2 part dosing, or red sea coral pack?

[ReGinn]

Hi all. I'm fairly new to the coral game, and am getting my first couple of SPS in in about a week, as well as some zoas, and am wondering about dosing. I've been doing a lot of research on the subject, and just can't seem to make sense of it all in my head, lol. I was looking at getting some BRS 2 part, with a dosing pump, but I've also seen the RedSea Coral pack on the BRS site, and just wondered if that is the same thing or different? Do I need both of them., or are they just the same and that would be wrong to do? Is one best than the other in your opinion? Thanks for the help yall!

2-Part Pharma Calcium & Alkalinity Starter Package

Start Replenishing Calcium and Alkalinity in your Reef Tank! Keep your corals growing with the BRS 2-Part Calcium & Alkalinity Starter Package. The kit includes everything to make one gallon of calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium and to start daily dosing, it even includes mixing jugs, dispensing...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

RedSea Coral Package

Why does BRS recommend this? The Red Sea line of additives is one of our most popular lines. Red Sea has done testing to see what elements corals take up in what ratios. They then developed an entire system to keep your reef tank from being depleted of any single element, while giving your...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[ReGinn]

Bump lol

 

[ReeferSteve]

I think most people would suggest to spend a little more time keeping coral before jumping into SPS.

But, back to your question, it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what you need in your particular system. For instance if you can’t maintain alk and calcium levels then you need to dose them. But you would need to be tracking those levels to understand your consumption and needs.

 

[WindyCityReefer.]

There are a lot of resources on here that explain the relationship between alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. The only time you should be dosing is when the demand exceeds what is replenished via water changes (since all salt mixes tend to achieve elevated levels).

In order to do so, you need to know the consumption rate through testing. The best thing to do is test the tank water a couple hours following a water change and then every 24 hours there after around the same time each day for a week. Personally, I do water changes weekly so my goal was to maintain the same levels for that entire week. Once you know the consumption or decrease in levels, you will be able to determine how much you will need to dose to maintain your desired values.

I am partial to ESV B-ionic, but I have heard good things about the Red Sea program.

 

[RCS82]

Starting with Kalk isnt a bad idea. It can keep alk and calc up as well as boosts the tank ph abit. I would always start running kalk and then progress to dosing 2 part when kalk can't meet demands.

 

[ReGinn]

Thank you so much for your help @WindyCityReefer. !! That definitely helps in determining what I need to do, and when starting dosing. I have been getting premixed rodi water from my LFS for all my tanks, but will have a rodi system coming in soon, and plan on using the Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix for all changes for the future. I can say I'm not exactly sure which mix they use in their water (poss red sea?)::shame on me:: but I also haven't had anything other than xenia and a yellow polyp (both are doing excellent) in there up until now, so nothing other than coraline to really use up the calc,mag, and alk already in there. I believe I will follow your advice and use the RS coral mix, since it shows to run higher in those areas anyways, based on the their recommendations from the back of their salt bucket, and just test the water for a while to learn what my consumption is once those new SPS/LPS are in there, and go from there. I just don't want to screw it up and have them die you know lol, read to many horror stories on here. I will still ask though, and anyone else may chime in as well, which would yall consider "better" the 2 part, or coral pack, or is it just a matter of preference?? I know the coral pack also has the extra stuff for trace colors, and reef energy, which I assume can help, but am just so mew to all of this I don't really know, and am just trying to make my best informed decision I can before purchasing all the stuff for either the 2 part, or coral pack, and everything else lol

 

[ReGinn]

Starting with Kalk isnt a bad idea. It can keep alk and calc up as well as boosts the tank ph abit. I would always start running kalk and then progress to dosing 2 part when kalk can't meet demands.

Awesome!! I haven't done a lot of research on kalk, so I wasn't aware of that, but I will definitely start looking!!

 

[ReGinn]

I think most people would suggest to spend a little more time keeping coral before jumping into SPS.

But, back to your question, it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what you need in your particular system. For instance if you can’t maintain alk and calcium levels then you need to dose them. But you would need to be tracking those levels to understand your consumption and needs.

I have some hanna checkers and salifert tests coming in as well, but havn't kept up with the testing as well as should have and mostly just had it tested in the LFS whenever I went it. I will say that every time they tested it, they looked good, but I haven't checked it in a bit.

Also I have been keeping some xenia and yellow polyps for almost 2 years, and they have done extremely well, but I know SPS is a whole new ballgame. I got a great deal over the weekend on some ::cough cough,live sale:: and want to through my hat in to the ring and see if I can keep them without a super large investment on my part. Although I would be really upset to screw this up and kill the corals because I wasn't experienced enough with them to keep them alive ya know

 

[Thespammailaccount]

One thing you might run into with the Red Sea pro salt is the high Alk which usually is at 11dkh which is high for sps and you might end up with burnt tips. The Red Sea blue bucket has a lower alk I think around 7dkh for sps

 

[Thespammailaccount]

If you are interested in the Red Sea brand they have easy to follow ‘recipes’ for different types of tanks

Reef Care Recipes - Red Sea

Red Sea's recipes for easy & successful Reef-Keeping, Our Reef Care Recipes offer easy-to-understand and simple-to-implement instructions for reef maintenance, tailored to each type of aquarium.

www.redseafish.com

 

[Thespammailaccount]

If the tank is new and you only have a few corals weekly water changes should be enough to replenish alk cal mag and trace elements so you don’t have to dose

 

[WindyCityReefer.]

The biggest thing is to take things slow. Problems come up when we rush in this hobby. Ideally you should be testing your tank’s levels on your own. Not only is it good practice, but you are not at the mercy of someone else’s poor testing habits (i.e using expired test kits, inaccurately reading values). That is a lot of trust to put into a stranger. With the sensitivity of SPS, you definitely want to be testing often.

In terms of choice in 2-part, that is personal preference. There may exist differences in potency of the 2-part as well as added micro-nutrients.

Good luck with the incoming corals!

 

[ReGinn]

Awesome!! Thank you everyone for the help!! This has definitely helped me understand all of this a little bit more, and helped me on my decisions!! From yalls recommendation, and from what I'm reading, I believe I may actually go with the blue bucket. Just seems easier to maintain overall, especially in my 32 cube. Thank you again!!

 

[ReGinn]

Also, just so I'm not misunderstanding, does the coral pack I put in the initial post from red sea include a form of 2 part?? Possibly just with extras for trace and energy...or is 2 part a separate thing all together?? Sorry I have so many questions..just don't want to order the wrong thing for future use lol

 

[windemerejack]

I use the Red Sea program on one of my tanks and my tank has done brilliantly on it but I am thinking of going Triton because I need 2 4 head dosers to run the red sea program,where I only need 1 3 head doser to run triton, Its just another expense you need to take in to account plus if you plan on dosing other stuff such as coral food you then need to buy a third doser.

 

[windemerejack]

Also, just so I'm not misunderstanding, does the coral pack I put in the initial post from red sea include a form of 2 part?? Possibly just with extras for trace and energy...or is 2 part a separate thing all together?? Sorry I have so many questions..just don't want to order the wrong thing for future use lol

The red sea program is alk,cal,mg, nopox, and 4 coral colours (trace elements) plus reef energy a and b, 10 bottles in total.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Also, just so I'm not misunderstanding, does the coral pack I put in the initial post from red sea include a form of 2 part?? Possibly just with extras for trace and energy...or is 2 part a separate thing all together?? Sorry I have so many questions..just don't want to order the wrong thing for future use lol

Yes but with Red Sea you dose three (alk, cal, mag) were as with brs two part you dose two (alk, cal). The other things in the pack are the 4 sets or trace elements and the 2 part coral nutrition

 

[ReGinn]

I use the Red Sea program on one of my tanks and my tank has done brilliantly on it but I am thinking of going Triton because I need 2 4 head dosers to run the red sea program,where I only need 1 3 head doser to run triton, Its just another expense you need to take in to account plus if you plan on dosing other stuff such as coral food you then need to buy a third doser.

Ahh ok, true. I didn't even think about that! I will definitely keep that in mind on that!!

 

[ReGinn]

Yes but with Red Sea you dose three (alk, cal, mag) were as with brs two part you dose two (alk, cal). The other things in the pack are the 4 sets or trace elements and the 2 part coral nutrition

Awesome! Thank you for putting this in layman's terms for me lol