How Much Are You Really Dosing For?

[reefs4life]

Hey guys,

So I just thought of this after doing some work on my tank all of yesterday. So I've had my 210 running for almost a year now and after the first day I had realized it was a good 2" off level and I couldn't take seeing the tank like that anymore so I decided to fix it. I got 4 44gal brute garbage cans, 2 car jacks, and plenty of 4X4s. I made about 80G of new saltwater in hope of doing a large water change with 2 of the garbage cans and left two empty to save one water and the other to measure out an exact amount from the tank. I drained the water to about 3" just enough to leave the fish submerged but I left all the rock and coral the way it was. And all the live sand. Got about 300 pds of LS and 350pds of LR. Then I ran a stack of 4 4X4s, under the width of the stand so they would lay on the beams that run length wise down the tank. Then I lifted the tank with the help of my father simalteneously with 2 car jacks, my heart was beating a mile a minute but it got done and everything is fine now.

The thing that I was most intriged about was the fact that when I emptied the tank I only took out about 2 44g full and one 20g with about 3-4" of water left in the tank which were easily another 44 if combined with the 20. So for argument sake let's say I took out 3 44g out that 132G of water in a 210!! I know that there is a serious water displacement with the rock and sand but it's still an almost 80G water deviation from 210. This brings up the title of this thread "How much are you really dosing for?" In my case I always dose for about a 300G system because I have a 30G x-high, a 30 long and a 120G sump that is half full meaning it would give me at least 60G of water but I have LR in there as well. In reality I would probably need to those for just 200G of true water. But that also raises the question, on the dosing directions, do manufacturers take into consideration the water displacement?

Just thought it might be an interesting topic and something worth knowing.

Fortunato

 

[marrone]

It really matters what you're dosing, for Cal, Alk & Mag it's more to do with what you have and how much they're using, as opposed to the water volume that you have. When using medication I put in half the recommend amount and then test the level, from there I can gage how much more I need. Over the years you tend to get a good idea of what you have and what you need. Some manufactures do tell you to dose based on water volume, tank size less rocks, sand and coral, which usually is in the instructions to some extent but not usually laid out.

 

[tosiek]

Albano made a good post about this a while ago in regards to actual water volume. Actual water volume was one of the first things stressed when I got into the hobby. My 5g water changes in my 25g starter cube ended up being about 35-40% of my actual volume. When I emptied my tank out for my first upgrade it all fit into a 15g rubbermaid container minus sand which amazed me. For my current upgrade I took the time to calculate the displacement of my rocks and sand when setting it up which ended up being about 35/40% of my display gallonage. This holds true for about anyones tank that isn't full to the brim with rocks. Add whatever your sump is actually holding when the tank is running and thats your actual water volume. If your sizing your sump to the recommended 35-45% of your display gallonage then you can just dose your display gallonage and not overdose.

When it comes down to it most of the things your dosing is based on what the tank itself needs, initial doses are based on your guessed water volume and you adjust that dose to what your tank needs based on testing. Everything you dose states to underdose and increase as needed.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Mike and Tosiek are correct, most of what we dose is based on usage and not on actual water volume. You should be testing, then dosing accordingly. Most of the quality brands have instructions to add a certain amount to raise your level by a specific concentration

350lbs in a 210 sounds like a lot and you might want to consider reducing that to increase your actual water volume. You might find the tank is even more stable that way.

 

[tosiek]

Plus less rock = nicer aquascape to place coral and let your fish swim. I didn't catch that from your thread. Try to shoot for more open space and not stack rocks ontop of each other. More bridging and caves than rock piles. Lighter more porous rocks help alot too.

 

[albano]

Albano made a good post about this a while ago in regards to actual water volume.

SO MANY good posts, it's hard to remember them all... BUT, thanks for remembering!
this might be it

as someone, presently 'running' about 1400g, I think everyone, ESPECIALLY, large tank owners, should have a better idea of their ACTUAL gallonage... I have no idea, how full your sumps and frag tanks are, but I would guess that you probably 'run' somewhere around 1/2 full. I comment on this because, it seems like many people don't really know how many actual gallons of WATER, they have, which, I think, might cause a problem when 'dosing' certain things...a '180g' tank with rock and sand, probably has less than 130g of water, most sumps/ refugiums are operated ,way below, full capacity.
My new 450g tank holds about 380g of water, even less with rock and sand. When dosing any additives, that would be about 25% LESS! :shhh: A 120g reef tank, has about 80g of water (+ sump)...33% less than the owner thinks!

 

[lfsmarineguy]

More open rock work will also increase the flow and help keep the tank cleaner. If you like the way the rock looks now you can still remove a decent amount of rock and either stack it more efficiently or use other materials to support it. You'll find the levels fluctuate far less when you increase the actual water volume and you'll end up saving money on dosing longterm.

 

[darock73]

fortie, will you get a mini cycle by letting your rock
and coral exposed to the air.

 

[Master Shake]

depends on how long they are exposed, as long as the rock stays moist and the corals are not left out for that long they should be fine. id give the corals an hour or two max and the rock a few more. dont forget some corals end up being out of the water at low tide

 

[reefs4life]

fortie, will you get a mini cycle by letting your rock
and coral exposed to the air.

No it ended up working out very well. The rock and coral were exposed for a max of 45 minutes and when you think about it's like a low tide in nature.