When do you dose?

[Webmanny]

Hi guys,

I recently started automatically dosing ALK, CAL and Mag again after some time of manually dosing or not dosing at all.

Currently I am dosing 23ML a day of ALK and CAL on my 39 gallons of water volume (40 breeder, plus sump). I got to this number by checking the demand daily for a few days and using the BRS calculators. Currently, I dose them both 30 minutes apart starting when the lights go off.

My PH has been super stable all day long since I started this and the ALK and CAL levels are very stable, but I have not seen any real growth. A friend here at the forum mentioned something that makes perfect sense. He said that I should be dosing during the day, which is when the coral are actually using the ALK and CAL.

I wanted to get your collective thoughts on the subject to see if there is a solid inclination to one side before I make any changes on my Jebao DP4.

Thank you for sharing your current preference and reasoning behind it.

 

[nhbsab]

Stay consistent and the growth will come. I often do not dose the same amount of Ca and Buffer to stay within my target parameters. What parameters are you going for? That could be something to look at.

 

[Specfishin]

I have to dose anytime I have time, manually. I 2 part reef fusion 1&2 and try "lol" weekly 10-20% water changes. I always try to do daily dosing except waterchange day and i usually always dose at night after lights out but, I have dosed randomly if I've been around a lot. I run RS pro for salt and just started RS color dosing. I dose capful 1+2 part daily. Stays stable at 10-11dkh calcium 480 or little less.460ish I always have sps growth and seems steady. All info is fwiw to help you. Have fun. My mushrooms are the only not so thriving corals I have. Rics not included. Weird. Oh and I run refug light 24/7 9-10 hr light in Dt. Steady 8.0-8.1

 

[Webmanny]

I agree. The parameters I go for are 9-10 dKH and 430-450 ppm on the calcium. I am achieving that without problems. My biggest concern is with the fact that dosing at night when the coral are not using these elements, may be causing a spike higher than normal. In fact, I think I just realized something.

A few weeks after I started dosing at night, one of my hammers lost two heads. The rest looks ok, but not as open as they normally are. I just recalled even saying this myself more than once, euphyllia corals are very susceptible to ALK swings. I think this may have been the reason.

I think I will switch to dosing during the day, but first, I will test tomorrow morning as before heading out to work to see if the tank is higher than it should be.

I now suspect that since corals are not using the ALK at night, it is just sitting there and growing until the lights come on.

 

[zoanutty]

It was my understanding that one is supposed to dose alk after lights go out in order to maintain stable ph. I myself dose 70 ml of Reef Pro Complete by hand each night and I have great growth. I gave up on dosing automatically months ago when my calcium hose got clogged with buildup and I was only dosing alk. Within a week my corals showed me something was wrong. So I switched to manual and I haven't had a problem since. Hth...


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[Specfishin]

Lol. I meant monthly or as needed water changes in 75g DT , except for frag tank. Thats weekly. 3 gal. Changes. I dont havent dosed yet due to wc frequency.

 

[bwhit1406]

I spread my dosing out from midnight to noon every night by dosers. Corals wont care when you dose but the ph boost at night is helpful.

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[MJNTWise]

I use a calcium reactor and I dose 1 gal. of ato with Kalk over a 24 hr period.

 

[janes_mw]

I use CaRx now but for years i used 3 part (Ca, Alk, Mg). I have always dosed half in AM and half in PM. Never bothered with dosing and that hassle, and never had issues. Your tank with be stable with pH very shortly after a dose of alk.
Many don't agree but been successful for many many years


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[Webmanny]

This has been interesting. I was expecting to see more out at least some that were dosing during the day, but most of you either dose 24 hours or use reactors. I just tested my ALK right when the lights went off and I was at 10.4. I'm going to test again in the morning and see where it is after a night of dosing with the lights off.

 

[BryanS4]

Spread out via GHL dosers for me.

10.5 wow, I'd be getting some major Stn that high.

 

[Webmanny]

Well... As I suspected. I measured last night when I got home and my ALK was at 10.4. I measured again before I went to sleep and it was at 10.0. The latest test I did was this morning as I was leaving for work and the results were 11.2.

This confirms what I thought was the issue. By dosing at night, I am increasing the available elements when the corals are not using them and during the day, they just bring them down to normal range by the time the lights go out.

I stopped the dosser for now until I get home tonight and can reprogram it to dose during the day when the corals are active and consuming the elements.

Please note that I am not saying that this is an issue of when you dose, I think the issue is when you measure to start dosing. In my case, I tested close to the end of the cycle and made my calculations based on that, which caused the issue. If I had done this in the morning, I would have been on the opposite end of the fence.

Thank you all for your feedback and helping with this poll.

 

[nathan1986]

I dose every morning before work around 6:30. On my days off I dose whenever I wake up, sometimes not at all lol

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[nathan1986]

Speaking of I should go dose the tank haha

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[Webmanny]

LOL Nice. I wish that method worked for me, but I know I would forget and it will be days without dosing. I have to use automation, not because I am lazy, which I am, but mostly because I forget that stuff.

 

[Safir]

I have a dosing pump that does three doses 8 hours apart. Calcium then alk 30 minutes later.

My levels stay pretty stable in my testing, day and night.

Check your dosing pump and equipment reguarly, in case of a clogged line, run out of additive, etc.

 

[Webmanny]

Just a quick update.

I measured ALK last night after lights out and it was at 10.4.

I did not dose anything overnight and tested again this morning and it was at 10.1, which is great.

I set the dosser to dose every hour once lights come on and I will test again when I get home tonight. I hope I get results around 10, which means corals consumed the elements as they were dosed and ALK never went higher than it should be.

I'll keep you posted.