Is it worth dosing with a Nano?

[Sharkattackmack]

I have a Evo 13.5 and as I'm starting to add some spa pieces I've been looking into dosing. The question that runs threw my head is if I do weekly water changes is dosing needed? I know there are many factors such as bioload, and the amount of nutrients being used up by my corals. I'm sure with in a few weeks of testing I'll be able to answer my own questions but I was looking for someone's experience with the same.

 

[Hairyteeth]

At first water changes will probably be enough, but like you said testing is the only way to way to confirm. When you do start testing your cal, alk, and mag make sure to test at the same time everyday and log your findings to inform your dosing.

 

[Brandon3152134]

I have a Evo 13.5 and as I'm starting to add some spa pieces I've been looking into dosing. The question that runs threw my head is if I do weekly water changes is dosing needed? I know there are many factors such as bioload, and the amount of nutrients being used up by my corals. I'm sure with in a few weeks of testing I'll be able to answer my own questions but I was looking for someone's experience with the same.

Depends alot on your salt. Test your alk before your wc then test ur new water to see what your salt mixes at and then test again your alk after the wc. This will show you what your tank uses within the time frame between your water changes and also tell you what your putting in your reef. If you can keep it consistent then don't worry about it. In My 30 gal I was only doing water changes but I put a few sps frags in the tank and after 3 months or so they use about .8 in one week so I use kalk periodically to keep it up

 

[Brandon3152134]

At first water changes will probably be enough, but like you said testing is the only way to way to confirm. When you do start testing your cal, alk, and mag make sure to test at the same time everyday and log your findings to inform your dosing.

Definitely keep a log you can't remember all those numbers

 

[Sharkattackmack]

Definitely keep a log you can't remember all those numbers

I have a log I keep. Jot down all my test numbers and any notes I feel might be important. I just picked up a seneye so it will make some of those parameters easier to track.

At first water changes will probably be enough, but like you said testing is the only way to way to confirm. When you do start testing your cal, alk, and mag make sure to test at the same time everyday and log your findings to inform your dosing.

This is a good idea. Normally we don't twice a week but I'm sure it's rarely at the same time. We will start doing this to remove more variables that could swing the tank one way or another

 

[elysics]

If the SPS start really growing then at some point waterchanges definitely won't be enough. My tank with a similar size eats almost 2° dKH per day, I know people with much higher consumption. I'd have to do several waterchanges per day to counter that, the salt alone would quickly cost more than a dosing pump and chemicals, not to mention the effort.

Just as a heads up, eventually that will happen if you don't move to a bigger tank or crash beforehand. But for now, at the start, just do waterchanges and if the drop in dKH before the next change gets too large for comfort, start dosing.

 

[blasterman]

What elysics said.

Most beginners start dosing for no reason and waste a lot of money and time. Also, don't rigidly lock calcium and alk consumption together. Young tanks, especially smaller ones bounce all over with alk but calcium rarely moves. Typically calcium can be replenished easily with water changes. Alk on the other hand might require bi weekly dosing.

Phosphate and nitrate consistency is more important than if your calcium is 350 or 450.

Also, stick with easier SPS.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

What elysics said.

Most beginners start dosing for no reason and waste a lot of money and time. Also, don't rigidly lock calcium and alk consumption together. Young tanks, especially smaller ones bounce all over with alk but calcium rarely moves. Typically calcium can be replenished easily with water changes. Alk on the other hand might require bi weekly dosing.

Phosphate and nitrate consistency is more important than if your calcium is 350 or 450.

Also, stick with easier SPS.

I definitely fall into the beginner trying to dose before it's needed. Well sort of. On boxing day I went out and got alk, cal, mag, along with the red sea trace colors kit. I figured it was better picking up on sale vs full price. We test bi weekly and the only thing that seems to swing is our nitrates and phosphates. That's probably due to us and over feeding.

Since splitting our biocube and starting two seperate tanks(both are mixed reefs but mine with more SPS and the girlfriends with more LPs) I've had to pick up most testing kits which is a pain in the butt but I also grabbed a seneye so I can check for par and keep more of a close eye on my ph. I also found out on over the weekend how much evaporation can happen in a short amount of time. Guess who's saving for an ato now lol

 

[elysics]

Probably would have invested in the ato before the seneye lol.

But if you can't afford it right now, but can stand an ugly bottle on your tank, you could diy a gravity fed ato for the cost of some glue and a small piece of rodi or airline tubing.

 

[redeyejedi]

I have a Evo 13.5 and as I'm starting to add some spa pieces I've been looking into dosing. The question that runs threw my head is if I do weekly water changes is dosing needed? I know there are many factors such as bioload, and the amount of nutrients being used up by my corals. I'm sure with in a few weeks of testing I'll be able to answer my own questions but I was looking for someone's experience with the same.

I dont dose my 130l tank so im sure a nano will be fine.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

Probably would have invested in the ato before the seneye lol.

But if you can't afford it right now, but can stand an ugly bottle on your tank, you could diy a gravity fed ato for the cost of some glue and a small piece of rodi or airline tubing.

I mainly wanted it for the par meter. I'm running a xr30 pro with the RMS mount on the Evo and didn't want to roast my corals. I'm a good 2.5-3 hour drive from a LFS so renting one would cost just as much as buying one when I factor in fuel, coffee, road snacks and taking the time off work. I also go see my family some weekends and if I get an alert on my phone I can have someone over to check the tank. When I went to pick up the seneye the plan was to buy an ato but the girlfriend decided to come with me and she doesn't need to know how much I spend seeing as this is one of the cheaper hobbies I'm into i try to keep her as far away from the bill as possible.

Any recommendations on Atos for Nanos? I hear good things about tunze.