Newbie wondering about dosing

[reef’r]

In a new tank (LPS/softie) is there any need or benefit from dosing early on? Or are you relying more on just water changes to replenish trace elements and minerals? I’ve seen a lot of people like dosing AFR on softie/lps tanks which I would like to do but just seems to reason when corals are small the intake and usage of key elements and minerals in the water will not be over come unless you had a huge amount of coral, meaning dosing would do nothing but elevate your numbers probably to an undesirable number.

One last thought, running a high nutrient tank. I want to run no means of mechanical filtration in the sump other than the skimmer, so no filter socks are roller mat. Could this also take the place of dosing or has anyone seen it have similar results?

 

[Liam's tank]

I have been wondering the same thing, should I be dosing. I will be very interested in the advice given.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

It's likely you won't need to dose for some time if you do regular water changes. Make sure you have good test kits like Hanna or Salifert. Need to be testing at least weekly.

I don't think not having those items replaces dosing. You want your water clear so that light effectively reaches the coral.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

In a new tank (LPS/softie) is there any need or benefit from dosing early on? Or are you relying more on just water changes to replenish trace elements and minerals? I’ve seen a lot of people like dosing AFR on softie/lps tanks which I would like to do but just seems to reason when corals are small the intake and usage of key elements and minerals in the water will not be over come unless you had a huge amount of coral, meaning dosing would do nothing but elevate your numbers probably to an undesirable number.

One last thought, running a high nutrient tank. I want to run no means of mechanical filtration in the sump other than the skimmer, so no filter socks are roller mat. Could this also take the place of dosing or has anyone seen it have similar results?

I mean, what you want to keep is going to determine what your water chemistry needs to be. And testing is going to tell you where your water is vs where you want it to be. When I'm dialing in water parameters, I first adjust everything to where I want it to be. Then wait a few days or a week or whatever and test it again. That will tell you how fast levels are dropping and if you need to be doing extra dosing. You don't want to adjust parameters too fast so faster drops will necessitate more frequent dosing. For example my wife's 32 biocube only requires a little dosing a couple times a weekbsince it's a new tank with a light load. My 34g red sea with a heavy coral load and approaching a year old and consumes 10 times what her tank does, so i have an autodoser that doses every 6 hours.