Dosing a tank with minimal coral?

[Ccote]

I started using a GFO to get my phosphates down and it caused my alkininity to crash. To solve that I started dosing a two part . I only have 3 soft corals and 4 SPS frags in a 29 gallon tank. Am I overdosing?

 

[Fish4udog]

What are all these testing at
Alkalinity
Calcium
Phosphate
Nitrates

 

[JoshO]

We need parameters before we can make any comments really!

 

[Fishbird]

I would be testing my tank at the same
time on the same day every week once before my weekly water change and once 3 hours after. That way I’d know nutrients/minerals were being depleted and I’d see if my water changes were replenishing them. If they weren’t, that’s when I would dose. I’ve read a lot of threads on here where people run into problems because they’re trying to guess what they need but really, the only way to know is regular testing to see what your tank is using. Don’t dose for anything you can’t test.

 

[Ccote]

What are all these testing at
Alkalinity
Calcium
Phosphate
Nitrates

My nitrates are close to zero. Alkalinity 8. Phosphates ? Calcium? Don’t have a test for that. I’m guessing I know what you’re going to say next . Get a test kit for that

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My nitrates are close to zero. Alkalinity 8. Phosphates ? Calcium? Don’t have a test for that. I’m guessing I know what you’re going to say next . Get a test kit for that

What I'm going to say is how can you possibly ask someone if you are overdosing if you don't say how much of what you are dosing. lol

I also do not believe GFO will cause alkalinity to "crash"

What exactly did you observe?

 

[tehmadreefer]

Water changes are more than enough for your tank. Why people continue to dose and be told to dose when they have lightly stocked and new tanks is beyond me..... And on top of that. Have no clue what their parameters even are, hilarious!

 

[Ccote]

What I'm going to say is how can you possibly ask someone if you are overdosing if you don't say how much of what you are dosing. lol

I also do not believe GFO will cause alkalinity to "crash"

What exactly did you observe?

I guess my question was worded incorrectly. Then me rephrase. Am I doing the right thing by using a two part dose to raise my alkalinity?

 

[Ccote]

Water changes are more than enough for your tank. Why people continue to dose and be told to dose when they have lightly stocked and new tanks is beyond me..... And on top of that. Have no clue what their parameters even are, hilarious!

I started to dose to raise my alkalinity which was at like 3

 

[MoreReefPlease]

I guess my question was worded incorrectly. Then me rephrase. Am I doing the right thing by using a two part dose to raise my alkalinity?

The biggest part of a young aquarium is stability.

Don't chase numbers but keep your Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity and PH as stable as possible.

Look up Randy's water parameters and try to keep things close to that.

People make huge mistakes chasing a magic number when in reality, if your elements are in near approximation of the required values and stable, your tank will usually thrive.

 

[MoreReefPlease]

I started to dose to raise my alkalinity which was at like 3

That's very low, make sure you're mixing your salt correctly.

With proper salt mixing and ratios, 10% water changes are enough for a lightly stocked tank with fish and few corals.

 

[MoreReefPlease]

I guess my question was worded incorrectly. Then me rephrase. Am I doing the right thing by using a two part dose to raise my alkalinity?

The problem of using 2-part to raise Alk is that it will throw other things out of wack. You're better off getting your alk up with a large water change.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I started to dose to raise my alkalinity which was at like 3

ok but you should do water changes in a tank that small a tank with minimal corals. Dosing is typical for high moderate to high stocked coral tanks.

you wil save yourself a lot of headaches by keeping it simple.

 

[MoreReefPlease]

At the very minium, you need a reef test kit so you can test your numbers.

Truth being told, in my first tank, I only tested numbers the first couple months.

After that, 10% weekly water changes and I didn't test anything for over 2 years.

Tank flourished.

 

[Ccote]

What I'm going to say is how can you possibly ask someone if you are overdosing if you don't say how much of what you are dosing. lol

I also do not believe GFO will cause alkalinity to "crash"

What exactly did you observe?

I heard that gfo did that. I tested the alkalinity after using gfo and I saw that it crashed. Could be unrelated.

 

[Ccote]

ok but you should do water changes in a tank that small a tank with minimal corals. Dosing is typical for high moderate to high stocked coral tanks.

you wil save yourself a lot of headaches by keeping it simple.

Then my next question: Is it ok to just stop with the dosing or should I taper off slowly? I’ve only been dosing for couple weeks

 

[Rmckoy]

My nitrates are close to zero. Alkalinity 8. Phosphates ? Calcium? Don’t have a test for that. I’m guessing I know what you’re going to say next . Get a test kit for that

How do you know how much 2part to dose
guessing isn’t a good thing .
Again the most important rule of reefing
Never dose anything you haven’t tested !

 

[Ccote]

Well I’m very glad I asked this question . Thank you for the help. I ordered a test kit. I’m going to stop the dosing. Rookie mistake.

 

[NS Mike D]

My nitrates are close to zero. Alkalinity 8. Phosphates ? Calcium? Don’t have a test for that. I’m guessing I know what you’re going to say next . Get a test kit for that

I started to dose to raise my alkalinity which was at like 3

just in case, 8 dkh =. 2.8 meg/l. Any chance you read the wrong table when you read "close to 3" ?


I have a 29 gal. In a new tank with 3 soft coral, I agree that 10% weekly water changes is all you need to do right now. Test your new salt water and verify your mixing process , just to make sure you have reliable water going in your tank.

Testing the tank regularly is good, and I disagree to some extend about not needing to dose. A 10% water change will only change, well, 10% so, it's possible that NO3 an PO4 can build up and ALK/CA get depleted over time. Testing will confirm whether or not the water changes are sufficient for your tank down the road.

Also, occasional larger water changes can be an effective maintenance tool for a nano. look up the rip clean/sand bed rinse threads read them. Again, not for now, but understanding the biology of this approach could be helpful early one time corrections/remedies as opposed to stop gap additives that create longer term issues.

One last thing, do you have target number ranges?

 

[MoreReefPlease]

Well I’m very glad I asked this question . Thank you for the help. I ordered a test kit. I’m going to stop the dosing. Rookie mistake.

No one is perfect and with all the maths, water chemistry and other related information you can find online, you can really doubt yourself and what you're doing.

Get a reef complete test kit, do weekly water changes with good salt and properly mixed RODI water and just leave the tank alone.

Consistency + Time will usually do good things for you when it comes to reef keeping.