Dosing nutrients vs nutrients from food?

[Nick Steele]

Okay so I’ve been having some issues with my tank as of lately (mostly sps) and I’m sure it’s not a contributing factor but I was curious as to peoples stand point on dosing nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) as to aposed to acquiring them naturally (feeding extra, less water changes etc).

Currently I’m dosing 5ml of my phosphate concoction which equates to about .05ppm phosphate a day and can barely keep .01-.02 phosphates readable. Before I was adding 4ml of AB+ and could keep .03 with daily dosing.

 

[blaxsun]

I feed naturally (probably too much, but they're all absolute pigs!) and haven't yet run into an issue in my new system with having to dose nitrates or phosphates. That being said, I do add supplements such as AB+ (etc.) daily - so I'm certainly not opposed to stabilizing with artificial means.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I feed well, no skimmer, don't dose other than live phyto 1-2% water change every 3 or 4 days... It works for me.

 

[blaxsun]

I feed well, no skimmer, don't dose. Other than live Phyto. It works for me.

I feed, I skim, I react!

 

[saltyhog]

I think it very much varies from tank to tank. The size of the tank, the types of coral, the number and size of fish all contribute (as well as the owner's feeding habits).

100% with feeding is fine but it's not any more "natural" than dosing is. One advantage of dosing is the ability to define what nutrient levels you want with some precision.

I have two tanks running at present. My 72x24x21 has 16 fish and is feed fairly liberally. It carries pretty consistent NO3 of 10-11. PO4 is a little different and sometimes edges higher than I want it to be which is about 0.08-0.1.

My Lagoon 25 would have zero NO3 and zero PO4 if I didn't dose it. It's lightly stocked with only a Dejongi basslet , Yasha's goby and a Banded Pipefish.

 

[Nick Steele]

I feed naturally (probably too much, but they're all absolute pigs!) and haven't yet run into an issue in my new system with having to dose nitrates or phosphates. That being said, I do add supplements such as AB+ (etc.) daily - so I'm certainly not opposed to stabilizing with artificial means.

See I use to feed a whole cube of mysis or spirulina brine to two clowns and a tailspot blenny and couldn’t register any nutrients no matter what even when I skipped water changes for a month.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I limit the excess feeding method. I used a turkey baster the last few weeks and I was surprised how much detritus I blew off the rocks and dead spots in tank. As such, I feed liberally but rely on dosing to keep up nutrient levels.

 

[Dkmoo]

Feed more for sure, and dose more real nutrients like amino, phyto, cyclops, rotifers etc..

Dosing no3 and po4 is a very narrow focused method that isn't going to be as helpful as a variety of wide spectrum nutrients.

Yes, corals can absorb nitrates, but they would be so much healthier absorbing the more complete organic matters from the other stuff i noted

Do not try to keep no3 at some target level thinking its good for them. As long as it is "detectible" and stable its fine.

NSW no3 levels are barely detectable yet corals are super healthy in reefs with good biodiversity and that's exactly why.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I'm doing both. New tank, new system with PO4 that keeps bottoming out--took rowaphos reactor off (left it in sump) and no3 barely at 5. Prob. 2 or 3. I only ever dreamed of having a "no" nutrient issue lol's. Everything is happy. Just diatoms although they are a reddish color (hard to tell under blue lights) so I hope it isn't cyano!!