Auto Dosing Aquavitro

Stevie D

New member
I've decided to try Seachem's Aquavitro line to dose my reef. I have a triple autodoser that can dose down to the second (Drop) if need be. Of the 6 Aquavitro products (I'm not using the dechlorinator) which products can i combine into one bottle without any ill effects? If i can combine multiple products into one bottle i can figure out the ratio of each and then does for a specific time and eventually figure out the correct ratio to use. Ideally i'd like to be able to do say calcium on one dosing pump, alk and possibly magnesium on a second and the rest on the third pump if possible. Does anyone know if this would work?

I'm not concerned about Fuel being refrigerated as i will mix up smaller batches that shouldn't last more than a week or two, and Seachem stated there should be no ill effect if Fuel is not refrigerated as they keep it under their tanks stands.

Thanks,

Stevie D
 
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I don't know the product line or what's in the products specifically.. Seachem may be best suited to answer your questions on mixing them.If the "Fuel" is an organic carbon source it is likely alcohol or ph if acids are in play keep bacteria at bay when it's concentraed . If you dilute it they may begin to consume it.
 
I can answer a few of these. You can't combine the alkalinity with the calcium or magnesium. That would precipitate.

I also agree with TMZ that if you dilute the Fuel, you may end up growing a lot of bacteria. In that case, you are no longer dosing Fuel, you are dosing phosphate. If your goal is to grow algae that's a good idea, but otherwise you might not want to automate that one.

What other things are you planning to use? Be aware that while balance and 8.4 claim not to raise alkalinity, that is just a chemical impossibility. I got a bottle of balance for free and I used it quite successfully to raise the alkalinity in my little tank.

Also, I'm not picking on your plan here, but why dose alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium from those products? That's a really expensive option and I don't see where it confers any advantage to you unless they are giving you that stuff for free.
 
The tank is only 26 gallons so it won't be that expensive. I just heard that this line is very good when used together and thought i'd give it a try. I could just dose fuel like 2x a week or with feedings or something like that. It's the cal, alk, mag, iodide, alone with the balance i'll have to deal with. So do you think cal on one pump, alk on another and magnesium and iodide on the third. Where would the balance fit in if needed?

By the way my tank has softies, Lps, and a few sps. I do get those products for just above cost so if it works price isn't an issue at all.

I tried to use seachem's support forums, signed up but couldn't post, then they sent me an email that i didn't meet their requirements to use their forum so that pretty much p'ed me off.
 
Balance is an oddball. It doses alkalinity, but no carbonate. It's all a blend of hydroxides. This may have one of two effects. It will either end up depleting carbonate, or it will pull CO2 into the water to make bicarbonate. Probably a mixture of both. It's good for a temporary pH boost, but that's about it.

You might get away with mixing the iodine with the mag, you might not. It seems like we worked on that one here once before. I don't think we ever got to the bottom of it.
 
The Balance will act as kalk without the calcium. When dosed, it'll raise the pH by consuming carbon dioxide. As aeration brings more carbon dioxide back into the system, the pH will drop down. Technically the ratio of hydroxide, carbonate, and bicarbonate ions in the system is shifting around, but we don't need to worry about the details.

If SeaChem wants the Fuel kept refrigerated, I wouldn't let it sit out. I'd get one dose and put the bottle back into the refrigerator.
 
Great information, thanks!! So i think i'm going to try the calcium on one pump, alk on the second pump and mag and iodine in the third. I'll dose fuel when i feed the corals 2x a week.

I guess it would be a good idea to try and not have to use balance if i don't have to. It seems either way there is going to be some kind of swing so it doesn't make sense to "chase" it. Does anyone know what balance actually is and if it would foul either calcium or alk if combined??
 
It said on the bottle it was a mix of KOH and NaOH. It will certainly precipitate if you mix it with calcium or magnesium supplements. I'm not sure what it will do to the alk supplement, it depends on how close to saturation it is.
 
just something you might want to know,calcification has calcium polygluconate in it.There are a few reasons you might want not to use this product,other members can guide you better on this.
 
Also from what I understand ions is magnesium sulfate in a liquid solution,if you had a big tank you would need tons of it to raise magnesium
 
just something you might want to know,calcification has calcium polygluconate in it.There are a few reasons you might want not to use this product,other members can guide you better on this.

ooooh. I might not use that for my regular calcium dosing then. It's probably OK for a single dose kind of situation, but it's maybe not the best choice to use daily.
 
Whenever I dosed their other polygluconate-based calcium product, I got a cyanobacterial-microbial bloom. In addition, such products might be adding alkalinity as well as calcium.
 
Honestly I never understood why seachem makes these products.It seems that everyone agrees that there are problems with it's use.Also it is very misleading to new reefers to see a product called 'reef calcium',you would instantly think,it's just seachem's calcium additive like all other supplements on the market.Of course seachem explains what the product is on the label but I bet lots of people bought it without knowing what it is
 
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