Dosing
- Thread starter TommyP
- Start date
The longer the intervals the better, but equal intervals . I dose for example Mg on a 1am off 1:10 am same at 3&5 . Watch your am an pm. It is an task of patience with that timer. I also use a check valve at drip point to to make sure there is no back siphon but there shouldn't be with out. I'm just paranoid .
Tom
Tom
glennemo
New member
I just had a disaster with a digital timer and dosing. Must have had a power surge or something last week. The timer went from AUTO to ON and dumped an entire gallon (about a years worth in my 36 gallon) into the sump in a few hours killing all the fish and most corals. Don't cheap out. Buy a good reliable timer. The risk is not worth the heartache
Wow I'm sorry to hear about this experience. Thank you for sharing. Ill be sure to get a nice reliable timer.
What I did was manual dosing before hand to dial in the daily usage.
I started by aiming for 1/2 of that recommended 1.4dkh (.7) I would break up the calculated dose to increase .7 in 2 for AM and PM. The next day I would measure my alk and add the gap to my next dose.
So if it only increased by .3, I would shoot for +1 the next day. As I was raising my alk to my desired level, I would track the target dkh with what i was actually getting and was able to follow my consumption. I thought this was a lot better than going the week without dosing to measure what I was using. I was already at a pretty low alk when I started this process (~5dkh)
Once I reached my target, I was able to just add enough to compensate for my usage and set the dosers to run that daily. I did daily testing for almost a month through the process of dialing it in.
Took it nice and slow. Now I just check it once a week or so and adjust accordingly. I've only had to change it once so far
I started by aiming for 1/2 of that recommended 1.4dkh (.7) I would break up the calculated dose to increase .7 in 2 for AM and PM. The next day I would measure my alk and add the gap to my next dose.
So if it only increased by .3, I would shoot for +1 the next day. As I was raising my alk to my desired level, I would track the target dkh with what i was actually getting and was able to follow my consumption. I thought this was a lot better than going the week without dosing to measure what I was using. I was already at a pretty low alk when I started this process (~5dkh)
Once I reached my target, I was able to just add enough to compensate for my usage and set the dosers to run that daily. I did daily testing for almost a month through the process of dialing it in.
Took it nice and slow. Now I just check it once a week or so and adjust accordingly. I've only had to change it once so far
cthedaytrader
Active member
So I just tested alk and calcium. Still don't have my mag bc I can't find the glass vial for my Red Sea kit!!
Alk - 128 or 7.1 dkh
Calcium - 519 ppm
If I raise my alk to say, 8 would that drop my calcium? I think that's why it's so high? Lmk
Raising your alk wont bring down the ca level. 519 is high, but personally I have never had a problem with high ca, the only problem is if you see it precipitating out. You can raise your alk up to 8, and then stop dosing ca until it come back down to the normal range. You could also do a water change to help begin to bring it down, but this will also depend on the salt mix you are using.
Your going to have to determine what you daily alk and calcium consumption is and determine how much additive is needed to keep the system balanced.
That's the goal. I'm going to do a water change either tomorrow or friday. My next schedule water change is not till next week but well see if I have time. I'm also going to test the new sw old sw and then the tank about an hour after. Then, a week later re-test. Manually dose as needed until the following water change the following week. Then, test. I think ill get more of an accurate reading this way. By doing it over the course of 2 weeks instead of only testing 1 week then going from there.
