Is dosing even necessary in a reef?

[2Wheelsonly]

I understand guys ,but my thing is these stuff are so concentrated that if you put a little over or not enough ,it will cause problems and sometimes nuke your aquarium

My assumption is that you're not currently keeping a large population of sps. There is a 0.0 chance you can keep up with the calc and alk demands via water changes if you're running an sps heavy tank. It is virtually impossible, you would go nuts doing 3 water changes a day. Just in my 300 with 70 sps frags my alk would fluctuate drastically without supplements in a single day.

You're acting like these chemicals are bad...alk and calc at the end of the day are still the same alk and calc in your salt mix. Not bad

 

[Theo15]

My assumption is that you're not currently keeping a large population of sps. There is a 0.0 chance you can keep up with the calc and alk demands via water changes if you're running an sps heavy tank. It is virtually impossible, you would go nuts doing 3 water changes a day. Just in my 300 with 70 sps frags my alk would fluctuate drastically without supplements in a single day.

Yea I don't have much sps at the moment ,getting there though

 

[Theo15]

Could be species, flow is also a factor.


What if I said a coral is like a human but its guts are on the outside. It cant drink milk, so it digests its minerals aminos % nitrogen and phosphates food through its skin(stomach).
http://reefworks.co.uk/articles/obtaining-the-best-colours-from-your-corals/

Do you belive in thoes live zooxanthellae products?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Do you belive in thoes live zooxanthellae products?

No but I've not done much research on it. I like to read stuff scientists write and what they're trying. I had never participated in them until a couple years ago. Before that I looked for experts and scientists.
Forums are all well and good but for facts I prefer articles and studies. I fact check everything before I try it in my tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@Theo15 when do we get to see your tank.
What are you into? Bugs bacteria fish all coral acros n stonys.

 

[Theo15]

@Theo15 when do we get to see your tank.
What are you into? Bugs bacteria fish all coral acros n stonys.

My tank is a 50 gallon , I just started it up last July and it's been running pretty good , not much in there I'm trying to do research as I go , I only have 6 fish, 2 clownfish, 3 wrasse, and a tang (he is a baby still) , it's and older aquarium it's not reef ready but it wasn't a big deal, I have a bh1000 skimmer, and I run a canister filter with live rock and filter floss, I have a 4 bulb ati fixture ,and I have 6 powerheads of various sizes for movement

 

[Theo15]

Still have space for coral but a little at a time

 

[Theo15]

Euphyllia are my favorite corals I'm just getting into sps

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea that's great looking. Good sps choices too. Hardy beginners. I have that branching monti too.
I made the mistake of getting plating montiporas and chalices at first. They'll blow up and suck the vcalcium right out of the system. I had em turn almost to mush they were so soft. Gues the lfs was wrong about easy coral and not needing to dose and just water changes. Lol.

The two stage and three stage jebao w esv is an easy starter dosing set up. On my cube I use mason jars for the containers. Cool vintage mason jars but still .25. Cents. The tw stage was the same price as the three stage $60.

Have you started to read Randy Farleys articles yet?
His preference was kalkwaser. It's cheaper and some lps guys swear by it.

 

[Theo15]

Yea that's great looking. Good sps choices too. Hardy beginners. I have that branching monti too.
I made the mistake of getting plating montiporas and chalices at first. They'll blow up and suck the vcalcium right out of the system. I had em turn almost to mush they were so soft. Gues the lfs was wrong about easy coral and not needing to dose and just water changes. Lol.

The two stage and three stage jebao w esv is an easy starter dosing set up. On my cube I use mason jars for the containers. Cool vintage mason jars but still .25. Cents. The tw stage was the same price as the three stage $60.

Have you started to read Randy Farleys articles yet?
His preference was kalkwaser. It's cheaper and some lps guys swear by it.

No i haven't read it yet , I was going to use kalk at first but I didn't have much knowledge on it , I got these a few weeks ago and they are doing well also ,already encrusting on the live rock

 

[dgrigor02]

There just comes a point where your coral bioload or tank size just doesn't make economical sense for water changes rather than dosing. But if you have the budget for it, time and space, I have always been a proponent of more water changes the better. I used to do 40g per week on my 180g ( just becuase of simplicity as it was exactly 1 bag of instant ocean ) for many many years. The last two years though have come to a complete 180 degrees and do no water changes dose everything ( Just for the experience and knowledge, It has been fun change of pace ) but long term will likely go back to fairly routine water changes but not likely not back to 40g per week just for economical reason.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

No i haven't read it yet , I was going to use kalk at first but I didn't have much knowledge on it , I got these a few weeks ago and they are doing well also ,already encrusting on the live rock

Yea those sticks are about to get weird on you.

 

[Theo15]

Yea those sticks are about to get weird on you.

Tell me about it lol , they always have polyps out now, I had a seventh fish a flame angel but he was not playing nice at all , but the corals have now opened back up ,I'm ready to see what they will look like when the get larger , and the have kept their color

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm kind of late to the show. Couple points I want to make and I'm sure they have been address.

Pico and some nanos up to 40 gallons can get away with frequent water changes a week, even with sps dominant. SPS can be ambiguous though. Hardy SPS like Stylophora can handle parameter swings even if 3 water changes a week aren't sufficient. SPS like Acropora may not survive in those cases.

Larger tanks like 50 - 1000+ gallons will find that frequent water changes a week not only hurt your back, bank account and quality of life but also may not be sufficient for SPS dominant tanks. UNLESS you deploy an automatic water change system that can change water of 15% - 35% weekly. And even then that may not be enough for coral uptake.

 

[Theo15]

I'm kind of late to the show. Couple points I want to make and I'm sure they have been address.

Pico and some nanos up to 40 gallons can get away with frequent water changes a week, even with sps dominant. SPS can be ambiguous though. Hardy SPS like Stylophora can handle parameter swings even if 3 water changes a week aren't sufficient. SPS like Acropora may not survive in those cases.

Larger tanks like 50 - 1000+ gallons will find that frequent water changes a week not only hurt your back, bank account and quality of life but also may not be sufficient for SPS dominant tanks. UNLESS you deploy an automatic water change system that can change water of 15% - 35% weekly. And even then that may not be enough for coral uptake.

I don't do weekly water changes ,I do monthly and maybe only take out 10gallons or a little more and I have had no problems and corals look good

 

[reeferfoxx]

I don't do weekly water changes ,I do monthly and maybe only take out 10gallons or a little more and I have had no problems and corals look good

Your coral are still small. Once those colonies start exploding, you'll need to supplement. Once they matured it wouldn't be uncommon to see 3dkh being absorbed in 24 hours. Not to mention magnesium with it being a mixed tank. If you neglect to keep stable parameters with those acros, you might find some pH swings too. Once that starts, things get weird as @saltyfilmfolks said.

 

[Theo15]

Your coral are still small. Once those colonies start exploding, you'll need to supplement. Once they matured it wouldn't be uncommon to see 3dkh being absorbed in 24 hours. Not to mention magnesium with it being a mixed tank. If you neglect to keep stable parameters with those acros, you might find some pH swings too. Once that starts, things get weird as @saltyfilmfolks said.

I supplement now , they are small but growing ,the birdnest is growing the fastest

 

[reeferfoxx]

I supplement now , they are small but growing ,the birdnest is growing the fastest

Gotcha. I was under the impression your were only performing 20% water change a month lol

Birdsnest is one I avoided just because it grows so fast. I have a purple stylo that grows like weeds too. I'm thinking of removing it, but mine is only 30 gallons.

 

[Theo15]

Gotcha. I was under the impression your were only performing 10% water change a month lol

Birdsnest is one I avoided just because it grows so fast. I have a purple stylo that grows like weeds too. I'm thinking of removing it, but mine is only 30 gallons.

I always manage to break pieces off when I put my hand in the tank ,it makes me cringe but a few days go by and it's like it never happened ,that think is on crack lol

 

[BobDale]

Red Sea Pro