What type of dosing do I need?

[Dom]

I am currently dosing calcium and alk according to this recipe, but I'm not sure what dosing size I need. Right now I dose mixed tank, not bothering to do mag yet because I'm waiting on another gallon milk jug to empty out. I keep a chunk of montipora, two heads of hammer, two Astrea snails and a Conomurex luhanus in an 80 gal, and am planning to pick up birdsnest and maybe octospawn in the future. How much of all three(Ca, alk, Mg even though it'll be another week or two) should I dose?

There is lots to consider when dosing. No one will be able to tell you how much, they can only provide a starting point.

From there, you dosing amounts will change as your corals grow and the uptake of elements increases.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

god dangit, my calcium kit’s nearly out…
might as well then, thanks everyone. I’ll figure out how much they need myself.
(to be entirely honest, now I kinda want to run a study to quantify the calcium consumption of corals and gastropods on a by - polyp basis…)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

god dangit, my calcium kit’s nearly out…
might as well then, thanks everyone. I’ll figure out how much they need myself.
(to be entirely honest, now I kinda want to run a study to quantify the calcium consumption of corals and gastropods on a by - polyp basis…)

Losing proposition, IMO.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Losing proposition, IMO.

seeing how many species, strains and variants of calcium - using inverts are on the market, certainly. However, I love micromanaging things.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

seeing how many species, strains and variants of calcium - using inverts are on the market, certainly. However, I love micromanaging things.

It’s not the corals that will make this impossible, but all the other confounding factors.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

It’s not the corals that will make this impossible, but all the other confounding factors.

expect it to be entirely unreplicable in average home reef tanks
mfw the 80 other organisms in my tank eats more Ca than my corals

 

[KrisReef]

There is lots to consider when dosing. No one will be able to tell you how much, they can only provide a starting point.

No one?
I thought Randy did a good job and I would

TRUST Jesus! He knows the numbers of polyps on the Montipora and every where else.

Otherwise testing until a baseline is established and then only occasional tests to see how it is progressing.

I need to test my own tanks today to see how much I have neglected them.

 

[Dom]

No one?
I thought Randy did a good job and I would

TRUST Jesus! He knows the numbers of polyps on the Montipora and every where else.

Otherwise testing until a baseline is established and then only occasional tests to see how it is progressing.

I need to test my own tanks today to see how much I have neglected them.

Well... we have preconceived ideas in the hobby. Among those ideas are the acceptable ranges of water chemistry.

I've always felt that "good" numbers in any given tank are based on the contents of the tank itself.

So as an example, generally speaking, a 400-440 Calcium reading is widely accepted as "good" in a reef tank. But in a FOWLER tank, Calcium can be much lower and would still be considered "good".

Based on your posts over the years, I doubt you tanks are neglected!

Also, I wasn't trying to disrespect anyone when I said "no one". Guys like Randy, yourself (and a few others) are the exception to the rule.