what times and order for sps dosing pumps

bobkill

bobkill

reefer
hello all i was wondering when (compared to light cycle) and what oreder should i set up my doisng pumps - i have a ca and kh and mag

I know mag is last but that times should i do it
lights come on slowly from 2-midnight and it is a sps dom tank
 
Well what order ! And time frame - I was thinking calc 1 hr before lights out and alk 30 min lights out and mag 1 hr after that- I need to read up on how the Skelton of coral is made but
I was being lazy and hoping some totm dude would just be like here newbie :)
 
Well what order ! And time frame - I was thinking calc 1 hr before lights out and alk 30 min lights out and mag 1 hr after that- I need to read up on how the Skelton of coral is made but
I was being lazy and hoping some totm dude would just be like here newbie :)
 
I have 4 dosers, 1 mag, 1 alk, 1 ca, 1 amino.

Each of them dose 10ml a day, at 6 hour intervals.
Reason for this, is because it gives time for the chemicals to dilute, before another chemical is introduced to the system. Stability and consistency is the key for growth and color.
 
It really doesn't matter on the exact time which you dose. What matters is that you spread out the dosage thorough the day. This will change as your reef mature. Spread out the dosage as much as your controller allows.

Again, the point of using pumps/controller is to spread out the dosing into smaller dosages to prevent shocking the system. Stability is key in keeping SPS.

For Mg, you can dose that manually as needed. It doesn't deplete all that much or nearly as quickly as Ca and Alk.
 
Also, if you able to data log and see at what time of the day/night your ph is lowest, you can dose ALK at that time... That will help in keeping PH up... Minor point but it's worth mentioning.
 
I dose 60ml of each cal and alk split into 24 cycles. 2.5 ml per hour. Cal is dosed 1st at hour mark, then five minutes later alk is dosed. And one time per day 6ml of mag, 12:15 each day.
 
Last edited:
Chris Lakies said:
I dose 60ml of each cal and alk split into 24 cycles. 2.5 ml per hour. Cal is dosed 1st at hour mark, then five minutes later alk is dosed. And one time per day 6ml of mag, 12:15 each day.
Click to expand...

+1 I dose 24 times in 24 hrs cal and alk .
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency.

Mag gets dose manually even though I have 3 channel doser.

Once you figureout your tank usage is a set and 4get.
 
I like it thanks guys- I have 3 bulk reef supply 1.1/ml dosers and a apex so anything can happen :) - great point on watching my data then adjusting from that- I am putting all this in this weekend so I will let the post know what's up soon
 
i have to dose mag along with cal and alk. next to my cal it is almost my most used supplement in my tank.

-Jeremy
 
Very interesting topic.
Hoping more people will join in posting their dosing schedules.
What has worked and what hasn't.
I'm currently dosing 2 part Seachem Fusion and Tech M manually. But planning to automate in the near future.
The Ca component in mornings when lights on the Alk component when lights off (night) and Tech M once a week for Mg maintenance.
I feel regular water changes with a good quality salt will keep Mg dosing minimal. Also dosing Kalk will hav it's positives, right?
Iv posted few questions on dosing on my build thread, please do gimme some suggestions on that. Sorry to go bit off topic :)
Thanks all!
 
I run the bubble magus dosers and run 100ml each of Ca and Alk, I have it set up to dose 8x per day. Personally I would set it up so one of your cycles is going to happen at a time when your likely to be around the tank. Just so you can take a look and say "yep the sucker still works".

I would tell you to get your values real close before you setup the dosers and then test at least daily for the first 7-10 days. Just so you make sure your not gradually ramping up or down on your parameters.
 
Another important note for those using controllers. Make sure your timers equal 23.59 hours so your next day isnt overlapped by the first. THis will make your dosers stop after the first day! Another good reason to be around to make sure things are working on a regular basis. Its easy to screw up a minute here or there when setting a multi timer! Ask me how I know! lol

Also when I had my dosers on my od tank I tested and needed 15ml total of cal and 17ml total of alk. My dosers were 1.1ml/hr(another good note is to follow the directions and test them with measuring cups a few times to get an average of dosed amout. Mine were off .1ml on each pump. one .1 over and one .1 under...)so I only spread them over 12 hour periods. My dosers arent consistent when only on for a few seconds at a time. I reccomend doing dry runs for a few days into cups instead of the tank just to be sure things are working the way you want before having an accident in the tank itself!
 
Thats a good point Chris, I do think all the dosing pumps are more accurate when they pump more. In other words a 1.1ml pump will be more accurate when it pumps 10ml than when it is asked to pump 3ml. It gets dicey when guys need to only pump 15-20ml per day. When your doing 100ml per day the pump can dose out 10+ml per event vs 1-3ml per event. Missing by .1 on a 10ml event isn't even close to the same error as missing by .1 on a 1.5ml event.

Any of the above crap make sense, lol.
 
rmalone said:
Thats a good point Chris, I do think all the dosing pumps are more accurate when they pump more. In other words a 1.1ml pump will be more accurate when it pumps 10ml than when it is asked to pump 3ml. It gets dicey when guys need to only pump 15-20ml per day. When your doing 100ml per day the pump can dose out 10+ml per event vs 1-3ml per event. Missing by .1 on a 10ml event isn't even close to the same error as missing by .1 on a 1.5ml event.

Any of the above crap make sense, lol.
Click to expand...

perfect sense! thats part of what I was saying:thumbsup:
 
bobkill said:
I like it thanks guys- I have 3 bulk reef supply 1.1/ml dosers and a apex so anything can happen :) - great point on watching my data then adjusting from that- I am putting all this in this weekend so I will let the post know what's up soon
Click to expand...

i have the same set up as you do but magnesium is not used too much when my gallon jug is empty i test it and add whats needed usually 30-40ml.
As for dosing alk i dose 1 hour after lights out to maintain ph 30 min. then skip an hour then dose I dont want to keep cycling the triac outlets and wear them out and outlet 4 and 8 will wear out faster.

ALKALINITY , the then off is just there because i was dosing every 10 min and it'll be easier to just change times and on or off also worried about triac sticking although it has been ok
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 22:00 to 22:30 Then ON
If Time 23:00 to 23:20 Then OFF
If Time 00:00 to 00:15 Then OFF
If Time 01:00 to 01:30 Then ON
If Time 02:00 to 02:20 Then OFF
If Time 03:00 to 03:15 Then OFF
If Time 04:00 to 04:25 Then ON
If Time 06:00 to 06:30 Then ON
If pH > 08.25 Then OFF

CALCIUM the calcium is in am due to don't want to dose both at the same time
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If pH > 08.25 Then OFF
If Time 09:00 to 09:30 Then ON
If Time 10:00 to 10:30 Then ON
If Time 12:00 to 12:30 Then ON
If Time 14:00 to 14:05 Then ON
 
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