How often do you dose?

[ReefYourself]

Hey guys just wanted to know how often do you dose Mag, Alk and Cal. I've been having trouble keeping my Alk and Cal up to par. Every few days they seem to drop from around Alk:4.0 to 3.5 and Cal: from 435-415. Would I base my dosing regimen along these lines or should I just let it drop to see when it actually stops and then dose?

 

 

HELP!!! Apreciated!

[PODPIMP]

Every tank will consume a different amount of cal. alk , and Mg depending on the amount of hard corals and coralline in the tank. To determine how much to add you must determine how much your tank is consuming. The levels you're describing are still very good. Actually I would rather keep my cal and alk on your lower levels. It doesn't seem that your tank requires much alk, and cal too keep proper levels so a small bi-weekly dose should keep levels where you want them.

For the next week or so test often to figure out how many ml's are need to keep your desired level. Then break the dosage up to 2 or 3 times per week. As your calcification demands increase, you may find the need to dose daily. I have a 34gal SPS tank that requires daily dosing. When I started the tank I was adding 15-20mls daily. I am currently adding 80mls daily to keep up with the growth of my SPS.

HTH

[burtbollinger]

test daily at first to see exactly what is going on with your tank...then use a reef dosing calculator (avialable online) to see how much you should be dosing to keep it steady. I dose alk and calcuim daily....@ 15 ml of each....and I dose magnesium once every week or two....

[JeF4y]

The type of salt you use will also make a HUGE difference. I was using instant ocean and dosing constantly. Since I switched to Red Sea, in the 29 I stopped dosing all together. Now on the 60 with Red Sea and more corals, I'm dosing to keep my Alk up before I put the calcium reactor on it this weekend.