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As many of yall know I'm starting a 40b. I've been looking at dosing and from what I have read i need to dose cal, alk, strontium and mag and I also need to keep all my parameters in check. My question is what all do you guys dose and what brand do you use for all 4.
 

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As many of yall know I'm starting a 40b. I've been looking at dosing and from what I have read i need to dose cal, alk, strontium and mag and I also need to keep all my parameters in check. My question is what all do you guys dose and what brand do you use for all 4.
Don’t worry about dosing until your tank is established and you have an idea of how much Ca, Mg, etc your corals are using. Depending on how often you do water changes, and what salt mix you use, you may not have to dose at all.
 

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Like Erin said when your tank first starts out your water changes will keep Calcium / Alk / Mag in check, but you will need to monitor.

Once water changes no longer can keep levels where you want them start with just Cal and Alk dosing and monitor Mag and the rest. Eventually start dosing Mag ect... as you need to.
 
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Yes but what brand do you guys use. The only one I really know of is redsea but there are so many more.
When your tank is ready...

For a smaller tank and to get your foot into the world of dosing- I’d start with Kalk. It will give you AlK and Cal. You can manually dose it or put it on a pump. You can add Mag separately as it is consumed much slower.

The next two I’d recommend when the tank is picking up pace are Aquaforest and BRS 2-part. Aquaforest is great for young or smaller systems where consumption is low.

Hope this helps.
 

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I have brightwells kalk+2 can I put that in the top off water or use a reactor

I tried the Kalk in top off water route. It works OK but....it is pretty inconsistent and if for some reason your pump gets stuck on or off you could run into issues.

Either drip / dose separately or go with a reactor imo.
 
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I tried the Kalk in top off water route. It works OK but....it is pretty inconsistent and if for some reason your pump gets stuck on or off you could run into issues.

Either drip / dose separately or go with a reactor imo.
How would i set up a drip
 

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Weekly water changes will take care of most of your levels for the first few months. Maybe longer depending on how much livestock you have. IMHO, there is no reason to spend big bucks on dosing equipment. Once you know what and how much is being consumed, you can dose it manually when you feed. It will be very little on a 40gal tank. You also eliminate any risk of overdosing as a result of faulty probes or stuck pumps. Buy a cheap $20 gram scale and you’re in business.
 

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How would i set up a drip
I take a gallon jug, drill a small hole in the lid large enough for airline tubing to fit through but small enough to hold the tubing in tight.

Fill the jug with Kalk Saturated RODI and use a syringe to start a syphon so the solution starts following through the tubing.

Lastly tie the tubing into a knot so that instead of a constant flow it drips slowly, no more than once every few seconds. If this doesnt keep up with your calcium or dkh needs then loosen the knot so that it drips once a second.

I personally wouldn't have it drip any faster than that so your pH doesnt get to high. I know this isnt very scientific or flashy but it worked for me.
 
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Small tank = lots of water changes

I’ve run nanos for years... both dosing and not. IME, dosing is unnecessary for a tank that small. RedSea Coral Pro, Tropic Marin Pro (Great stuff but pricey, so if you’re saving by not dosing it’s well worth it) and Ocean Life Reef Crystals all have the additional trace elements added that you’re looking for without having to dose the aquarium. I’ve done 10-20 % water changes weekly and never had any issues. I run no filter media or skimmers in the tanks so I get max efficiency. Plus, I don’t max out my bio load by overstocking my tank or over feeding... That said, IF you do decide to dose the tank, Seachem Complete is great for the tank, easy to use (twice a week, 5ml per 20g), and has never caused any swings, losses, or outbreaks/blooms. I only dose to speed growth and enhance colors... other than that, regular weekly water changes and the occasional reefroid feeding will keep you where you need to be 👍🏼
 
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That’s a lot of feeding for a 40g! Could cause an algae bloom... I’d pick one and feed once-twice a week, or rotate them daily and see which they respond to better. They’re essentially the same thing, so you’d be quadrupling that bio load unnecessarily. Best thing is to not feed at all at first and see what kind of response you’re getting just by doing water changes, then start feeding intermittently to see what your tank can stand without messing with your params. If you’ve got a lot of LPS, spot feeding mysis or pellets works really well AND you know it’s going straight to the coral and not cycling through your water.
 
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