Does anyone actually keep corals without dosing?

[zigzag1]

I dose nothing that I don't test levels for first. So, really just Ca, Alk, and Mg are all that's 'dosed'. 20-30% of water is changed per month with IO salt. Tank info in sig.

 

[110galreef]

I had a 110g tank, mixed reef of softies & LPS. I never dosed anything, did ~ 20% WC every 6 weeks, use tap water and never had issues w/ corals or fish or inverts or even any algae for that matter. Worked great for the 5 yrs up and running. Had great coraline growth too all over. I only tested salinity as well & monitored tank temps. I had shrimps that lasted 4-5 yrs thru all this too. I think many make this hobby to complicated.



That being said, I would run RO/DI atleast. This was a setup in my office w/o access to a filter. Also if planning SPS...don't go my route above!

 

[Alunai]

OK: a dose of info here:
Soft corals don't require any more calcium than comes in a salt mix.
Stony corals can exist for quite a while in a kind of torpor in which they don't grow much: usually when you get them, they're 'asleep', and won't wake up easily. Last night I just fielded a post from a member who'd just experienced a coral awakening---and it's pretty shocking to the reefer who was lumping along feeding his 50 gallon tank maybe half a teaspoon of calcium a week and doing a water change once a month. Then...zingo, on a given day when the moon is in the right phase or whatever touches it off---the corals wake up and start to feed.
The half teaspoon of maintenance becomes a full, then heaping teaspoon a day. And you wonder where it's going until you see heads dividing all over, and stick-corals suddenly half an inch longer all over the tank.
Now---yes, corals can survive quite a while on just what comes in the salt mix. I had one that's slept for 3 years, after a house move---apparently dead, white skeleton I'd used in rockwork. This summer it started growing again. It's now the size of a shooter marble.
But...if you want corals living and growing, you have to supplement calcium, and not just calcium, but your buffer and magnesium, because the draw of one hungry coral can suck up what's in the salt mix PDQ.
I started with a 3-head hammer that is now the size of a regulation basketball, and when it next divides, some decisions have to be made.

The tank passed the point where I could afford to dose calcium by hand years ago: that's expensive. On the other hand---kalk isn't. I can dose the whole tank for two months for about 5.oo. It takes 2 1/2 lbs of kalk a month AND Oceanic salt (one of the highest in calcium content) to sustain one hammer, one torch, a frogspawn and a crocea clam. The hammer is a basketball, the torch and frog are both softballs, and the clam is about 5".

So your answer is: there are ONLY 3 doses, but if you prefer non-zombified corals, you do need them: calcium, alkalinity buffer, and magnesium. Salt is adequate for the trace elements.
And if you want to save money, and have a reef under 100 gallons, kalk is the way to do it.

I must say, SK8R, that you are quickly becoming a very important role model to me in this hobby. I would like you to take a look at a thread I'll be starting shortly on my hydnophora. I think your input would be a valuable help, as well as everyone else. I'd ask here, but I don't want to hijack. ^.^

 

[jeff@zina.com]

So, are there any reef aquarists who actually keep any type of corals without dosing? If so, what salt mixes do you uses and how often do you do water changes. What skimmer do you have?

IO Reef Crystals, 10-20% water change weekly (average), no skimmer on the frags. I have used IO and buffering without dosing. Mix of soft, LPS and some SPS.

That said, I also have a setup that needs regular dosing, but the corals go crazy in it, mostly SPS. These are also routinely fed, and it has a skimmer. I really don't think a skimmer makes a difference in dosing needs though.

Jeff

 

[jeff@zina.com]

The thing I am concerned with is coming across a bad batch of salt and having it throw off all my numbers.

That's why God invented test kits.

I test each new batch of salt, even the salinity can be different from the last. I know people who test every batch of salt water they mix, but I don't mix large enough amounts that I feel it's worth it for me.

On the flip side, I know reefers who use whatever salt was cheapest when they ran out. They mix to the directions on the package and never test the water. And for some reason, they do fine.

Jeff

 

[bobbychullo]

I have a 34g solana AIO tank.

i have very few LPS, 5 small frags that have been in my tank for a month or so (I also have a orange Monti cap)

I dose 2 part and magnesium daily. even before i put my corals in the tank, the coralline algea was draining Ca, Mg and ALK...

even with weekly 20% water changes, if i do not dose, my parameters are below normal in 2 days... (Ca 420, Mg 1350, ALK 8.3/2.97)

i have very good growth (duncan started with 2 heads and is about 2 weeks away from having 8 full heads, Zoas are all adding polyps every week) on all coralline and my LPS. i don't believe that would be the case if i did not dose.