A Simple Guide To Dosing | Everything You Need to Know

[@ReefDork]

Here are 7 Underrated Corals to think about - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5XMYXeibMZjfdE

[@mikem8608]

I know this is an older video but thank you for posting this! I am just setting up my ReefDose 4 and was looking for some starting points on the RedSea ABC foundation and this did the trick!

[@rja9784]

New subscriber. You actually had the best video explaining dosing that I’ve seen in weeks. Cheers from USA

[@jonathantabernig8741]

Great information. I'm programming my own dosing pump right now, and it helped me a bit🙂

[@HobbyistFishkeeper]

Big thumbs up from me on this video. Your verbal delivery is perfect!

[@dougaldawson5083]

Helpful vid! I'm just about to start my first reef so this is a great help. Its been years in the planning but dosing is one thing Id need to do more than just read about to understand properly

[@fitchaj]

This was absolutely spot on for what I needed to hear. Thank you so much

[@paulnolan9634]

Once again plain easy understanding learning

[@awsome2ish]

Thank you thank you. You made this so simple!

[@ReefDork]

That's my jam 🙂

[@stephencairley172]

Thanks for explaining how to Dose made it understandable Alex 👍

[@randomdutchguy]

I use horizon dosing pumps in combination with Colombo liquids..Just scan the code on the bottle and you are set.....the bluemarine 4 pump dosing pump is also Nice..it keeps track of how much is left in the bottle!

[@basholthuijsen6254]

is the horizon dosing pump that easy just scan and set the parameter you want and it does the rest of it?

[@johnclark5438]

hi my name is john i have just started to get into keeping corals and i have too hammer corals i put them in my tank yesterday when do i need to start dosing my water parameters are all ok and i just want to make sure that my corals get the right start thanks cheers john and i am a big fan of your videos keep them coming thanks again john

[@ReefDork]

Hi John, check out my guide to dosing video for a full answer...

[@harlanmichael7088]

Thanks for the video!

[@rhombifer566]

Great job 👏

[@WaizHaquewaiz]

great content im looking to get into sps

[@metalldanny]

I use the same from ATI .. im a beginner and all look good for 7months in a row Greetings from Holland

[@andrew5762]

Hi how’s the ati suplements going I’m thinking of changing from my redsea Abc every tried this 😀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@ReefDork]

Been using it for years - really like it 👍 I've never used Red Sea though

[@JohnG-gu5wo]

Hi alex, do the calculators take into account the weekly water change

[@animetronic6689]

Depends which calculator you are using.

[@ricardopimenta2668]

Hello, are you still using the ATI Essentials until today or did you take other options and why?

[@ReefDork]

Yep, been using it for years now. Switched to plus from pro recently for the pH boost but no plans to move away from ATI.

[@nynym9362]

I’m getting into coral part of reffing, is the only products calcium and alkalinity you need to add? or Is there more

[@TheFruityCookie]

If I dose x amount per day to keep parameters stable, surely when it comes to water change day it will cause a spike? No? If so, then maybe test water after water changes until you see the levels dropping, then have doser set to run from that day onwards until water change day? Would that be right?

[@alfst5546]

Great info as always 👍 I am using NSW, and although all my parameters are spot on, I still keep getting spots of hard white calcium on my glass and power heads etc. I did dose All-For-Reef at one stage, but stopped as the hard white spots just got bigger, any suggestions Alex would be much appreciated 👍

[@ReefDork]

Give Balling classic a try - you can't beat it 👌

[@alfst5546]

Reef Dork thanks Alex, I certainly will give it a try

[@darkphoenx3930]

@@alfst5546 did this help? As I’m looking to use NSW myself when I set my reef tank up

[@CPAngling]

Hi Mate, really enjoying your videos, few question. I've been keeping mainly discus for 10 years but I had a 10 gallon nano tank sitting around and I decided I wanted to do a nano reef. I went quite high end with all the equipment, Kessil A80, Ecotech Vortech wave maker, UV steriliser, nano ATO system ECT. I have had two mocca clowns in there and clean up crew for 6 months and everything is doing very well. i want to start keeping corals mainly euphyllia coral. I buy my salt water from maidenhead aquatics, i do fortnightly 20% water changes. Apon parameter testing I've notice the numbers are shockingly low! alkalinity of 4.5 for example. are they having me over with cheap salt? should i start dosing reef foundation? should i mix my own water?

[@ReefDork]

What salt are you using? The problem with very small tanks is that you can get huge swings easily and it's really hard to keep parameters stable. Many salts will vary from the start of the bucket to the end of the bucket so you could just have an odd lump in the bucket. But 4.5 is still crazy low - could be a faulty test. Or it could be that coralline algae is depleting your alk. 10 gs for stony corals will be a challenge for sure and not one I'd fancy taking on 😬

[@WaizHaquewaiz]

i have a query not exactly related to this topic so the thing is i bought a cheap saltmix in a very big quantity and im looking to h2o pro salt mix to fix that do you think its a good idea. also i am looking forward to getting radion xr30 gen4 pro do you think the lights worth it over other brands ?

[@ReefDork]

What do you mean by fix? Is there something wrong with the salt you have? I've used H2Ocean salt before - good stuff in my limited experience with it.

[@WaizHaquewaiz]

@@ReefDork i bought a salt with very less trace elements

[@andrew5762]

Hi Alex I’m going to start dosing ati essentials and have ordered the 2000 ml bottles Alk & calcium can you please tell me how much ro water I need to mix it with and are both the same cheers . Ps how’s the copper band and your acans doing 😀👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@ReefDork]

I switched to ATI Pro a while back so can't remember. CBB doing well - loves chewing on them acans 😅

[@richh6790]

Something I've noticed from all the videos I've watched over the last week or two (as someone just about to plunge into the marine tank world), is no-one says what their tank water volume is after all the rock/sand etc. has been added? You might have e.g. a 250 litre tank when bare, but once all the gear/decoration etc. is in, then what are you left with? Or, is it enough to say a standard 10-15% capacity is lost? Cheers, Rich.

[@ReefDork]

My Waterbox Frag 55.2 (55 US gallons or 208L) actually holds less than 150L (40 US gallons) so that's a rough idea

[@jameswithers3066]

Hi Alex, quick question I use Caribsea Fiji pink sand which buffers your aquarium, would I need to dose for corals. I only have gsp and Xenia. And 2 LPS corals 1 torch and 1 hammer. Could I add a bird's nest like you have, or would I need to start dosing? Thanks in advance.

[@ReefDork]

Yep, you'll still need to dose just probably not while you only have those corals - but best way to know is to test your levels. You'll need to start dosing at some point when you add stony corals

[@jameswithers3066]

@@ReefDork thank you, I've tested my kh which is at 12. Not sure if that is too high or not. But apparently Caribsea sand will keep it buffered to 8.2 for the life of the aquarium.

[@ReefDork]

@@jameswithers3066 yeah that's too high but just let it come down naturally. They're lying I'm afraid! It won't keep your kh up as you add more corals. But at 12 already it might last a while 🙂

[@jameswithers3066]

@@ReefDork thank you alex

[@davincik7970]

How long does two bottels last in your tank? Am considering setting up a simelar tank but with Just a few lps corals and moust soft corals. Planing to go for a ULM tank

[@ReefDork]

I can't remember I'm afraid - I shut this tank down years ago. I now use ATI Essentials plus or pro which is concentrated so lasts longer. It'll last months on your tank

[@sasco9608]

what dosing pump would you recommend?

[@ReefDork]

Most are pretty good with various pros and cons of each. I use reef factory which I like

[@richardwalker4220]

Great video! I've got a 20g shallow tank Wot doser do u recommend?

[@ReefDork]

For a small tank, something with stepper motors would be good - they can dose much smaller amounts. The dd H2Ocean p4 pro would be good.

[@richardwalker4220]

@@ReefDork cheers fella!

[@artistic_spaz3724]

Can you add trace elements to auto top off reservoir instead of buying a separate dosing pump?

[@ReefDork]

You can but it's a really bad way to manage dosing. With some like tropic marin, you can add the trace elements to the alk/calc mix

[@stevenfountain84]

Hi there just seeing if you would recommend me to dose with soft corals and 4 LPS corals thanks

[@ReefDork]

Maybe. The only way to know is to test your alkalinity twice, a few days apart (at the same time of day) and see if it's dropped. If it has, you'll need to start dosing very slowly.

[@reeferexplained8846]

Hey question so want to dose kh and calcium. Have 260 litre redsea e-260 tank, My kh is at 8dkh and I want at 9dkh. My calcium is at 380 but adding to get to 400. I'm Manual dosing aqua forest powder kh to ato top off and calcium mixed and dumped into sump. I want to buy dosing pumps 2x not sure how much to add of each powder into container? I do 40 litre water change every 2 weeks using Kent marine salt 1.025 salinity. I would say calcium is low and dropping in a week to 320 from 380 kh 9 and drops in a week to 8dkh. I only have LPS 6x corals small sized.

[@ReefDork]

There are calculators online that help you work out doses. But whatever you do, dose small and test often 🙂

[@volteface69]

Merci pour ta vidéo !!! 👍👍👍

[@ReefDork]

De rien

[@garydsouza2335]

hi my salt has this in it, do i still need to dos , levels without any dosing is alk 12, Cal 490... mag 1500.. corals not good at all what do i do..

[@ReefDork]

Yes but the best way to tell is test your alkalinity and calcium to see where they are

[@garydsouza2335]

Cal is 490 just tested, Alk is 13.9 just tested

[@olig3657]

I find that the amount I need to dose is dependent on how much I feed my corals too. So when I went on holiday and didn't add coral food for a few days I needed to half what I was dosing to keep my levels consistent.

[@johnnyb2705]

Aquaforest 1+2+3+ 1 month in from Red Sea. Very good so far👍🏻

[@uuncebret]

Thanks 👍

[@seannunes2041]

Hi I appreciate this video and I am looking to jump into reef keeping after many years of freshwater aquarium. I am some what confused as to this two part dosing and Kalkwasser. I am assuming you use two part OR kalkwasser. But I see so many videos where people are using them both. Trying to figure out what to use. Thank you in advance.

[@ReefDork]

You can use both I think but kalk isn't very popular here in the UK so I've never used it. Personally I'd go for dosing 🙂

[@seannunes2041]

@@ReefDork Thank you for your response. So much data out there it is a little difficult to find the best solution for a beginner. Thanks again.

[@ReefDork]

BRS have done some good vids on kalk. But I wouldn't worry too much about choosing the absolute 'best' method - whatever you go with will help you understand more about coral husbandry. Dosing is fantastic for that and is very easy to get right.

[@galwaypeters2]

What test kits do you use? im still on garbage tetrafin ones

[@ReefDork]

Red Sea for phosphate, Salifert for nitrate and calcium, Hanna checker for alkalinity. I've tried a few and I find these have a good ease of use vs accuracy ratio 🙂

[@andrew5762]

Do you dilute or just run it straight from the bottles .

[@sjoerdkielstra607]

Do you do your own testing? Like calc mag etc?

[@ReefDork]

Yes but I sometimes send off ICP tests too 🙂

[@kennethstropicalfish4042]

Having issues with ATI essentials 3 part. First bottle kh is powder and it doesnt dissovle all the way is this normal. It settles at the bottom and i domt know if i should even mix.

[@ReefDork]

It should mix completely - try heating the mix and putting a pump in so it's constantly moving

[@Nippa1988]

Hiya Alex. I seen on another video of yours that you dose ATI Essentials pro. How do you find this particular brand/method? I'm currently dosing Tropic Marin All For Reef but I seem to have the same problem as I did with Aquaforest component 123+. That being over time I found my Calcium slowly kept spiking to around 500ppm, although my KH was steady around 8.3ppm and Mag at 1350ppm. So I'm looking to switch it up again and try to get something a bit more precise.

[@ReefDork]

It's great - I rarely test calc but it's all good whenever I do

[@Nippa1988]

@@ReefDork awesome thanks you

[@rosedonnapur]

I’m looking in to dosting as I might be having an opp in 2 weeks could you show a video of haw you calculate what level to need for calcium agility and magnesium I have a 240 L tank my maths is awful so if I see it in front of me I can follow your step-by-step only if you’ve got time thanks

[@ReefDork]

The easiest way is to follow the instructions. If it's not clear, just start low, test every day and build up then re-test 🙂

[@louisbrooke-smith8745]

Cool vid Alex

[@ReefDork]

Cheers Louis 👍

[@ogbear3367]

is seachem fusion 1 and 2 good? need answers asap so i can cancel my order if their not haha

[@ReefDork]

Never used it or really heard much about it...

[@twofish7939]

Ok this is the secret to stable alkalinity: 1. Test alkalinity using Hanna checker 2. wait 24 hours 3. Test again and take the difference in the two values 4. Enter your 2 values in the BRS reef calculator for alkalinity; you should get a volume of alkalinity to dose (you want to dose the same volume of calcium, hence the name 2 part) whatever alk dose you need you also need ca. 5. You just found out how many mL of equal parts of 2-part you need for 24/hrs, hence you can program your doser or manually dose this amount from step 4 every day.

[@hishamebrahim524]

Even my calcium level up & down I mean to say even no need to dose Ca but if I m dsoing Kh most dose ca same amount? Tobe honest I m also confused with this hahaha & asking many people same thing but some said dose what need etc.. so I m confused

[@WaizHaquewaiz]

heyy 2nd comment here happy new yearrr

[@ReefDork]

Happy New year Waiz 👋

[@nicholassoong1981]

I'm hand dosing Continuum Kh dry powder. They have crappy instructions and I'm totally not sure how many teaspoon to mix to let's say a 1500ml container. Any suggestions?

[@ReefDork]

Are you using it in addition to a full dosing system?

[@nicholassoong1981]

@@ReefDork I've bought a Jebao WiFi version dosing pump few months back. I haven't use it because the mixing part of the water n KH powder, scared to have a KH crash. I've went to research n forums but don't seem to have any suggestions. I'm hand dosing as per instruction 'half teaspoon powder in a 236ml RO water per 76 litre'. I have a 6*2*2* tank

[@ReefDork]

@@nicholassoong1981 if you're not dosing calc and mag, you'll need to do that too. But if there are no instructions, trial and error might be the answer, starting with a small amount then test and adjust.

[@nicholassoong1981]

@@ReefDork Im hand dosing Continuum calcium and mag too but in bottle form so that's easy. Only KH dry powder needs constant hand dose Lol. Quick question, any idea how much KH concentration do u mix in a 1500ml bottle?

[@ReefDork]

I'd be guessing completely. You could start with one cup and build up but the best thing to do is probably contact the manufacturer for a definitive answer 🙂

[@sjoerdkielstra607]

What is the name of the fish at thr top. Swooping down?

[@ReefDork]

Naoko wrasse

[@Mindboggle100]

Beautiful tank you are growing out,! How long have you been reefing for?

[@ReefDork]

Thanks - it's 18 months old 🙂

[@ReefDork]

Sorry, just re-read the question! About 5 years now.

[@BigGuyAl007]

Good tips Alex, once again! I am going the Triton method myself! Not a cheap way. What is the best dosing unit, I have a TMC latest one! Keep the good clips coming! 👍

[@ReefDork]

I'm not a fan of TMC dry goods I'm afraid! I've got my eye on the ghl 2.1 but the H2Ocean Pro looks decent too 🙂

[@johnnyb2705]

I really think a black background on your tank would look a lot better

[@ReefDork]

I chose this tank because it has no background colour - seeing through two panels of glass makes the tank look so sharp!

[@karennation3580]

Why does BRS recommend kalkwaser so much? I also hear of soda and and sodium bicarbonate. Not sure how they work I think one is to raise and another is to drop alk. I have heard them say not to use a buffer and I believe all the two parts are buffers. I am so confused! I like red sea products so thought of using it. Maybe I am supposed to get it at a setpoint with those other items the can start with the other stuff. I doubt If I need to dose yet since my frags are all small but my alk has droped from 8's or 9 I think down to 6, In both my tanks. I cant find my darn card to check calcium. Maybe I can look it up online. I hope my saltmix isnt gone bad. I keep in garage and there is high humiidty since I live in florida nd the salt feels stuck together and kind of moist. Cant remember what it was like when I first bought it. Need to reorder anyway. I probably need to start keeping insdie. i use instant ocean reef and has high levels of all.

[@ReefDork]

Sounds like you do need to dose - 6dkh is too low. It's an absolute minefield out there! But if you just stick with red sea, it's actually really simple.

[@kevintwine8443]

Any questions mate you've opened up a can of worms 😅

[@truereefkeeping6022]

You forgot to mention ESV B-IONIC

[@Justthemow]

You can replace all of those little bottles with one bottle of Fiji water 😂😂😂

[@sophiaseck5611]

Hi