dosing calcium and coral food

[STEVEN ADAMS]

Hi I am new to saltwater. I recently bought a tank used from a guy. its 35 gal with many easy corals. with the tank he gave me the following chemicals. how often do you typically dose your tanks and what is the method? I do not have a calcium test yet so I will not be dosing until I test. What about the Reef Plus tho. it says amino acids on it what is exactly the method for that? is this something I would use to target feed my corals? I have sun coral, button polyps, hammers, mushrooms, acan, and frog spawn. the previous owner told me he was dosing roughly once a week? what do I need to know? how much do I dose how often and am I suppose to test the water to find out? if so what am I testing for?

 

[Waters]

A lot has to do with the frequency and amount of your water changes. With a tank that small, I probably wouldn't dose anything, Ca included. You would need a pretty full tank of hard coral to not be able to keep up with the Ca and ALK requirements doing water changes. That being said, you don't really test for amino acids. I would just follow the instructions listed on the bottle. They can be dosed daily in smaller amounts or weekly. Just be careful not to overdose or you will potentially have a tank full of algae.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This article may help you understand the most important dosing issues (alkalinity and calcium), why to do it, and what the dosing choices are:

The Many Methods for Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/the-many-methods-for-supplementing-calcium-and-alkalinity

 

[beaslbob]

check out Dr holmes-farley improved diy 2 part method. Really simple, really inexpensive, using commonly available ingredients.

see: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php