Cheap, low tech, easy dosing for SPS quarantine

Punchanello · Feb 19, 2019

I'm setting up a quarantine system for my corals. So far my set up will be -

bio media
10 gallon tank
Small LED fixture (probably a Tunze full spectrom LED)
Wave maker
Heater
Tunze Comline skimmer.

Corals will be quarantined for 76 days.

I'm trying to work out a cheap and easy way to dose calcium and alkalinity and keep my corals alive for that period. I assume Kalk will be the simplest but how do I go about dosing it in a consistent way? Drip feed?

Anyone else quarantine corals? What is your set-up like?

Hemmdog · Feb 19, 2019

Punchanello said:
I'm setting up a quarantine system for my corals. So far my set up will be -

bio media
10 gallon tank
Small LED fixture (probably a Tunze full spectrom LED)
Wave maker
Heater
Tunze Comline skimmer.

Corals will be quarantined for 76 days.

I'm trying to work out a cheap and easy way to dose calcium and alkalinity and keep my corals alive for that period. I assume Kalk will be the simplest but how do I go about dosing it in a consistent way? Drip feed?

Anyone else quarantine corals? What is your set-up like?

I qt my sps. In a 32. The water volume is small enough I dose manually twice a week, even then like nothing, 10ml of alk. I wouldn’t over think it to hard. A 10 gal is going to be to tricky for sps with evaporation, I would definitely not do that. Get a 40 breeder and call it a day.

DesertReefT4r · Feb 19, 2019

Water changes. You may find your corals will slow down in qt and amy not need to dose.

rushbattle · Feb 19, 2019

Kalk on a timed dosing pump, not topoff, is how I do it. Without fish I find I need to feed the corals every day. I usually feed once a night but I think that’s overkill.

Reefpuck · Feb 19, 2019

Water changes would probably be easiest on that small of a tank...but you could use a timer and an aqualifter pump to dose small amounts of whatever you need to dose. But again I think water changes would be your best bet...on a tank that small any dosing malfunctions could lead to bigger problems.

dwest · Feb 19, 2019

Punchanello said:
I'm setting up a quarantine system for my corals. So far my set up will be -

bio media
10 gallon tank
Small LED fixture (probably a Tunze full spectrom LED)
Wave maker
Heater
Tunze Comline skimmer.

Corals will be quarantined for 76 days.

I'm trying to work out a cheap and easy way to dose calcium and alkalinity and keep my corals alive for that period. I assume Kalk will be the simplest but how do I go about dosing it in a consistent way? Drip feed?

Anyone else quarantine corals? What is your set-up like?

My setup is a 10 gallon tank like yours. Since I have an auto water changer, I send my DT water to the quarantine, then from QT out of the system. Other than that, I just have a rock, heater and powerhead. If I didn’t have the AWC, I would likely try small water changes and no or minimal dosing. If you are doing small frags, there shouldn’t be a ton of consumption.

SeaDweller · Feb 19, 2019

60 gallon tank. Hand dose Randy’s two part recipe.

miyags · Feb 19, 2019

If your housing small amount of tiny frags,water changes should do just fine for a 76 dayQT.

gonefishin · Feb 19, 2019

I picked up a Reefer 170, with mp10 and radions for my SPS QT setup. Trying to replicate my DT as closely as possible. I feel like QT tanks are less forgiving then an established DT when it comes to SPS. Great lighting, flow, and stability is going to be key to success. Especially if you're going to QT for 76 days.

Triggreef · Feb 19, 2019

Yeah I agree with the majority of these guys that's not enough volume to easily maintain. I would also suggest a 40 breeder just for the increased volume and if you use display tank water even better. Change a few gallons a day using your display tank water and get the benefits of the mature tank into your quarantine. And improve your display while your at it with increased water changes.

x2uranium · Feb 19, 2019

Kalk in your top off in a bigger tank your 10 gal will suck for housing sps for 76 days go a bit bigger and you will have a chance of keeping them all. Again most importantly you want stability. Which is hard to come by in a 10 gallon tank. Especially after your dipping and what not....

jda · Feb 19, 2019

Add a couple mls of 2 part each day. Nothing gets easier or cheaper than that. You can also just change some water ever few days.

I would not use kalk and mess with pH on a 10g tank.

Charlie’s Frags · Feb 19, 2019

jda said:
Add a couple mls of 2 part each day. Nothing gets easier or cheaper than that. You can also just change some water ever few days.

I would not use kalk and mess with pH on a 10g tank.

Or a couples mls of tropic Marin all for reef will dose the big 3 and trace all in one product

jda · Feb 19, 2019

I would not supplement anything that you cannot test for in a 10g tank. You have no idea if it is depleted, or not, and probably doing nothing is better than doing too much. Big 3 are easy to test for, traces not so much. If you are worried about traces, then change some water since you know that you cannot overdose this way.

Punchanello · Feb 19, 2019

I should have said that I only really intend to have a handful of frags in the QT at any one time and was thinking about a small ATO system. In this case would water changes or weekly, 2 x weekly manual dosing be ok for a 76 day stay?

I simply don't have space for a larger tank.

jda · Feb 19, 2019

What is your goal with the QT? I QT corals, but only for coral pest and stuff. A month is enough if I am around all the time - maybe up to 6 weeks if I get busy.

Punchanello · Feb 19, 2019

jda said:
What is your goal with the QT? I QT corals, but only for coral pest and stuff. A month is enough if I am around all the time - maybe up to 6 weeks if I get busy.

I want to quarantine for coral pests but while I'm at it, for ich. I've gone fallow twice now because despite my best quarantine efforts it got introduced to my DT. I don't want to take chances.