Jump to content
Frag Factory

What should I be dosing?

Recommended Posts

Frag Factory

Hey all,


So as my tanks grown in and I've added some calcium heavy livestock (a clam and some SPS) I'm at the point where I need to dose. I normally do this through my ATO with aquaforest Kh buffer and manually top up Ca and Mg... but because it's summer in England some days I need to run a fan and some days I don't. Evaporation and therefore daily dosing amount is very varied and my Alk is spiking +/-1.5dkh which is making my SPS look stressed.


So, I bought myself a Coral Box WF-01. It's just a small wifi controlled single head doser, it looks pretty neat.


My tank consumes the following over a week:

Alk - 3dkh

Ca - 20-30ppm


However, the plan was to dose Kalkwasser, but now I have the unit here I'm wondering if I should be ordering another and dose using the balling method. I already have the aquaforest kh buffer/calcium/magnesium salts. Or even dosing the 20-30ppm of calcium in ATO water and dosing Kh with the dosing pump.


According to online calculators I need 430ml of kalk a week which would be simple enough to dose, with balling I need 35ml of this and 10ml of that. Much smaller amounts, which makes me concerned that I'm (as a dosing noob) going to get something wrong and make things worse.


So, which would you do?


Stick to the original plan, dose Kalk (brightwell kalk++ which has magnesium too), or go with the more popular/common "balling" method?


Is there any real advantage/disadvantage to either?



Share this post

Link to post
Frag Factory

Ok I'm going to go with kalkwasser and stick to the plan, dose all 3 major elements at once. If it goes wrong I can revert to my aquaforest salts.

Share this post

Link to post

I like your thinking...I dose both Kalk and 2 part(Balling Method). It's been something Ive worked on in my previous nano and perfected in my new 20gal system. It can be a challenge keeping it all stable for nano, specifically sps dominated, but my setup has worked without a hitch since it was implemented.


I can go into full detail but it seems like you have an idea of what to do.

Share this post

Link to post

Join the conversation


Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.


×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor


  • Recommended Discussions

  • Create New...