$159.00 AUD
$46.95 AUD Reef aquariums are delicate ecosystems that require careful consideration when it comes to dosing. Dosing is an important part of reef aquarium care. By carefully monitoring the levels of trace elements and dosing accordingly, you can maintain a healthy and thriving reef aquarium.
When you introduce corals to your aquarium, the supply of calcium, alkalinity and magnesium (CAM) is in higher demand, and knowing that there’s enough (or not enough!) is key. But just like with anything, there’s a happy medium when it comes to trace elements in your aquarium.
Having insight of each of their parameters and where they need to get to is critical. Dosing is imperative to have in place, giving you control on these parameters. Whether it be through manual hand dosing or with adosing pump, both ensure your aquarium life continues on with healthy growth.
Part of maintaining water conditions is ensuring that the proper levels of nutrients are present. This is where calcium, alkalinity and magnesium come in.
Calcium, Alkalinity & Magnesium (CAM) play a part in coral growth and skeletal development. It's important to monitor these parameters closely and dose them accordingly, with aquarium life sensitive to all.
Calcium provides a foundation for the growth of corals and other invertebrates. Without adequate calcium, aquarium life will not be able to grow and build their calcium carbonate. There’s a range of differenttest kits you can get that will help you with your calcium monitoring. From theAPI Calcium Test Kit to theAquaforest test kit
Staying with 380 - 450 ppm is the recommended parameter to work towards for calcium in your aquarium.
Alkalinity helps maintain pH levels and provides a buffer against fluctuations. Similarly, you can measure the alkalinity of your aquarium easily with test kits such as theRed Sea pH Alkalinity test kit.
Staying with 8-10 dkH is the recommended parameter to work towards for alkalinity in your aquarium
Magnesium plays an important role in keeping the tank's water chemistry balanced. It is also a necessary element for the growth of corals and other marine life. Regular testing with test kits such as theAquaforest Magnesium test kit andNYOS Reefer Magnesium Test Kit
Staying within 1250 - 1350 ppm is the recommended parameter to work towards for Magnesium in your aquarium.
One of the easiest ways is to follow the Red Sea Wizard - which helps with the calculations as well as adding trace elements all in one solution. Simply go to the Red Sea website and go to Wizards and the wizard will suggest the products and amounts for you depending on the size and type of tank you are running.
Step 1 - First you want to decide which parameters you want to focus on, let's look at Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium (CAM) for example.
Step 2 - Take your reading using your appropriate test kit for what you are measuring. If your readings are low/high then proceed to step 3. If they are spot on then proceed to step 6.
Step 3 - Is your reading too low? Buffer them up using the directions on the bottle of your desired dosing supplement or by using theonline reef dosage calculator.
Step 5 -Is your reading too high? Wait for them to deplete by raising the lower levels slightly to achieve stability in order to lower them all evenly. Or, do a few water changes. If this fails then look at the method of testing and the quality of the test kits.
Step 6 - So you have your tank spot on? Good work.... Now feed it and and care for just as you would normally but DO NOT dose any supplement that will affect the levels of CAM for a whole week (7 days).
That's pretty easy, sit back for a week.
Step 7- Your week-long holiday has come to an end... Now test the CAM levels again with your test kits. You should have noticed a drop in these parameters.
No change in parameters?If not, then you either have no corals, kept dosing during the last week or you may have stuffed the tests up. Now open up theonline dosing calculatoror read the back of your supplement bottles to determine how much you need to dose to raise your parameters to the right spot.
Step 8- You should now have a tank that's 7 days starved of supplements and a few numbers written down from the dosing calculator that tell you how much to dose. But don't dump all that in right away! That's called a parameter swing! Do it slowly over a week. To dose it safely, divide the amount by 7 for a daily dose.
But while you are dosing that daily amount your tank will still be using the CAM so you'll need to double the daily dose for just one week then the following week and every week after that will be the original daily dose.
Step 9- Keep testing weekly! As you add more coral and as your corals grow they will use more CAM, so you will need to make adjustment doses and occasionally reprogram the dosing pump.
You can refer to the table below when it comes to parameters to use as a guide for dosing your aquarium.
| Alkalinity | 8 - 10 dKH |
| Ammonia | <0.1 ppm |
| Calcium | 380-450 ppm |
| Iodine | 0.06 - 0.10 ppm |
| Magnesium | 1250 - 1350 ppm |
| Nitrate | <0.1 ppm |
| Nitrite | <0.1 ppm |
| PH | 8.1 - 8.3 |
| Phosphate | <0.03 ppm |
| Specific Gravity | 1.023 - 1.025 |
| Strontium | 8 - 14 ppm |
| Temperature °C | 24 - 27 °C |
We’ve put together a hypothetical Calcium Dosing Formula to refer to
Step 1- You have a 500L system. Test for Calcium reads 350ppm
Step 2- Adjust calcium with desired product to 425ppm
Step 3- Wait a week
Step 4- Retest for calcium reads 400ppm. Using the dosing calculator you are to dose 337.9ml of Randys recipe #1..
Step 5 - Divide 337.9ml by 7 = 48.27ml PER DAY.
Step 6 - Double the daily dose to 96.54ml for 1 week (7 days)
Step 7- Revert to the original daily dose of 48.27ml per day on the 8th day and keep dosing that.
Step 8 - Keep dosing and testing weekly to ensure the dosing is accurate.
Having insight on your aquarium and its parameters is invaluable when it comes to keeping your aquarium healthy and balanced. Dosing plays an important role in refuelling trace elements such as Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium (CAM) and keeping the delicate balance in your aquarium's ecosystem. With regular maintenance and following a few steps, you can make sure your aquarium is dosed precisely, ensuring accurate reef tank parameters.
