Schedule to Dosing Calc, Alk, Mag

[TheBigDrewsky]

Hello

The RS G2+ 50 is up and cycles, and 2 fishes and a few frags. Eventually wanting to move to full mixed reef. Using the JDieck Reef Chemistry Calculator, I entered current parameters and then the desired parameters and then the brand and type of additive for Calc, Alk, and Mag. Hit calculate. I almost fell off my chair. I am sure this is the dosage required when mid-to-fully stocked and trying to raise levels.

For someone new (again) just starting, it is just okay to use the "Formula" that Red Sea calculates for me daily (seemingly manageable amounts) instead of the HIGHE amounts suggested by JDiecks calculator?

Also, looked around for articles that suggested times of day dosing for C, A, and M. As well as looked for things like "I need to dose 47ml of Alk daily. I know from experience that even a 7-10cc add is going kick the pH into high range. This can't be good for corals (frags) or fish, am I correct? So something like 47ml daily, divided by 12 doses is 4 ml/hr for 12 hours. Is this okay?

If anyone has links or worksheets or anything that would be helpful, I am all ears and eyes.

Thanks!

Andrew

 

[rock-n-reef]

I'm not familiar with the calculator you're referring to. It is best to start with dosing based on your tank consumption rate, rather than what is prescribed for certain coral stocking level. There are so many variables with just using the low/med/high stocking level as input. Here is what i have done in the past and seems to work okay.

• Assuming you want to keep your Alk as close to your salt mix as possible (which will make your life easier in the long run), measure alk from a fresh batch of 35ppt mixed solution.
• With a single or multiple batch of water changes, bring your tank to the matching Alk level.
• After 24 hours, measure the Alk again for your tank water. The difference between this and your saltmix Alk is your 24 hour alk consumption.
• Once you have this value (in dKH or meq/l), based on your dosing solution lookup how much it takes to bring up the Alk by the consumption value. I would use the data provided by your dosing solution manufacturer than using 3rd party calculators.
• Split the dosing volume into hourly or how many ever parts you want to dose in 24 hours and set that up in your doser. Test daily or every other day for a week until you see the Alk being stable (make minor adjustments as needed). Then you can fallback to a weekly test.
• Ca usually will be in the same ratio as Alk. Checkout your dosing solution instructions to make sure. Ca can be tested less frequently than Alk.
• Mg, test that monthly and add that as needed to bring to your desired level. The consumption of Mg is not proportional to Alk/Ca consumption.
• As your stocking and coral growth increases, make gradual adjustments to the dosing based on your test results.

Hope that helps.