Getting ready to switch to 2 part

[swk]

Anyone have any links that would provide a decent starting point to begin dosing 2 part? I'm currently dosing kalk through my ato at 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of top off water, so not quite at saturation yet.

Any ideas to make this as easy as possible on my sps population???

If it matters I'll be using BRS calcium and Alk solutions made from powders

 

[woodnaquanut]

BRS has good calculators. If you know what the normal consumption is it should be easy.

Are you going to use dosing pumps? Timer or controller?

 

[eternalreef]

test, test and more testing.

 

[swk]

Getting ready to switch to 2 part

BRS has good calculators. If you know what the normal consumption is it should be easy.

Are you going to use dosing pumps? Timer or controller?

I don't know what it is off hand. I guess maybe I should pull the kalk for 24 hours and see how far it drops in a day?

I was involved in a jabeo doser group buy and paid 85 bucks for the unit. I'll likely upgrade at some point if I find that 2 part works well for me.

I do have a single brs 1.1 ml doser that I've been dosing vinegar through off a timer. Don't know what I'll be doing with it....

Btw - how many times a day are you adding 2 part to your tank(s)

 

[kodiak23]

I use brs 1.1 ml dosers, calc and alk every 2 hours alternating each one every hour. I started at around 15 seconds each, so about a 1/4 ml x 12 times a day = 3 or 3.3 ml a day. And slowly increased over months and years to 4 minutes each time, so 52.8 ml a day. I would start with a small amount and see what happens. I wouldnt start chasing the perfect numbers, most importantly is to keep the levels steady.

 

[eternalreef]

If you have a good dosing unit it adds 2 part through out the day. Example is a litermeter 3 says "each pump doses equal amounts 150 times per day"

Start with seeing how much it falls in one day. Next step is to figure out how much 2 part is needed to increase the number by 1. Example would be I know in my tank it takes 100ml of alkalinity to raise it from 8dkh to 9dkh.

Also realize that alkalinity and magnesium are connected and they both have to be stable together. If one is not stable the other is not stable.

 

[woodnaquanut]

I don't know what it is off hand. I guess maybe I should pull the kalk for 24 hours and see how far it drops in a day?

I was involved in a jabeo doser group buy and paid 85 bucks for the unit. I'll likely upgrade at some point if I find that 2 part works well for me.

I do have a single brs 1.1 ml doser that I've been dosing vinegar through off a timer. Don't know what I'll be doing with it....

Btw - how many times a day are you adding 2 part to your tank(s)

Cool. I've done it manually and it's a PIA!

You can use the doser and let us know how it works. I'd do a calibration run to check how much it really puts out and if the individual pumps match.

I dose for 12 hours, 7 minutes per hour. Alk at the top of the hour, CA at half past. So with a little math:
1.1 ml/min X 7 minutes X 12 doses = 92.4ml per day

I use the BRS pumps controlled by my Apex. The amount you dose will depend on your corals and their growth. I just took a guess, started dosing and tested after a day or so. If your tank is small, you might want a more scientific approach!

For every gallon of mix used, I add about 20oz of the Mg. (third part, have no idea why it's called 'two part' )

Since the chemicals are all salts, your SG will go up over time. It's not a rapid increase. I compensate by mixing my new SW at 1.025 and water changes seem to keep it in bounds.

 

[Reef Bass]

Look at John go doing math and stuff!

+1 for measuring pump output initially. It's hard to know what changes to make if one doesn't know how much the pump is putting out to begin with. My old school Drews Dosers vary from 1.4 to 1.7mls per minute. Each pump puts out a consistent amount, but the amount between pumps can differ.

+1 for "two part" being inappropriate. With the chemical interrelation between alk, ca and mag, dosing mag is very important. One doesn't need anywhere near the amount of it as the other two (in terms of milliliters dosed daily), but it is necessary. Aside from corals getting grumpy when mag is low, one can end up using a disproportionate amount of supplements trying to bump alk, as in it just won't budge.

+1 for keeping an eye on SG creep. IMHO, this is responsible for a number of mystery tank crashes, where eventually the tank gets too salty and things die. I try to keep my tank at 1.025 and target 1.024 for my water change water.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Look at John go doing math and stuff!

Well I did use a calculator!

 

[swk]

Getting ready to switch to 2 part

I have calibrated all 4 pump heads and plan on running tests for a week to make sure things are as they should be. I'll only be running 3 heads. Alk, calcium, and the small amount of vinegar I add daily.

I've always dosed mag manually as needed. I do water changes every 2 weeks and rarely need to supplement mag. Should I reconsider this?

 

[Reef Bass]

I've always dosed mag manually as needed. I do water changes every 2 weeks and rarely need to supplement mag. Should I reconsider this?

If testing reveals your mag stays above 1300 between water changes, then reconsideration not necessary, IMHO.

 

[swk]

Thanks again everyone. I hate changing this up but I know it'll have to happen sooner or later

 

[Dragonvale]

Each tanks different as far as consumption rates. Some individuals may have higher SPS and another more softies etc...

Here's what I do (when I'm on top of my game).

1. Calibrate pumps
2. Look what are the parameters of your salt. CA 450 ALK 8.5 Mag 1350 just as an example.
3. Need test kits for all parameters for testing. So test CA, ALK, and MAG to make sure its on par to the salts parameters.
4. Test every day or every two days. Once you see how much is being used go to the BRS calculator to see the amount needed to be dosed.

Since you have a 4th pump mind as well dose MAG at the very lowest rate. I'd test every month or 2 weeks if your concerned to see the consumption rate and adjust accordingly. I myself just got the same doser and I'm kind of not wanting to learn how to operate it. LOL

 

[swk]

For those of you that dose via brs or drews dosers - are you guys using timers, or aquarium controllers?

 

[swk]

So far not too thrilled with this unit. Pumps 1, 2 and 3 dose 10% higher than what is programmed. Pump 4 is on point.

Pumps 1,2 and 3 calibrated will dose 100ml at one shot. But 10ml x10 intervals results in 110ml.....not a great start.

I then dosed 8x2ml to simulate my vinegar dose and it pumped out 22ml. Running another few tests and contacting the distributor to see what they can do for me.

 

[Dragonvale]

So far not too thrilled with this unit. Pumps 1, 2 and 3 dose 10% higher than what is programmed. Pump 4 is on point.

Pumps 1,2 and 3 calibrated will dose 100ml at one shot. But 10ml x10 intervals results in 110ml.....not a great start.

I then dosed 8x2ml to simulate my vinegar dose and it pumped out 22ml. Running another few tests and contacting the distributor to see what they can do for me.

Again I have the same doser but haven't looked at it yet. My current doser allows me to adjust the dosing to get to 100ml. What came with my current doser was a 100ml cup, and if it was higher I just decrease the pump if it was lower I increased till I hit a perfect 100ml. Then I just set it at that setting. Once the pump was calibrated for 100ml. Then I'd adjust the setting on what BRS calculator tells me for the parameter I wanted. If it stated 40ml of CA a day, I set the pump at 10ml every 4 hours etc... Not looking forward to learning a new dosing pump if this is the case. (hope that wasn't confusing LOL)

 

[swk]

Again I have the same doser but haven't looked at it yet. My current doser allows me to adjust the dosing to get to 100ml. What came with my current doser was a 100ml cup, and if it was higher I just decrease the pump if it was lower I increased till I hit a perfect 100ml. Then I just set it at that setting. Once the pump was calibrated for 100ml. Then I'd adjust the setting on what BRS calculator tells me for the parameter I wanted. If it stated 40ml of CA a day, I set the pump at 10ml every 4 hours etc... Not looking forward to learning a new dosing pump if this is the case. (hope that wasn't confusing LOL)

No not confusing at all. So it sounds like what I'm experiencing is not unheard of?

 

[Dragonvale]

No not confusing at all. So it sounds like what I'm experiencing is not unheard of?

If the other 3 pumps are pumping 110ml. Im just hoping there is a way to decrease it to hit 100ml. Then you would just save that setting. After that setting is saved, then you would use BRS calculator to see what you need to set that pump at for dosing. I'll probably look at the unit you have tomorrow night and hopefully have the time to screw around with it.

 

[swk]

That's the off part. You can dial in the pump heads, and I've done that.

They will dose 100 ml no prob. The problem is when I dose 10ml 10 times. Should be 100, right?! Well no, 3 out of the 4 pumps dispense 110 ml

 

[Dragonvale]

That's the off part. You can dial in the pump heads, and I've done that.

They will dose 100 ml no prob. The problem is when I dose 10ml 10 times. Should be 100, right?! Well no, 3 out of the 4 pumps dispense 110 ml

Okay got it. It should. Guess you have to compensate for the extra 10ml. I'd try dosing something that BRS calculator would tell you for your tank. Yes, it should be off based on your 10ml 10 times but I'd just do it for giggles. So if they state 20ml of CA try 5ml every 4 hours and see. Have you checked any forums on others having the same problem?