Do I really need 10 dosing pumps for the full Red Sea experience??

[Shlne]

So I've been looking into the Red Sea Recipes for my tank. My tank is about 2 years old and doing ok (I've had some algae problems but NoPox seems to be doing wonders for that). I have been dosing the BRS 2 part for about a year now and I'm seeing good coral growth but not great color. The guys at my LFS said that if I every want a real show tank, I should start dosing the better stuff. I've been looking into the Red Sea stuff and from what I can tell, I would need to dose the following:

Foundation A
Foundation B
Foundation C
Trace-Colors A
Trace-Colors B
Trace-Colors C
Trace-Colors D
NO3O4-X
Reef Energy A
Reef Energy B

So all in all, I'd be dosing 10 different things. Now, currently I'm dosing BRS two part with the DOS from Neptune Apex. If I were going to do this system, I'd want full control so I'd be looking at more of the DOS units. This is where it all gets crazy. 10 things to dose / 2 per DOS unit = 5 DOS units. 5 DOS units - 1 DOS that I already own = 4 DOS units. 4 DOS units * $300 per unit = $1,200. That seems like a pretty high price to pay, especially if I don't know for sure that it works!

So this is why I'm coming to the forums. Should I go this route?? Is there a better way that doesn't require so many DOS units?? For instance, can I dose magnesium once a month like I do right now? Can the reef energies be combined? What about the 4 trace elements, can the be combined into one jug? Can I does the reef energies and/or trace elements once a week by hand instead?

I'm hoping to get some real input from some of you who may be using the full Red Sea system.

Answers that I'm not looking for:
-Get cheaper dosing pumps - If I wanted cheap, I wouldn't be in the hobby. I have the Apex system so I have full control, I'm not willing to compromise on the pumps but if it's worth it, I'll shell out the money.
-Dose every day by hand - Nope nope nope. I know I won't do it and if I have to do this every day by hand, it's not worth it to me. I'm happy to do it for a few weeks to try the system but I don't want to try it until I know what I'm getting myself into.


Thanks everyone!

 

[bertoni]

[welcome]

Personally, I would stick with a 2 pump and dose calcium and alkalinity automatically, dose magnesium by hand, and skip the other products. I don't know whether the trace elements could be combined or not. You could ask the manufacturer, but they don't tell us enough about what's in them to make a judgment.

 

[josephxsxn]

colors program

colors program

Cannot say for sure if you will end up needing all the dosing pumps or not for the colors program. I have no idea how mature or loaded your DT is so its hard to say if all of the traces they promote will be utilized by your tank before a water change replenishes some of the traces. To me the key to this question is the consumption rate of these items in your tank.

Foundation looks like typical 2 part + Mag... Dose the 2 part with your pumps and if your manually topping off your ATO you can throw the mag in there weekly or monthly after you calculate consumption. Even just monthly as bertoni suggests is fine, I dont find myself needing to dose mag.. OFC we always say that stability is 'the thing' so maybe dosing mag would be better...

It appears that the Traces from them are -

• A - Halogens (i2, f2, etc)
• B - Potassium & Boron
• C - Fe & 7 Complementary Metals
• D- 18 Trace Elements

Water changes will imho handle many of these above...

A - Iodine will dissipate (not the right word...) within a few hours of you dosing it, this is one of the ones I have a dosing pump because after 24 hours there would be none left. Not sure about the other 2.

B - In the past I only had to dose Potassium after months without a water change, even then it didnt go below 300ppm. Boron, I have never dosed Boron and ICP analysis still showed my water to have Boron all on its own ( not sure if its my rock or sand, FYI Boron in high concentration can be toxic to the tank inhabitants.) Justin Credable has a presentation at MACNA talking about high Potassium in SPS tanks leading to better colors.

C - I dose pump Fe3 Iron in my DT and the greens have never looked better. This one will also dissipate typically in 24 hours but not always. You can test for Iron so you can calculate consumption for dosing easily, my DT is about 0.08-0.10 ppm Iron (looks like RedSea recommends 0.15 ppm).

D - Not sure whats in here Looks like gold and other stuff from their manual.

As for Reef Energy it looks like Carbs, Vitamins, and Aminos. I only dose these when feeding corals, but they are recommending some get dosed every day.

~It does appear the Red Sea Colors program also recommends 10% weekly water changes. Just from the list of un-testables in the traces I would always do these recommended 10%'s if using this program of theirs to prevent any build ups of odd metals, etc that may become toxic in time.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

You may already be past this, or be trying to avoid it, but what about just increasing water changes? I try my best to use the K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) method. I've noticed that if I try dosing alot of different things to chase more coral color, or faster growth I eventually end up doing more harm than good. Plus, doing water changes not only repleneshies trace elements that are consumed, but extracts those that are building up. And there's no chance of over dosing if you rely on water changes for trace elements.

For the cost you're considering investing in dosers, you could set up an automatic water change, or a very simple water change where you just have to turn a couple of valves and you're done. Easy peasy.

Not trying to stear you away form dosing, but if you haven't tried a large water change in a while, or if you've been slacking it may be worth a try first. It's pretty cheap to try water changes also because you already have everything you need to do them, unless you're running low on salt mix.

 

[mako61]

I use reef energy A/B. It needs to be refrigerated after opening. I hand dose mine a couple times a week. You also need to turn off skimmer for a bit. I think of it more like food so big deal if you miss.

It you are worried abut trace elements You can mix light balling into your ALK/CAL and get them from dosing that. Not sure its needed.

 

[SAT]

I suggest you not dose anything that you are not monitoring by regular testing. The only thing worse than too little of a trace element is too much.

 

[billdogg]

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personally, i would stick with a 2 pump and dose calcium and alkalinity automatically, dose magnesium by hand, and skip the other products. I don't know whether the trace elements could be combined or not. You could ask the manufacturer, but they don't tell us enough about what's in them to make a judgment.

^^^this!!!^^^

i suggest you not dose anything that you are not monitoring by regular testing. The only thing worse than too little of a trace element is too much.

^^^and this!!!^^^