Dosing Help.

P

pjracer

Premium Member
Good morning,

I have been in the hobby for 5 years now and have just recently taken my hobby to the next level. Bigger tank. I want to take a second to explain my setup and my problem i am having.

My tank is a 270 gallon reef. 75 gallon sump. 300 pounds of sand and 300 pounds of rock.

I recently started adding corals. I have several frogspawns and hammer corals and montipora. I started dosing BRS 2 part system. I calculated my water volume @ 270 gallons that I dose. Per their website for my water volume i am dosing 103 Ml per day.

Here is my problem. I noticed after my 4 days of dosing that my bright red monti started losing color and is now down to a pink and the green is going to light green. I did realize I have the 2 pieces of coral directly under my return pipes. When I dose the pump is set to deliver the 103ml in 3 min. This changes my PH in the sump immediately. Then returns rite away.

So am I dosing it correctly? Should I dose every day? If I’m doing it wrong please let me know.

My main reason I feel like I’m doing something wrong is I have invested a bunch in montipora corals and they always die. I have been told by several that they can’t kill theirs it just keeps growing. What can I do to keep mine? I have also seen several great tanks and the owners say they never dose just stay ontop of their water changes.

Tank Parameters.

PH 8.13
ALK 9dkh
Calcium 450
Mag 1450
Nitrates 0
Amonia 0
Phosphates low

Let me know. I want to make this tank as succssessful as my last tank.
 
I'm sure you are more the expert in this hobby then I, but since your dose is 100 ml or so, you can always split it into 2 dosings of 50 ml, or 3 of 35. You didn't say where the 2 part is being added. If it's being added to the return chamber of your sump, have it added to the first chamber so by the time it gets to your return and then tank is has had time to be diluted (I have mine added to the overflow). Could it be the light that is causing the problems? Maybe try moving them to a lower or higher spot?
 
Hi,

Please recalculate your tank volume using this calculator. http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html After ensuring your volume is correct, readjust your dosing amount and then dose in several smaller increment's, as Tj suggested. You will need to add it in a high flow area of the sump, such as the skimmer compartment, so that it is fully diluted before going to the tank. Keep in mind that adding that much in a short period not only spikes your ph, it also spikes your alkalinity and you want to avoid that. I would also move the monti cap's to the sandbed to help them recover from bleaching then move them up slowly after their color returns.

Cheers,
 
+1 to what Ron said. I went through this not too long ago and he helped me figure out what I was doing wrong. Multiple dosings and some time between dosing the different parts is best. I am now running a Bubble Magus automatic doser that divides it out over the course of a day.

I think your build thread said you have an Apex Lite so I am guessing you can program it to spread out your dosing throughout the day and also at intervals where you are not dosing Alk and Ca at the same times.
 
I have a Apex but i am using a 3 part doser i got as a gift. Its Marine magic. Thanks for all advise. I recalculated my water volume and i need to shoot for 280 gallons as my dosing amount. I was adding it to the return section of my sump so i am going to change it to be by my skimmer and let it go through that then on out. Thanks for the advise im going to split up the dose throughout the day.

I will let you all know.
 
While the calculators are good for initial dosing I highly recommend doing daily tests at the beginning to insure that you are dosing the correct amount.
 
The process for dosing is different for each tank. You use the calculator to determine a baseline to start with, then test daily over a period of 2 weeks. You test Alkalinity daily since that will be easier to zero in on daily and you test calcium every few days. On day 2 if your alkalinity is down .5 dkh, then you take the calculator volume and calculate the dose to get it up and adjust. Wait a day or two while testing until you don't have to adjust anymore. Same with the calcium just over longer periods of time since calcium test are not as accurate and usage is lower.

You will want to make sure you test in the same manner every day. Same time of day, same procedure on the tests etc... it will make a difference.

As your tank grows, you will want to continue to test every few days and make mini adjustments as your corals grow.

Its best to dose smaller amounts throughout the day than one big dose or two. Its easier on the system and corals and they like it better.

When you do water changes, test the tank before you do one. Test the change water, then dose the change water to match the tank. It will make changes easier and not throw your doses off.

Watch your salinity over time as well. Dosing will impact the salinity over time, so you may need to adjust that as well.
 
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