What Should I Dose With 4 Head Dosing Pump

[ballenreef]

Ok guys and girls. I acquired a Jebao dosing pump. I have roughly 250g system, 180 DT and 100g sump. It is a mixed reef, mainly softies now.

I have a reef breeders V2 photon and 2 AI primes. Hopefully getting another RB V2 and selling the AIs. The system also has a Aqua C skimmer, and I'm running carbon and GFO. The carbon and GFO do not get replaced as often as they should.

I'm super lazy and do not want to test everyday. I do not mind testing while trying to figure out how much to dose daily. But once that's figured out, I probably won't check parameters but on a bi-weekly basis (if that).

What should I dose?

I've been eyeing the BRS 2 part with the addition of Red Sea nopox.

(I don't need or want to hear the reef police bashing me for my laziness. I've been successful keeping reefs and fish alive for awhile now with the exception of keeping algae under control. But that's due to poor feeding habits and an undersized skimmer. I'm just being honest about my willingness, or lack thereof)

 

[mcgyvr]

You should dose what you need to dose...
Nothing more.. nothing less

You only need to dose when your current water change schedule is not sufficient to keep parameters stable and you don't want to increase your water change schedule.
Thats it.. plain and simple..

You don't dose just because you have a dosing pump..

Do you have a phosphate problem? (I always question why people run GFO)
How about elevated nitrate levels?
Maybe you can dose vinegar (carbon dosing) to attempt to reduce those? (It works to reduce nitrates and phosphates)

There is nothing wrong with testing every couple weeks or so.. Parameters most certainly do not need to be tested daily..

 

[ballenreef]

I do weekly 40 gallon water changes but it is not enough to keep the parameters in line. So calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are all low. Coral growth and color reflect it. I can grow softies all day but when it comes to most sps, they grow slowly and usually they don’t have great color.

Therefore, dosing is a must for my application if I want to provide better water quality for corals. Which I think is everyone’s goal

 

[nereefpat]

Sounds like you have it figured out.

Ca
Alk
Mg

Then, if you need to dose organic carbon to reduce N & P, use the fourth one for nopox. You mentioned an undersized skimmer. Make sure your skimmer is performing well if you are going to carbon dose.

I agree with mcgyvr, in that I wouldn't recommend GFO or carbon dosing unless P or N & P are high.

 

[mcgyvr]

I do weekly 40 gallon water changes but it is not enough to keep the parameters in line. So calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are all low. Coral growth and color reflect it. I can grow softies all day but when it comes to most sps, they grow slowly and usually they don’t have great color.

Therefore, dosing is a must for my application if I want to provide better water quality for corals. Which I think is everyone’s goal

What is your current cal/alk/mag levels after a water change and what are they at the end of the week before the next?

Based on what you have stated so far I am not sure how you know you need to dose yet as your first post stated you know you need to test to find out your consumption rate.. If thats not known you cannot know you need to dose yet.

I don't believe that most would attribute coral coloration to any specific cal/alk/mag parameter so I would look elsewhere for your coloration issues..
And SPS corals can be quite slow growers..

I'm still skeptical of your need to dose as you can see but its your tank..

But you asked the question.. If you already know why did you ask the question?
(not trying to be rude here.. Just want to make sure you are doing the right thing and the information given so far does not give me that warm fuzzy feeling yet)

 

[d0ughb0y]

But you asked the question.. If you already know why did you ask the question?
(not trying to be rude here.. Just want to make sure you are doing the right thing and the information given so far does not give me that warm fuzzy feeling yet)

Confirmation bias.

Pretty common in any message board forums.

 

[gilweb]

Based on the comments that you usually have an algae problem, softies grow well and SPS don't, sounds like you have a nutrient export problem, no amount of dosing will fix that unless you take mcgyvr's advice and carbon dose.

With 40 gallon water changes and a mostly softie tank not sure you would need any extra dosing but only testing the parameters would let you know that.

 

[josephxsxn]

Outside of the typical Alk, Cal,Mag that everyone recommends I have been dosing brightwell Iron (ferrion) for over a year with great results. I feel my greens have gotten more toxic and my reds got brighter with iron. I can't say that about anything else I have ever dosed. I aim for just hardly detectable, so under 0.15 ppm.

It's never caused me any problem with snails or other inverts. But it is worth noting that if your phosphates are high and you dose iron you can trigger an alage bloom. Assuming you have them under control then no issues...