2 part dosing question

[redwingrob40]

Hi,

Was hoping to get some advice or at least direction on dosing my tank. It's a 55 gal reef with a 20 gal sump. Using the reef calc and plugging in dimensions with rock and sand it comes out to be about 64 gal total volume. Right now I am dosing B-Ionic 2 part via BRS dosing pumps set on programmable timers. This keeps my levels of alk at 8.4 and ca at 475, and it takes 15 ml of alk and 13 ml of ca to maintain these levels.

My question is as my livestock grows and demand rises at what point would it be good to start splitting the doses into smaller doses spread out over the day? For now it doesn't seem like the small amount that I am dosing needs to be split, thoughts, and thanks for your help!

 

[nanojg]

I dont worry about spreading calcium out, but i add about 20ml of alk once an hour for 4 hours during the night when lights are out to help maintain ph.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Adding the equivalent of 1.4 dKH at once with high pH two parts will boost pH by about 0.3 pH units. That would be the limit of what I'd want to do all at once.

Calcium all at once is fine.

 

[redwingrob40]

Thank you for the responses! Makes sense guess i'll have to figure out exactly how many ml will raise 1.4 dkh...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You can use this calculator to see the alk rise from a given addition of B-ionic:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[redwingrob40]

Thanks Randy!!!! That is a very helpful link.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Happy Reefing!

 

[sneaton]

i have a couple of brs 1.1ml dosing pumps on the way and i have a quick question......the jugs of b-ionic im using say to shake well before use...when using dosing pumps do people really worry about shaking the jugs before use after its alreadey diluted and mixed to begin with?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Once you have added water to B-ionic and fully disslved it (if it is the concentrate; nix the added water if it is not the concentrate), then it won't need any shaking unless the alk part gets cold and some precipitate forms. So regular shaking is not necessary.

 

[sneaton]

thats what i thought.....thank you sooooo much randy for your quick responses....do you still use the 1.1ml/min brs pumps? if so, how do you like them

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, i use them and like them. One for dosing vinegar and one for dosing Arctipods.

On my oldest one (maybe 2 years?) I just replaced the inside tubing because it was looking crappy, but it was still pumping.

 

[sneaton]

what do you use for cal,alk,mag?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I use limewater for calcium and alkalinity. I boost my salt mix with some extra magnesium, but I never add or measure it in the tank itself.