ATI Essentials Pro is a laboratory-grade, 2-part solution for dosing elements to your saltwater reef aquarium. We’ve made dosing easy.
The reason why aquarists dose reef tanks is because as your corals start to grow, the livestock will use up calcium and other elements and substances faster than they can be replaced just by changing water. So, while you may still need to change some water over time, regularly adding some of these essential elements becomes a requirement.
Certain types of saltwater livestock are known to have a high calcium and alkalinity demand. Small or large polyp stony corals and Tridacna clams are good examples. If you want these types of livestock to thrive, then dosing is a requirement.
Dosing can feel complicated and cumbersome if the aquarist doses each element separately. The Essentials Pro solutions takes the guesswork and anxiety out of dosing your reef tank.
The Essentials Pro not only delivers the three basic components of dosing solutions–magnesium, calcium, and carbonate–but it also includes 25 other essential elements for optimized growth of your corals.
This makes dosing your reef aquarium a lot simpler. You can use the product at full strength or diluted. We created a video (below) to explain this in detail.
You will need some tubing, two check valves, a dosing pump, and two vessels in which you can dilute the two liquids at a ratio of 4:1. We recommend dosing the two solutions one at a time, alternating them every hour.
We have an online calculator to help you determine the volume to dose, and we recommend diluting the solution if you are new to dosing.
We also recommend that you do a lot of testing of your alkalinity in the beginning—when you first start dosing–to determine how quickly you are using up alkalinity or carbonate and record what your test results are.
By watching your numbers, you will see trends in how much of the dosed elements the aquarium uses. Over time you can dial in the amount to dose to exactly match what you are using up.
Once the aquarium is stable then you will be able to test much less frequently.
We want you to succeed with your reef tank, and we will bring you cutting edge products to achieve that end.ATI North America is a leader in equipment for the saltwater aquarium. If you have any questions about this article or any of our products, ATI North America can be reached at (303) 459-2119 or you can email us at customercare@atinorthamerica.com.