Walking_Target's Dosing Guide

[Walking_Target]

Let's just put it out there. Most people, especially people new to saltwater just do not understand dosing.

 

The Cardinal Rules of Dosing

 

1. Never dose Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, Iodine, Bromine, Strontium or any other element into your tank unless you have a way to measure the values in your tank.

 

2. Never add large doses all at once.

 

3. Measure before and after changing a dosing regimine.

 

 

 

Simple Math that will Save you Money

 

When dosing, doing water changes or etc, consider weighted averages.

 

The Forula is

[VolumeX*MeasurementX]+[VolumeY*MeasurementY]/[VolumeX+VolumeY]

For example, you have a tank that holds 10g (total volume, not stated tank volume) of water and has 380 Ca and 8.5dkH. Your water change water is at 420Ca and 11dkH - you are changing out 2 gallons Therefore for Alk:=[8 Gallons*8.5dkH]+[2 Gallons*11dkH]/[8 Gallons+2 Gallons]=[68]+[22]/[10]= [90]/[10]= 9dkH of Alk. This can be easily repeated using any measurement of any value, so long as you know the starting and replacment volumes to a reasonable accuracy. Measuring Dosage Values for Dummies This is a simple emperical test. 1. Measure your target value with a good test kit. (ie, Ca, Alk, Mg)2. Take 1ml of a standardized dosing product (ie. B-Ionic, Kent, etc) and add it to your tank. 3. Measure total change in that value after 1 hour. Repeat this test over the course of a week or two and average your results. This is the foundation of your dosing schedule. Using an ATO to Dose The batter-powered-air-pump ATO is both simple and can be made measurable by using nalgene water bottles with 50ml or 100ml graduations. These can conveniently dose some of your suppliments into your tank for you. This is done by measuring how long it takes your ATO bottle to drain (mine reliably drains in about 2 days, 800ml worth). Then measuring how a particualr value (for me, Alk) drops during that same period. Measure how much 1ml of suppliment adds to your tank, then add the appropriate ammount (for me, 5.5ml) to the topoff bottle in addition to your regular topoff water), trying to undershoot your target by a little bit. Measure this effect over a few weeks and adjust. Don't forget to add the other suppliments manually if need be.

 

Alk is a good one to dose via ATO as you can also get a good deal of your Mg dosed in at the same time form the same bottle. It also helps that you can dose a fair bit of Ca all at once without swinging your pH or hardness, whereas a little Alk can go a long way. i've also found that Alk contributes significantly to overal stability, more so than Ca.

 

I'll be happy to make changes, additions or answer questions