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Originally Posted by Wasserpest
I don't want to overcomplicate things. It would be easy to do with a timer like I am using... they allow for up to six programs per day, and I am only using two right now. So you could dose every day twice, but the day after water change 4 times! However, I don't think the absolute level is all that important, as long as the overall proportions are okay and nothing has bottomed out completely.
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I'm sorry Wasserpest, I should have been more clear... I meant a "manual" gap dose. I've have great success with autodosing in the past, (my current 75g stabilizing problems not withstanding
), and one of the things I've vacillated back and forth on is the protocol...
1) Dose a level amount daily, and never any additional manual doses. Such as an extra manual dose to close the gap of what was lost after a water change. This implies that you auto doses is all you need, but you do that with the understanding that your ferts will be lowest right after a water change, and highest just before.
- or -
2) Dose a level amount daily, with the aim of holding the tank on a given ppm target for each fert. This means that after a water change you must do a manual dose to replace what was lost. In fact, if your daily dose can hold your ppm steady, that means that you can use your manual gap dose to raise or lower your ppm's because your autodose is set almost perfectly to your up take rates. Unless you remove water from the tank (like a water change), where ever you put it, it stays.
Or that's the idea anyway. I've gone on trips for about 20 days, come home and found my N within 1-2 ppm of where I left it, and my P within 0.2.
The flip side of that luxury is, of course, that you have to dose manually after a water change.
Can't have it both ways. I was wondering how you approached this, and will be curious to see how the community approaches this is your solution catches on.