ReefDiary Feature
Reef Tank Dosing Log
A reef tank dosing log app should show the dose and the test result on one timeline. ReefDiary stores dosing entries against the parameter they target, so you can see whether alkalinity actually moved after the dose you logged.
Keilo · Published · Last updated
What to record in a dosing log
A useful entry is the parameter, the amount, the date, and the tank. Reef keepers dose alkalinity and calcium on a schedule, magnesium less often, and trace elements when an ICP says so. Without the date, the entry is a shopping note.
ReefDiary keeps those entries with the parameter history. The same 7, 30, and 90-day filters used on charts also filter dosing records, so a busy month does not bury last Tuesday’s alkalinity dose.
Why the log has to sit next to the tests
A calcium crash is rarely “just calcium.” It can be a missed dose, a precipitation event, or a consumption change after new colonies. If doses live in a notes app and tests live in a spreadsheet, you reconstruct the week from memory.
Linking the log to parameter history is the whole point. You are not collecting doses for their own sake. You are checking whether the tank responded.
Where this fits with ICP and AI
An ICP import can drop lab values onto the same history the doses already use. Reef Intelligence can then read both. That is different from a dosing calculator that tells you a theoretical addition and never sees the next test.
ReefDiary also has a dosing calculator that can send a result into the dosing log. The log is the record. The calculator is the arithmetic.
What to write down
Log the parameter, the amount, and the day. If you split a daily alkalinity dose into two additions, two entries beat one vague “dosed alk.” If a water change replaced a dose, that belongs in the maintenance log so you do not later treat a flat chart as a failed dose.
Trace elements from an ICP import can sit beside those entries. The question the log is for is simple: after this addition, did the number you care about move, and by how much, over the next 7 or 30 days? A dose with no following test is still worth logging. It tells you the tank was dosed. It does not tell you the tank responded. The next reading is what closes that loop.
Common questions
Can I see doses next to parameter charts?
Yes. Dosing entries are stored against the parameter they target and use the same time windows as the charts.
Does the dosing log cover trace elements?
You can log a dose against the parameter you track, including elements that also arrive through an ICP import.
Is a dosing log the same as an automatic doser?
No. The log records what was dosed. It does not replace a peristaltic doser or a controller.