I am just wondering if it is possible to keep a couple of SPS colonies without going crazy on the dosing and all of that. I have an established tank and my water is good. But I dont want to be dosing the tank. I have a 90 gallon corner with about 60 ponds of live rock and a 30 galllon refuge. I do a ten gallon water change each week. I guess I'm concerned that if I'm able to get them to grow I will eventually have to dose Calcium to keep them going. Is that true? Sorry, I'm a beginner. I just want a couple of nice pieces in there. Thanks for any advise in advance for a newbie to SPS.
Basic SPS without the doising?
- Thread starter Jerm0007
- Start date
Allmost
New member
Hello, yes, when SPS corals grow, they make a skeleton from CACO3. calcium carbonate. like sand. so they take up CA++ and Carbonates from the water, which needs to be replenished.
for really slow growth and low number of SPS, LARGE water changes might be enough, but once they start growing you have to dose to keep up with the KH and CA++.
stability in these 2 parameters, brings out the best of SPS corals.
for really slow growth and low number of SPS, LARGE water changes might be enough, but once they start growing you have to dose to keep up with the KH and CA++.
stability in these 2 parameters, brings out the best of SPS corals.
Bpb
New member
Yes you can keep sps without dosing. I've sold acro frags to folks with tanks where they never dose and have lower lighting conditions. The corals didn't die, but they darkened significantly and browned, and showed little to no growth when revisiting them a year later. They'll SURVIVE in a non sps minded tank, but if you don't supplement what they need they will not grow
I'm assuming that like most things in the tank world stability is the key. Is there an easy does it dosing method that anyone can recommend? like "dosing for dummies" or something? LOL. I also am concerned that dosing may mess with my two large carpet anemones. Has anyone found that dosing has had any negative affects of anemones?
Allmost
New member
no negative, only positive, you try to keep values. you arent changing them or elevating them [if done correctly]
easiest is to get B-ionic. and 2 test kits.
test KH at day 1.
test kh at day 2.
test kh at day 3.
note how much its lowering daily.
goto reef chemistry calculator. choose B-ionic, and it will tell you how much to dose to raise the KH value [the drop from day 2 to 3]
then dose that in the morning of day 4.
test later on day 4. value should be same as day 3.
you have found your KH consumption now.
keep testing, and if you notice drop, your consumption has increased. so dose a bit more, till it holds stable.
do the same for calcium as well.
B-ionic is very good, and ironically balanced, wont cause any Issues.
easiest is to get B-ionic. and 2 test kits.
test KH at day 1.
test kh at day 2.
test kh at day 3.
note how much its lowering daily.
goto reef chemistry calculator. choose B-ionic, and it will tell you how much to dose to raise the KH value [the drop from day 2 to 3]
then dose that in the morning of day 4.
test later on day 4. value should be same as day 3.
you have found your KH consumption now.
keep testing, and if you notice drop, your consumption has increased. so dose a bit more, till it holds stable.
do the same for calcium as well.
B-ionic is very good, and ironically balanced, wont cause any Issues.
Allmost
New member
I use Elos, not the cheapest, but they are accurate and stable IMHO. I think 24 bucks each ?
the daily testing is for first couple of weeks, then you get a good understanding of usage and can go once a week for testing.
HAnna is no good ... KH test is just like Elos ... and CA++ test is not accurate / has too much room for user error
these 2 articles are great reads as well :
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/chemistry
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php/
later on you can mix your own, but for low usage, I find B-ionic to be easier. almost same cost [maybe a bit more]
day 1 can be anyday ... but when doing water changes test new water ... if kh and CA+= are higher then it would increase it in tank as well and might have to dose less the following day after WC. again these testings need tobe done for say first month, then you get a good feel of how different things effect it.
the daily testing is for first couple of weeks, then you get a good understanding of usage and can go once a week for testing.
HAnna is no good ... KH test is just like Elos ... and CA++ test is not accurate / has too much room for user error
these 2 articles are great reads as well :
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/chemistry
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php/
later on you can mix your own, but for low usage, I find B-ionic to be easier. almost same cost [maybe a bit more]
day 1 can be anyday ... but when doing water changes test new water ... if kh and CA+= are higher then it would increase it in tank as well and might have to dose less the following day after WC. again these testings need tobe done for say first month, then you get a good feel of how different things effect it.
Allmost
New member
the growth rate .... depends.
in general frags take some time to secure a base then grow and take off. but the water conditions also need to be met.
lets put it this way, if everything else is perfect, and KH and CA++ are kept stable, SPS will grow fast.
the everything else part is the Mistry that is keeping us all interested. managed nutrients like po4 and no3 seem to help.
in general frags take some time to secure a base then grow and take off. but the water conditions also need to be met.
lets put it this way, if everything else is perfect, and KH and CA++ are kept stable, SPS will grow fast.
the everything else part is the Mistry that is keeping us all interested. managed nutrients like po4 and no3 seem to help.
Bpb
New member
As mentioned you're not gonna see a ton of consumption right now. One big issue that is typically ironed out is getting balanced parameters. Test calcium alkalinity and magnesium. Drip dose them over a few days to get them in balanced natural seawater levels. THEN test daily to figure out consumption. No real dosing for dummies. Only reason people use calcium reactors and what not is because they need to supplement ALOT and liquid additives are either inadequate or too time consuming daily. Either way 5$3 complicated contraption is doing the SAME thing as manually dosing by hand...maintaining calcium and alkalinity. Pretty simple stuff conceptually. The method of administering can be as complicated as you want. The latest bulk reef supply video suggests that the host manually doses his office tank every day (which is off considering he has access to top en gear at wholesale prices). There are others that simply test once a month and just watch their tanks because they are so heavily automated. Either way, same goal, supplementing calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium
Bpb
New member
No problem! My sps load is moderate and I get by with simply using kalkwasser as my ATO water. Any newly acquired sps pieces I get will take a month or so before they start showing growth. Acclimating to different par and nutrient levels I guess. Then they all will typically take off and grow fast. Give it a couple months with new pieces. If you see no growth, keep testing, if your parameters are in line with natural seawater, I'd blame slow growth on light or available food
