Does anyone dose large tanks?

[ducati335i]

Or does everyone run reactors? I dose my 600 and add 30 ml of alk daily.. All else is perfect ( I do add a small amount of calcium midweek..)
As my Sps grow, along w the rest of the tank, will dosing calcium become very difficult? Meaning adding crazy amounts daily? I know the reactors are less maintenance and it's better for the tank.. But I would like to see if there are people dosing the larger tanks,,,

 

[Jzhou]

I add iodine and kalk to my ato

 

[ToManyFrags]

The best thing for you to do is get a doser and dose all 3 part throw the doser . Cal reactors are no good and are nothing but problems and only help with cal not really alk. Doser you set it and forget it, thats it .

 

[PHILYD1]

UM!!!!!!!!!!!! Calcium Reactors are great but they just take a little more time and thinking, with doser it can be a little easier to balance, they are both great ways to balance your tank but just becareful who you get your info from and go slow with your dose and get it to where you want, I have a SPS tank (120g) and I dose 115 Ml a day of each CAL MAG so with larger tank cost may become issue with dosing but it can be done

 

[ducati335i]

UM!!!!!!!!!!!! Calcium Reactors are great but they just take a little more time and thinking, with doser it can be a little easier to balance, they are both great ways to balance your tank but just becareful who you get your info from and go slow with your dose and get it to where you want, I have a SPS tank (120g) and I dose 115 Ml a day of each CAL MAG so with larger tank cost may become issue with dosing but it can be done

Damn! 115 a day? I'll prob def need a reactor then.. I was thinking of dosing calc but as the Sps grows I don't think it will b wise,, I'll see what happens

 

[mbg75]

Or does everyone run reactors? I dose my 600 and add 30 ml of alk daily.. All else is perfect ( I do add a small amount of calcium midweek..)
As my Sps grow, along w the rest of the tank, will dosing calcium become very difficult? Meaning adding crazy amounts daily? I know the reactors are less maintenance and it's better for the tank.. But I would like to see if there are people dosing the larger tanks,,,

I dose 25ml cal and 30ml Alk on a 75....per day... Couldn't imagine dosing on a 600

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[motortrendz]

i dose abt 30 ml alk, 40 ml calcium daily in my 92g, and i dose 20-50ml in my one of my propogation tanks of both daily and the frag tank i dose and 20-30ml of both daily.. i use the BRS 2 part DIY packs that you mix with a gallon of ro/di water.. saves a ton of money..

 

[ducati335i]

Hmm maybe tank size isn't the o ly factor? I've been dosing alk 30 ml for a good 6 months and it's dead on 10..every time I check

 

[motortrendz]

no size is not the only factor, coral load, live rock load, live sand, the amount of coraline algea, all are factors bc the corals use alk the rocks and sand absorb it and coraline algea absorbs calcium and alk just like coral if not worse to maintain its color and to encrust and grow.. but the biggest factor is the coral load if you have alot of sps/lps they need alk to help build a strong skeleton, they use calcium to grown their skeleton and the magnesium acts like the binder or the key to let the corals absorb the calcium so with out mag or low mag the corals can not absorb all the calcium they need..

hope that maks sense

 

[mbg75]

Also matters if the tank is packed out...the more water to coral ratio, I would think the more elements available.

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[Arati]

ya we dose 180ml of cal daily on the over grown 220g sps tank. of coarse the tank has huge basket ball sized colonys but ya its alot

 

[prattreef]

I think I might be the king of 2-part dosing as I add 300ml of each part daily to my heavily stocked 240g. reef. So yes, it will get very expensive to dose a 600g. system this way once you develop heavy coral growth.

FYI, The fine folks at ESV donate all thr B-ionic I need for the reefs at Pratt and have done so for over a decade. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a financially feasible way to maintain a larger system.

 

[Jzhou]

IMO, for heavily packed system that are over 200 gallons, it makes more sense to run reactors because of how much more you will save from overall cost. In my system, though I run reactors, I still find it beneficial to add supplementals to the top off.

 

[ducati335i]

no size is not the only factor, coral load, live rock load, live sand, the amount of coraline algea, all are factors bc the corals use alk the rocks and sand absorb it and coraline algea absorbs calcium and alk just like coral if not worse to maintain its color and to encrust and grow.. but the biggest factor is the coral load if you have alot of sps/lps they need alk to help build a strong skeleton, they use calcium to grown their skeleton and the magnesium acts like the binder or the key to let the corals absorb the calcium so with out mag or low mag the corals can not absorb all the calcium they need..

hope that maks sense

Very helpful... I'm getting nervous now!

 

[ducati335i]

Very useful info on here.. Thanks guys,, I plan on getting an MTC reactor.. Reactors are a new world to me.. I'll test often and take it from there! Ugh

 

[sunny]

I dose 270ml Ca and 300ml Alk every day in my system using BRS dosing pumps

Sunny

 

[ducati335i]

I dose 270ml Ca and 300ml Alk every day in my system using BRS dosing pumps

Sunny

damn! how many gallons?

 

[duke62]

i dont know where TooManyFrags got that info on calcium reactors but it helps keep alk and cal stable.Ive had mine up for 4 months now and i absolutly love it. Its also cheaper then dosing.To fill up the CO2 it costs 16 dollars which i just changed and my media is the same from 4 months ago.I believe the media costs around 25 dollars.Mine is hooked up to my reefkeeper and i adjust the flow accordingly to my tanks needs.When the media is done i will take the whole thing apart and clean it out.Other then that i have no problems with my cal reactor.

 

[ecchybridLE]

i have a 225 with 75 sump. using a geo 618 with reef fanatic controller. been really helpful as i don't have to worry as much about my cal level. keeps my alk around 8.5 and i dose on such a minimal level. i feel as long as you have a good controller that isn't a piece of crap, u can see good results. dosing is also good as long as you test to see how much intake you are getting and adjust your dosing accordingly. on a tank your size, i would think a reactor is the way to go as you will only be spending 60 a year to keep the reactor running. you will always have people say one way or the other is better.

 

[ecchybridLE]

IMO, for heavily packed system that are over 200 gallons, it makes more sense to run reactors because of how much more you will save from overall cost. In my system, though I run reactors, I still find it beneficial to add supplementals to the top off.

i know kalk is a good supplement , but iodine i feel is sort of a waste of time. from what i read iodine supplementing is almost null in affect. not saying it doesn't do anything , but from most experts it's not that beneficial in any way.

your always going to need to add this or that when either running a reactor or dosing manually. with dosing , your always going to be checking to see if you have to increase or decrease the amount of money your putting into your tank! and with a reactor your going to find once it's dialed in , you might test one day and see that your alk is .5 lower then it was two weeks ago! sort of a no brainer on a large system imo.