Dosing supplements UK

[MrApplebee]

Hiya guys. I've had my tank running since August last year now and I am getting on really well with my soft corals and live stock. I've had a few issues but all have been resolved without much drama.

I've decided that I'd like to delve into the world of dosing my tank with the intention of adding some sps/lps corals.

I'm going to get the dosing aspect right first and become comfortable with it over a couple of months before adding any hard corals. I have just made an order for the following doser which seems to have good reviews

http://www.h2oaquatics.co.uk/saltwa...hl-doser-2-sa-4-pump-standalone-version-black

I'm also about to order a Red Sea foundations test kit.

I've been looking around and have found various companies such as Red Sea who do the supplements that I would need. Just wondering if any uk folk could point me in the right direction or if anyone knows any online stores that are good on price/ any cheaper alternatives that are just as good as the well known named brands etc.

Thanks

Mike

 

[mcgyvr]

well.. just a FYI... you do not need to dose until your current water change schedule/amount is not sufficient to keep levels stable and you do not want to increase your water change schedule or amount to account for that..
At that point you start dosing..
That can take quite a while to get to that point and typically requires that you have quite a few healthy/growing corals in the tank..
You don't start dosing because you are thinking about starting corals..

You can make your own dosing chemicals with baking soda and water for the alkalinity part and calcium chloride and water for the calcium part... That stuff should be readily available at pool supply stores,etc...
Here is some info on that..
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

But again you only dose when your consumption rate is higher than your water changes can keep up with which can take a bit of time..

 

[MrApplebee]

well.. just a FYI... you do not need to dose until your current water change schedule/amount is not sufficient to keep levels stable and you do not want to increase your water change schedule or amount to account for that..
At that point you start dosing..
That can take quite a while to get to that point and typically requires that you have quite a few healthy/growing corals in the tank..
You don't start dosing because you are thinking about starting corals..

You can make your own dosing chemicals with baking soda and water for the alkalinity part and calcium chloride and water for the calcium part... That stuff should be readily available at pool supply stores,etc...
Here is some info on that..
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

But again you only dose when your consumption rate is higher than your water changes can keep up with which can take a bit of time..

Thanks for the information and the link, I appreciate it.

So, I have just ordered a test kit. For mag, calcium and alkalinity.

If the tests show that any of these are low, I gather dosing would be called for? If not, could I go ahead and add some hard corals to my tank and just keep testing until I see a drop in my levels that water changes don't bring back up to the desired level and THEN start dosing accordingly?

As I say, I've lots of softies in the tank now and they're doing really well, just don't want to start adding some hard corals for them to just die on me. I change 10% weekly at the moment in a 460 litre tank.

Thanks

 

[homer1475]

Thanks for the information and the link, I appreciate it.

So, I have just ordered a test kit. For mag, calcium and alkalinity.

If the tests show that any of these are low, I gather dosing would be called for? If not, could I go ahead and add some hard corals to my tank and just keep testing until I see a drop in my levels that water changes don’t bring back up to the desired level and THEN start dosing accordingly?

As I say, I’ve lots of softies in the tank now and they’re doing really well, just don’t want to start adding some hard corals for them to just die on me. I change 10% weekly at the moment in a 460 litre tank.

Thanks

Exactly how it works.



Test for your levels, then keep testing until you see a drop in one of those three. If your WC doesn't bring that level back inline, you dose.



When I first started out with corals I would test weekly. Once before a WC, then several hours after to see what the resulting WC added. Then dose accordingly if needed.


EDIT:

Google for Randy's DIY 2 part, most chemicals can be bought in bulk way cheaper then any commercially made 2 part. For instance plain old baking soda can be used for ALK, And calcium chloride can be found in a pool supply store.

 

[mcgyvr]

If the tests show that any of these are low, I gather dosing would be called for? If not, could I go ahead and add some hard corals to my tank and just keep testing until I see a drop in my levels that water changes don't bring back up to the desired level and THEN start dosing accordingly?

As you haven't been following those parameters so far you basically test a couple hours or so after your next 2 water changes...
If the results of the second test is lower than the first then your water changes aren't keeping levels stable enough and you have an idea of your consumption rate...
As stated when your water changes aren't keeping up and your parameters are not staying stable (being replenished back up to the same level each time) THEN you can start dosing to keep level stable..

 

[hkgar]

Always follow the rule - DO NOT dose what you do not test for.
Here is Randy's 2 part recipes.

Here is a dosing calculator.