Good, Better, & Best Dosing Setups for the Studio Reef Tanks 

You got it

How does it perform for you?

I have 3 of the GroTech NG1 on my tank that have been running for 8 years. They are basically the same as the John Len

I like to add 1ml of AP per 10 gallons of reef as a maximum dosage for tanks with LOTS of corals inside, but even adding 10ml to 50 gallons once a week should start getting you some improved growth

@@ReefBuildersVideo thanks for your reply

and protein skimmers and sumps ;-)

Yes all new Versas come with a retainer ring, they'll probably send you some if you ask nicely

Would also like to know about the colors Not necessary but it looks nice

@@ethanspruiell2722 Yeah, 100% can see it being useful in a situation where you have that many tanks, maybe not so much for a single tank? although the contrast of color may make it easier to notice when low versus water which is largely clear.

It’s just food coloring

I use simple food coloring and you don't see it in the tanks at all but if I dose a lot, the skimmate can get a little colorful

for sure

Still dialing in the other tanks, and growing the corals that will go into it. I know I need to finally get that thing running at last

No actually I think it hurts my pH since they add to the CO2 load at night, but at least they look cool

I don't use any controllers since most of the best reef gear is already natively controllable

Food coloring

My buffer is made from brightwell aquatics alkaline 8.3-p powder

@@ReefBuildersVideo With that buffer containing carbonates does it increase salinity over time? Super excited to see your new Podcast grow!

ARKA

you can use any continuous dosing pump but the Versa is really built to handle that constant dosing regime

food

food coloring

you must have a leak somewhere before the pump - I've had the same issue arise before but just fix the leak and you should be good to go

the carbonates produced by a calcium reactor are the buffer

@@ReefBuildersVideo would you recommend using Sea Chem Buffer to Raise PH to 8.3 and DkH normally is at about 8-8.2 maybe it would raise it it to about 9-11 as some salts have that value.... then there is the issue with Borate!!!!!!

Great value pumps that can range from dirt cheap to more expensive but heavy duty.

Kamoer absolutely makes some great dosing pumps, probably the only company dedicated to doing just that. If I didn't have the Johnlens I'd certainly be using some of their X1 and Pro 2 pumps

food coloring

Me too

I agree. Would like to learn more about this.

it's fine, chock full of plants but I need to put the UV back on it

brightwell aquatics alkaline 8.3-p

You'd never want to tinker with your water testing reagents but I simply add food coloring to the additives

@@ReefBuildersVideo 100%.. I was referring to the dosing agents. As you have done. Thanks for the info.

I just dose a reasonable amount and manually dose to get it back on track

It’s just food coloring

@@DhG4410 it doesn’t affect the additives? thank you!

@@MACNTOSFAM no it does not a small amount goes a long way

really ? only use food coloring and no effected?

food coloring

it's not noticeable in the tank but on some smaller setups the skimmate might be a little vivid

I don't use ANY controllers since most of the best reef gear is already natively controllable

Dido. Can’t find them either.

You won't find them as Johnlens but you might find them under a different brand depending on your local market.

a lot of people use jebao but not me personally

Do you test your water? If you want the absolute cheapest you could probably get by with water changes. Or hand dosing tropic Marin all for reef. Better yet just use some kalkwasser in your ato and save up for the doser you want.

Yes for a 30 gallon tank you should really lean on mostly water changes at least until the tank is overflowing with corals.

Iam buying Hanna Checkers finally I have had api for a while so not super accurate soon I will test water

you got it

I knwo they got mixed up a while back, but didn't catch it until editing. It'll be flawless next time!

@@ReefBuildersVideo cool! I can sleep better now 😉

I used to say the same thing about cheap dosers, until 2 of the 4 channels decided to stick ON out of the blue, hadn't touched the thing in months - I was incredibly lucky that it decided to bump my calcium and magnesium up to 3,000 ppm - not even joking - and that it wasn't the buffer channel

@@ReefBuildersVideo that sucks, I know this is getting weird but did you change the password on the dosers when you got them, I only say that cause you have a pretty big online presence and I believe the ability to remotely control them is there, I believe even if you did change the password if someone wanted to they could still use the dosers or change settings. In any case I’ll be keeping a very close eye on mine now haha

my max dose is around 1ml/10gallon/day but it's mostly relative to the coral population, not the water volume

I left my sand bed in 2008 and the food coloring is only good for spiking the color of my skimmate