Hi, this is Manny from Marine Depot. Thank you for tuning in.
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ahead. Regular dosing of the right elements is key to maintaining a healthy reef
aquarium.
But how much do you add and how often? in today's episode,
we'll go through why we dose that kind of levels, which you're aiming for,
and then how to set up your automatic doser to do the dosing for you.
Let's dial in that doser.
Natural seawater in the oceans has a DK H of seven,
a calcium level of 420 parts per million in a magnesium level of
1,280 parts per million corals are adapted to live in water
with these constant and stable parameters and are unlike our aquariums.
Carbonates calcium and magnesium are abundant in the ocean levels,
don't change and they don't run out.
Anyone keeping enough corals in an enclosed aquarium will quickly realize that
they use up these important elements as they grow on a daily basis and deplete
them very quickly.
So that's why we dose to replenish the elements used up by corals in our tanks.
If we didn't dose or change water on a daily basis to compensate for not dosing,
the levels of these life
critical coral elements will drop preventing growth and eventually causing the
coral's demise.
So the first thing we need to do when dialing in dosing is to test the water.
First,
use a refractometer to make sure that the salt level in the tank is correct
as salinity really does matter. If your salt mix is too high,
your levels will be high and too low,
and you will have problems maintaining them.
So get the salt level right in the aquarium first and make a log in your
computer of the date, Salinity, alkalinity,
calcium and magnesium levels create a spreadsheet with the record of
these and other parameters like pH nitrate and phosphates doing so
as the first step to getting to know your tank,
it's consumption and how much you'll need to dose. test parameters every
day for a week,
logging all parameters and how much the levels of KH, calcium and
magnesium drop over time. add the necessary liquid buffers to the
system.
And then log how much you added to bring the levels back up to what they should
be and log that too .
Your spreadsheet will start to demonstrate how much buffer you had to add.
And how often you added to the tank to keep the parameter stable.
This is your tank's consumption. Next, we need to break down your tank's
weekly consumption of DKH
calcium and magnesium into daily amounts.
Let's say that according to your spreadsheet,
your tanks use 70 milliliters of each buffer per week or
10 milliliters of each buffer per day add 10 milliliters of buffer
every day.
And your water parameters should then remain stable and ideal for coral growth.
But what happens if you can't be there to dose your tank every day,
or you forget. fluctuating levels,
aren't great for corals and instead provide an opportunity for nuisance algae
and pests.
So what most reefers do is set up a three channel automatic dozer to do the
daily dosing for them.
Auto dosers are really useful pieces of equipment and most serious
long-term reefers,
shouldn't be without them as their name suggests they do the dosing for
you by utilizing peristaltic pumps on digital timers to deliver
precise amounts of your buffer liquids per day, every day.
What's great about auto dosers though,
is that they can dose over a 24 hour period and even break down your daily doses
further into small measurable amounts throughout that 24 hour period,
helping to keep water parameters as stable as possible.
Many manufacturers also recommend that all three buffers aren't dosed into the
tank at the same time and auto dozers can do that too.
Administering the three buffers 5 or 10 minutes apart from each other,
or exactly how you want.
And depending on the dosing method you adopt other important trace elements can
be dosed at the same time by mixing them into the appropriate liquid buffer
solutions. Auto dozers are available from single to multi-channel units.
So whatever your dosing schedule is from one,
all-in-one liquid, to two-part, to three-part, four-part or even ten-part
by using one dosing pump per liquid,
and daisy chaining them to a single controller,
they can take care of your complete dosing solution.
Some hobbyists is even use them to dose liquid food,
like phytoplankton or probiotic liquids to lower nitrate and phosphates.
And if you like full control in the Palm of your hand,
choose a wifi controller auto dose with app control.
Once you've dialed in your automatic dosing system,
your tank will be much more stable and your corals will thank you for it.
You will still want to periodically test and log it into your spreadsheet as
hopefully your corals will grow increasing their consumption of buffers,
meaning you will need to adjust the amount that's dosed each day.
And if you buy more corals,
you will naturally expect to have to dose more buffer to compensate for their growth too.
auto dozers are suitable for all Marine tanks,
even freshwater tanks to those liquid plant food.
You can pump liquids into the sump section, built-in filtration chambers,
and even straight into the main tank.
There are tons of ways to customize your dosing schedule and even more creative
ways to develop your dosing regimens.
We will love to hear how you use your automatic doser in the comment section
below. That's all we have for today. Thank you for watching.
And don't forget to share this beautiful hobby with someone you love,
Pump liquids into the sump section, built in filt filtra
take 21.
There are tons of ways to customize your dosing schedule and even more creative
ways to develop dosing.
Schedules. Regimes. my eyes are starting to get tired.
We use the refractor.
Refractometer 70 MLS.
And should I say MLS or milliliters? precise amounts not pressed off the pumps
to dose precise amounts.