Dosing
 

If you had the opportunity to do it all over again what method would you choose? I'm torn on which method to use. I have a PM Calc reactor set-up that I haven't brought on-line yet, but I'm really intrigued by the 2/3 part dosing methods and the simplicity they offer.

Whoops, should have put this in the polls section I guess..

I voted 3-part but IMO realistically 2-part and 3-part are the same thing. Big 3 being Ca, Alk and Mg .. you don't really have to dose Mg on a daily basis (or if you do it's some tiny amount compared to the other two). If you dose 2-part with something like Seachem "Reef Builder" and "Reef Advantage" (I forget which one is Ca and which one is Alk but that's what they are together), then you are already dosing Mg anyhow. If you use the Randy Holmes-Farley recipes then you have to dose Mg separately.

I dunno, Ca reactors still have their place but you said it yourself, you can't beat the simplicity of 2-part. (No CO2, no "dialing it in", no fussy regulators, etc.)

For me there was quite a learning curve to get the Ca Reactor all figured out. But now that I've been running one for two years I'm pretty comfortable with them. Occationally I'll turn up the flow a bit after I've done some water testing but basically I dont touch mine for months at a time.

I think I would do the 2 part dosing, the reactors are great as long as they are dialed in correctly, which means more work in the end.

I voted dosing though have no problems with my reactor and they can be set and forget, but a dosing pumps with a built in controller (like here) seems interesting.

Not having run them but can see dosing being about work as a reactor; initially getting dialed-in then refilling the reservoirs. Can you just mix the solutions once (or need to be re-stirred), how often to replace the tubing, life of the motors? CO2 and aragonite easy to get an really not that pricey. Dosing mixes probably not that bad if going to littlesilvermax and making your own, but if getting into the balling methods?

I am dosing the DIY 2 part on a 350 gallon SPS dominated system. Currently I only need 100ml of Ca and Alk per day although I think I may have to bump that up a bit the way my corals have been growing.

I just setup a dosing system which can dose 4 solutions. I wouldn't say it's the simplest method but I do believe it's the most reliable and accurate. I plan on dosing a DIY two part for calcium and alk and using the other 2 for supplemental stuff like zeovit AA or phyto. I'm not a fan of the bailing salts simply because I personally haven't seen good results from using them and it's way more complicated trying to figure out proper dosing rates.

reply
 

I voted 3 part but not because of it's simplicity, its just what I have to do. I dose CA, MG and Alk all separately with thier own additives. It took me a while to figure out my depletion rate and safe dosing rate, which was a real pain. I guess after the fact it is simple because I know exactly what and when I need to dose, but getting to that point was a PITA.