Automating your aquarium
One of the most essential tasks for maintaining a clean and healthy reef aquarium is routine water changes. Without regular water changes, harmful substances like nitrates, phosphates, and other organic compounds can build up and lead to serious imbalances within the tank. That's why it's a good idea to set up an automatic water change system for your reef aquarium.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to set up an automatic water change system for your reef aquarium:
- Buy a reliable automatic water change system: There are many automatic water change systems available in the market. It's essential to choose a reliable one that suits your tank's size and configuration. Here at koralkingdom we use Neptune DOS on most of our tanks, but believe it or not we use Jeboa to do it as well. Yes, the Jeabos can be a little finicky, but they worked just fine for us for years. Just make sure you keep an eye on them if you are using a cheaper Dosing pump.
- Gather the necessary supplies: In addition to the automatic water change system, you'll need a water storage container, plastic tubing, and a pump. Pick a storage container that can hold the necessary amount of water for your aquarium, and a pump that can safely transport the water from the storage container to your aquarium. koralkingdom uses 55 gallon bins from home depot. When choosing the bins make sure they are reef safe. The ones we use are the HDX black bins. We use black because we don't want any light inside the bin to start growth of algae.
- Set up the automatic water change system: Follow the manufacturer's instructions to set up the automatic water change system. Typically, this involves installing the tubing and pump, and programming the system to perform water changes at predetermined intervals. Make sure you calibrate the pumps you are using! We calibrate every 3-4 months.
- Connect the system to your water storage container: Connect the tubing from your automatic water change system to your water storage container. Ensure that the tubing securely fits into the container. Also make sure your waste line is connected to a drain or a similar sized bin to collect the water.
- Set the water change parameters: Determine how much water you want to change, and how often you want the system to perform water changes. You can adjust these settings based on your tank's needs. our systems we set 1.5 gallons a day per 100 gallons. That gives us just over a 20% water change a week. At 1.5 gallons we only have to make saltwater once a month!
- Monitor the system for any issue: Once the system is set up, monitor its performance to ensure that it is working correctly. Check for leaks or any other issues that may interfere with the system's operation.
TIP ON AWS: If your mian 3 elements (Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium) start to drop, think about increasing the amount of water taken and replaced. This allows you to keep everything balanced correctly. You can always balance it yourself by adding product, but this article is about automating your aquarium.
Setting up an automatic water change system for your reef aquarium is a wise choice that can save you time and effort, while keeping your tank healthy and clean. Remember to monitor your system regularly and make any necessary adjustments to maintain the optimum water quality for your pets.
ELEMENTS ELEMENTS ELEMENTS!!
A lot of people ask what has made the biggest impact with colors and health for koralkingdom. This is without a doubt dosing trace elements. Dosing Red Sea ABCD to an aquarium using a dosing pump is what can take your reefing to the next level. We do understand it can be pricey, so if you’re looking for a similar product then check out Seachems trace elements which we use as well.
Dosing your aquarium with the right supplements is crucial to ensure that your corals and fish thrive in a healthy environment. Red Sea ABCD is a complete set of essential elements that your tank needs to maintain optimal growth and coloration.
When dosing Red Sea ABCD, a dosing pump is a convenient and accurate way to add these elements to your aquarium's water. The dosing pump allows you to maintain consistent and precise dosing, ensuring that your tank has a stable and balanced nutrient level.
To dose Red Sea ABCD effectively with a dosing pump, you will need to follow these steps.
- Determine the daily dosage: Before starting, you will need to determine how much Red Sea ABCD your aquarium requires. This will depend on the size of your tank, the types of plants and animals you have, and their nutrient requirements.
- Adjust the dosing pump: Once you know the daily dosage, you will need to adjust the dosing pump mechanism to the right settings. This will typically include setting the dose amount, the dosing frequency, and the duration of each dosing session.
- Fill the dosing reservoir: With the dosing pump settings adjusted, you will need to fill the dosing reservoir with the Red Sea ABCD solution.
- Start the dosing pump: Once everything is set up, you can start the dosing pump. The pump will automatically dispense the Red Sea ABCD solution at the intervals you set, ensuring that your aquarium receives the proper nutrient dosages each day.
- Monitor and adjust: As with any dosing regimen, you will need to monitor your tank's nutrient levels regularly. You may need to adjust the dosing pump settings to ensure that your tank is getting the right amount of nutrients.
Dosing Red Sea ABCD to your aquarium using a dosing pump is an effective way of ensuring your tank receives the necessary nutrients. By following the steps above and monitoring your tank regularly, you can maintain a healthy and thriving aquarium.
The Major 3
Personally, I don't believe that dosing Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium is viable with a regular dosing pump. We add corals and fish to our tanks too often for it to be stable over time. And if we think about it, we put $1,000s into our aquarium between fish and corals. So why not first think about investing money into protecting it. There are a lot of aquarium controllers, but Neptune without a doubt is king. Now maybe you cant afford the bullet and that's totally fine, but even the cheaper and older products can be programmed to monitor our heating and cooler equipment. It can be so disheartening to lose corals to something as simple as the aquarium getting too hot. I can firmly say these corals will save you at least once. All equipment can fail at any given time.
Now if you have a larger aquarium you might want to look at the trident system. This extension to the Apex can test and add ALK, MAG, and Cal for you. You set variables and the trident will always keep them at that level. For example you can set your aquarium to be between 8-8.3 Alk and the trident will test and add the appropriate chemical to the aquarium to maintain the number.
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