag are the big three like Richard said. Nice thing about adding the big 3 to your system via dosing and reactors for nitrates/phosphates/organics is that you there is less of a need for water changes. Almost two years going strong without regular water changes. I will do an occasional sump vacuum out session where I remove all detritus that has settled in the sump about two times a year however.

-Ty

[jestep]

(Ca, Alk, Mg) 2-3 part. I also dose bacteria but mainly because I still have it from some biopellet experimenting and might as well use it. I've heard iodine can really help with blues, but I'm not too excited about dosing something you cannot aqequately test for in a small tank. I've considered a calcium reactor only because I already have a CO2 system that I can plumb into, otherwise I like the ease, safety, and versatility of 2 part dosing.

3rd for Richard's tank. Awesome tank. I wish I had room to set something like that up.

You can get some good peristaltic dosers on ebay for fairly cheap. There's a 3 pump unit for about $150 that I've read good reviews on. Otherwise many can be controlled with a controller.

[Juiceman]

I dose brs' ALK every 30 mins and CA every hour via dosing pumps controlled by the apex. I dose mg manually every now and then, and I dose Kent's essential elements, iodine, and Zeovit k-balance once a week.

I use zeobak bacteria 2x a week, and every now and then I throw one of the Zeovit coral foods in which include Xtra, Amino Acids, Coral Vitalizer, and Zeospur2 which is really cool to see the color difference it makes on SPS.

Little to no water changes here also.

[+brian.srock]

I haven't done a water change in a while as well and use BRS 2 part also. I'm not all fancy with dosing pumps though. I use a very cheap gravity fed method using a gatoraid bottle and air pump that you can put together for $5. First think is to test your big 3 right now to know what you are at. If you are not at optimal levels then perform a water change then test again. Once you get to the levels you need to be at then wait a day and test again. Whatever has dropped is what you should be dosing daily. I tested almost everyday and kept a log until I was confident with exactly what I needed to add to my tank. I do want to upgrade in the future to a calcium reactor but the price is what's holding me back right now.

[Bogdan]

Started with kalkwasser but quickly moved on to BRS two parts + Mg. Still trying to find/tweak the right dose manually before I invest in peristaltic pump.

[+etannert]

I dose B-Ionic Ca, Alk and Mag daily via a Marine Color dosing pump unit that I've had lots of trouble with (need to start a thread about that) or by hand. Weekly I dose 1 drop Iodine, 5ml Potassium, 5ml Strontium, and 15ml ReefPlus. The additives are not too expensive but the dosing pump can be.

[victoly]

Didn't you start out loving that thing?

[(Bio)³]

I used to dose rotifers at 3L per week but i got lazy and let the culture crash now im rebuilding the culture to restart my dosing routine.

[+SChrisEV]

Awesome information, very helpful as usual! Thanks all.

[+SChrisEV]

For me the basics are calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. I use 2 part (really should be called 3 part) solutions dosed every hour using diastolic pumps contolled by my Apex controller. I love this method because I can easily dial in my dosing to match the demands of the tank. The pumps and the controller are a little pricey but the 2 part chemicals are dirt cheap and I would never run a large reef tank without a controller anyways.

As far as other additives I've tried a bunch but found most of them to have little or no effect. I did see some good results with my LPS using BRS's Reef Chili. But I have stopped using in my vain effort to get my phosphates down to natural seawater levels.

2 months ago I started using the Zeovit system which has a whole host of additives to play with but my tank is still adjusting.

I live off of 2222 so feel free to come by some time and I'll show you my dosing setup.

I tried to PM you Richard but got an error "The member Richard L cannot receive any new messages"

[Timfish]

I like aragamight and use superbuffer occasionally. One advantage with kalk is it reacts with the CO2 in the tank water after adding freeing up carbonates and bucarbonates to maintain alkalinity. What's important is to maintain your pH alkalinity and calcium. One thing I've noticed is as tanks age the pH and alkainity can slowly start to trend downwards so even if you start using the ol' eyeball test still periodicly pull out the test kits or testers and verify everything.

[Teresa]

Hummm, this is sounding like a great meeting topic - and I believe we already have a recommended host (Richard ).

I've always had 29 gallon or smaller aquariums, so I don't dose, but I want to - it just seems scary. I'd love to attend a meeting where we can talk about all the different methods, see dosing pumps in action and really get an idea of what might work best for our individual tanks.

So ARC meeting topic?

[bige]

I manually dose ca and alk. My Sps really took off even from when my levels were acceptable. And mg occasionally.

[sifuentes31]

Thats a GREAT idea for a meeting topic.

[PeeperKeeper]

SChrisEV, thank you for posting this topic. I was planning to ask pretty much the exact same thing. I've had my tank for many years, but it was mostly softies until recently. I've finally gotten my Ca and Alk in the right range by dosing manually with Reef Builder and its calcium partner. Haven't checked magnesium yet, but will do so ASAP.

I would love to go to a meeting to learn about dosing pumps, etc. I'm just realizing that I'll need that to maintain the right levels now that I'll be keeping SPS.

[Richard L]

Hummm, this is sounding like a great meeting topic - and I believe we already have a recommended host (Richard ).

Gee, thanks for volunteering me! I'd be up for it sometime in the spring perhaps.

[Richard L]

I tried to PM you Richard but got an error "The member Richard L cannot receive any new messages"

That's weird, I got the message and PM'd you back.

[+SChrisEV]

I tried to PM you Richard but got an error "The member Richard L cannot receive any new messages"

That's weird, I got the message and PM'd you back.

That's called persistence, I tried again later.

[George Monnat Jr]

I mix 1 cup 5% distilled white vinegar (from HEB) and 15 tsp Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime into a 5g bucket of RO/DI for my ATO. It takes 3-4 days to pump that all in, so it's about 0.5 ml/g/day of vinegar for carbon dosing while working my way up to 0.7 ml/g/day. Lots of people have had good success around 0.7 ml/g/day, but one experiment showed that 2 ml/g/day of vinegar-equivalent carbon dosing can be bad. The vinegar and kalkwasser in my ATO bucket keeps my pH at a steady 8.2, keeps my dKH and Ca high and doses carbon for healthy bacteria levels. I do occasionally check and add Mg, but the SW mixes normally add enough to keep that high, too.

Here's a good article:

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html

Edit: forgot to mention that all of the above is very cheap, too.

[+SChrisEV]

I've read a bit about using Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime, and it sounds interesting, I understood that it helped with keeping PH up, but I guess I did not realize it kept the calcium up as well.

[+brian.srock]

Yes it helps keep your Alk/Cal balanced so it's a real help if your trying to dose and get your levels up since without it you'd be fighting an uphill battle due to the swings alk can have.

The trick with pickling lime is to put it in a gallon jug (I perfer the clear gallon jugs you can get from rudy's tea) and shake it a bunch of times then let it sit over night.

In the AM everything should be settled and you should have a clear solution above that. He's the trick: Use an aqua lifter or gravity feed method to move the clear liquid to an empty clean container so none of the major residue gets stirred up and mixed into your tank.