Apex BRS dosing help

[dannyny]

anyone here with an Apex controller can help me out?

im trying to dose my tank with ALK and CAL

my alk is at 7.3 and would like to raise it up to 9.0 area i went on BRS and its states i would need about 60ml in order to achieve this. my dosers are 1.1ml/minute i would have to dose for about 54 minutes. can i split the doing up 4 times throughout the day with the Apex? say 13 minutes at a time spread evenly throughout a 24 hour period?

my CAL is at 400 and would like it to be 450. BRS states i need 255ml. which would be 230 minutes on my other 1.1ml doser if i split that up to 6 times a day 38 minutes at a time would this work for me or does this sound completely off? thanks for your help in advance.

 

[ming]

You really should be using the doser to maintain your levels, not to bump it up to where it should be. I would suggest just dosing the alk/ca into a high flow area, and then figure out how much you need to dose per day, and then you can program it to dose that much per day.. throughout the day if you prefer

 

[dannyny]

Can I have it dose a different amount for each day of the week?

 

[thirty5]

Can I have it dose a different amount for each day of the week?

Yes

 

[ecvernon]

Why would you dose a different amount everyday? Your tank should be consuming calcium and all at a steady rate. One of the best features about dosing pumps is that they can help you achieve stability with small doses through out the day. You just have to figure out how much your tank consumes in a day or even after a week then you will have your starting point.

 

[dannyny]

My alk goes from 7.3 to 6.8 in a week. After my weekly 5g wc I go back to 7.3 I would like my alk to be at 9.0 if that's reasonable. How would I achieving this?

 

[ecvernon]

6.8 to 7.3 in a week is very low consumption. but possible because your parameters could be out of balance. what i would do is get your parameters to exactly where you will like to maintain them.
alk 9
calcium 450
magnesium 1350+
once it is there retest in 1 week. you will have your weekly consumption. then divide the numbers, then you know what your tank consumes in one week.
but more importantly if you are able to maintain your levels with water changes alone what is your tank water volume? and how many and what type of coral do you have?

I ask because in my tank after 1 week of not dosing i use up over 3 dkh of alkalinity.

 

[dannyny]

6.8 to 7.3 in a week is very low consumption. but possible because your parameters could be out of balance. what i would do is get your parameters to exactly where you will like to maintain them.
alk 9
calcium 450
magnesium 1350+
once it is there retest in 1 week. you will have your weekly consumption. then divide the numbers, then you know what your tank consumes in one week.
but more importantly if you are able to maintain your levels with water changes alone what is your tank water volume? and how many and what type of coral do you have?

I ask because in my tank after 1 week of not dosing i use up over 3 dkh of alkalinity.

how would i get my levels to 9alk 450 cal and 1350 mag without dosing? i do weekly water changes but i dont want to do that anymore. i want to be able to do a wc once every month or one every 3 months that is why i purchsed the dosers to keep everything stable for a long period of time.

 

[ecvernon]

You have to dose manually to start. First you test your tank to find out current levels. Next you go to BRS calculater and put in your tank water volume. It will tell you exactly how much liquid to dose to reach desired target parameters.
Once you dose the liquids to reach your target parameters. make sure the change in parameters is not too drastic, you may not be able to dose all at once. follow the calculator instructions.

I find the calculator to be very accurate if you can figure out tank water volume minus live rock displacement.

 

[ecvernon]

once you use the Brs calculator to reach target levels, then you wait a week to figure out how much your tank consumes within a week.
Then finally you will be able to get the correct dose with your dosers. this is the method i followed and my tank parameter has never been more stable.

 

[dannyny]

once you use the Brs calculator to reach target levels, then you wait a week to figure out how much your tank consumes within a week.
Then finally you will be able to get the correct dose with your dosers. this is the method i followed and my tank parameter has never been more stable.

thanks! i will do my 5g wc tonight and test the water and try to boost my levels up to the desired amount then begin to dose with the pumps.

when i get to my desired levels how much do i dose? do i have to monitor the drop for the week?

 

[dannyny]

You have to dose manually to start. First you test your tank to find out current levels. Next you go to BRS calculater and put in your tank water volume. It will tell you exactly how much liquid to dose to reach desired target parameters.
Once you dose the liquids to reach your target parameters. make sure the change in parameters is not too drastic, you may not be able to dose all at once. follow the calculator instructions.

I find the calculator to be very accurate if you can figure out tank water volume minus live rock displacement.

not sure how much water volume i have... can i just estimate?