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cm11599ps
04/13/2011, 02:16 PM
I'm almost through cycling my tank and hope to add a CUC in the coming days. As I continue to do research in things I'm up to dosing.

I'm not sure if I'll venture into clams and SPS right now and I am currently using IO salt. I would like to get a variety of corals but that boats still out on what to get.

Any ideas and/or tips on dosing? I see BRS 2 part and I'm assuming that does calcium, alk and mag? Why is it called 2 part then? lol If I get that then how would I go about dosing that? Do I place it in jugs and and attach a dosing pump to each jug to pull the liquid out and then into my tank? Do I need 3 dosing pumps?

Kalk? I have a Brute can in my garage with a pump and float switches in my sump and I top off with an APEX. Do I just add kalk to the top off can? What about mag? If using this method requires occasional cleaning of the top off can then I don't want to go that route since the can isn't easily removable.

If I make a gallon of solution then how long would that last before I needed to replenish the jug? How long does an entire kit last for?

I've watched all the BRS videos but am still unsure about these things. Please help, thanks!

usefulidiot213
04/13/2011, 02:41 PM
I currently use BRS 2 part. You don't need dosing pumps, but they do make it a hole lot easier. At first you have to play with the amounts of Alk & Cal to find out how much your tank consumes, so you know how much to dose. I beleive BRS instructions say to dump in the entire amount of Mag every time you refill your Alk & Cal containers. What I have been doing is just dumping the Mag into my top off water. Then let my top off slowly pump in the mag as it tops off my tank.
Just be sure to not at the Alk & Cal at the same time. The chem reaction of the two together is not good for your tank.

HowieB
04/13/2011, 04:25 PM
I have 3 dosing pumps from BRS. I currently dose Alk and Cal for 20 minutes every four hours, about an hour apart. The mag doses for 14 minutes every 12 hours. The containers I use are 3 gallons each, which I bought at the water store.

cm11599ps
04/14/2011, 01:20 PM
I would rather use pumps to make my life easy. Is there a pump that will do all three lines or do I need 3 separate pumps. I'd also like to use my APEX to control the pump.

fote03
04/14/2011, 02:22 PM
dosing is going to depend on the corals you put into ur system. and yes there are dosing systems that will cover all three.

cm11599ps
04/14/2011, 02:39 PM
I'm already running lines to my tank so while I"m doing that I might as well run some dosing lines just in case. I'd rather have them in place now and just hook up pumps when I'm ready instead of having to run all new lines when the time comes.

What kinds of tubing is used?

cm11599ps
04/18/2011, 01:30 PM
Just wanted to bump this. What kind of tubing is used to get to the tank? How long would a gallon of mixture last for? How long would a 2 part kit last for?

d2mini
04/18/2011, 02:00 PM
Mag is separate from 2-part which is calc and alk.
I currently use Epsom salt to keep Mag up since its cheap and can be added all at once.

1/4" flexible tubing is used and how long it lasts just depends on how much your tank needs. A week? A month?

shifty51008
04/18/2011, 02:25 PM
you do not want to add just epsom salt to your tank to keep mag levels up it can raise your sulfate levels.

From HighlandReefer

"Increasing your mag level by 500 ppm using epsom salts will increase your sulfate level in your tank significantly. I would use a a mix of mag chloride and mag sulfate at the proper ratio. There is not a lot of research on the subject, but the one below is one I found.


Effects of high sulfate in a marine enviroment:
Molybdenum Availability, Nitrogen Limitation, and Phytoplankton Growth in Natural Waters
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/229/4714/653.abstract

From this article:

Sulfate inhibits molybdate assimilation by phytoplankton, making molybdate less available in seawater than it is in freshwater. As a result, nitrogen fixation and nitrate assimilation, both processes that require molybdenum, may require a greater expenditure of energy in seawater than in freshwater. This may explain in part why coastal marine ecosystems are usually nitrogen limited whereas lakes usually are not. Experimentally increasing the ratio of sulfate to molybdate (i) inhibits molybdate uptake, (ii) slows nitrogen fixation rates, and (iii) slows the growth of organisms that use nitrate as their nitrogen source."

cm11599ps
04/18/2011, 02:37 PM
So I can use standard airline tubing? What about RO tubing?

shifty51008
04/18/2011, 03:37 PM
RO tubing should work also just not as flexable