Daily v. Weekly Dosing

[alicia24]

Hello,
I am confused on dosing. I've had my 90g (lps & softies) for 2 years and I only dose weekly. I see a lot of people who dose daily. I do test weekly and just replenish what I need. It's never very drastic. I.e. magnesium might be 1370 so I dose to 1400.
However, I'm wondering if that's part of why my corals don't grow quickly?
Daily dosing is very confusing from what I've read..figuring out the calculations and what products to use.
I rather do weekly but if that is a bad idea for Coral growth I'll switch to daily.
Thank you!

 

[taricha]

alkalinity should be supplemented daily or more frequently, if there are growing coral colonies. The other stuff you can get away with weekly.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Could be anything that contributes to slow coral growth..... low lighting, low flow, low nutrients, low alk/calcium, etc.......

I can't say if dosing will help your corals grow faster, would need all the info to make a conclusion. If you can share all that info, plus some tank pics, we will be able to offer suggestion

 

[alicia24]

Could be anything that contributes to slow coral growth..... low lighting, low flow, low nutrients, low alk/calcium, etc.......

I can't say if dosing will help your corals grow faster, would need all the info to make a conclusion. If you can share all that info, plus some tank pics, we will be able to offer suggestion

I think it maybe the lighting. I just switched them to viparspectras which are a lot brighter than what I was using.
Alk I keep around 9
Calcium 400
Mg 1400
I do have issues with phosphates. Phosguard is too expensive and was causing a lot of fluctuations so I just ordered a reactor.
Essentially I'm wondering if the levels being off slightly i.e. mg 1370 then adjusted to 1400 would that make the corals angry enough to slow growth?
For flow i have 2 power heads nothing fancy theyre off amazon but the euphyllia flow nicely so I dont think it's flow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's the key:

Dose as soon as the parameter in question drifts out of the range of what you consider to be acceptable. That also includes understanding what might happen with a sudden rise in its value. For some (say, iron), there's likely no issue with sudden rises, but some, such as alk, can be more of a problem.

I hope the magnesium from 1400 to 1370 ppm in a week was just a made up example, because real consumption is not that high.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think your tank looks fine, and parameters look fine.

What intensity and duration are your lights?

 

[alicia24]

I think your tank looks fine, and parameters look fine.

What intensity and duration are your lights?

Thank you.
The lights are 30% blue for 11 hours. 5% white for just 4 hours. I just switched the lights yesterday and plan to ramp up but didn't want to stress the corals.

 

[alicia24]

Here's the key:

Dose as soon as the parameter in question drifts out of the range of what you consider to be acceptable. That also includes understanding what might happen with a sudden rise in its value. For some (say, iron), there's likely no issue with sudden rises, but some, such as alk, can be more of a problem.

I hope the magnesium from 1400 to 1370 ppm in a week was just a made up example, because real consumption is not that high.

Thank you. Yes it was a made up example.
Ok it sounds like alk is what I need to be more careful with. Thank you

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thank you.
The lights are 30% blue for 11 hours. 5% white for just 4 hours. I just switched the lights yesterday and plan to ramp up but didn't want to stress the corals.

That sounds like a good plan........ your parameters are good , flow is good, so to me that means it was a lighting issue. Good luck