Dosing/Additives for SPS Only Tank

[matt_longview]

I'm trying to develop a list of the exact products that I'll be using to dose for an SPS only tank (literally, just utility fish, a handful of snails/hermits maybe). Here's my list. If anyone has any suggestions please give me your input. I've read WAY too much about this stuff and I finally sat down last night, compiled all of my info and developed my list. Also just to say... I'd likely use several of the more expensive products but if I can find a similar end result that's cheaper I'm trying to. In some cases, quality cannot be compromised!

Obviously the goals are growth & colors!

Here's my plan. It'll be in a very over skimmed, biopellet run system.
Kalk Reactor controlled by AC3
Controlled by Dosing pump - E.S.V. B-Ionic Calcium Buffer Part A
Controlled by Dosing pump - E.S.V. B-Ionic Calcium Buffer Part B
Controlled by Dosing pump - E.S.V. B-Ionic Magnesium

Manual Dosing
*Korallen-Zucht ZEOfood 7 Coral Food w/ Amino Acids
*Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Pohls Xtra
*Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7
*Kent Marine Lugol`s Solution (I'll have this sitting around for dips already)

Anything you would drop off/add and why? Looking for biggest bang for the buck!

Thanks!

 

[Reef Bass]

I would not add to your list. While providing an ideal environment for your corals is an admirable goal, take it easy and go slowly with the additives. Especially with a new tank which probably doesn't have the demand for trace elements that an older more established and heavily loaded tank does. And ideally don't add anything without testing showing a need.

Using D.I.Y. dosing solutions will save dollars. Get the 13.5lb bag of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate - part A) from Costco, calcium chloride (part B) from BulkReefSupply, and both mag sulfate and mag chloride (part C) also from BRS.

 

[matt_longview]

The "manual" dosing items have a star by them because I'm not going to worry about them until I get the other dosing down. I'm just planning out the entire system right now.

So you feel that the list is complete?

I've done some reading on zeo's sponge power. I've had it has great effects on SPS as well, but what about if few filter feeders are present? Any opinions?

 

[Fultron]

I have great luck with the BRS 2 part solutions keeping my tank stable with dosing pumps. Personally, I would not waste the money on a third dosing pump for the Mag as it is usually held fairly stable through regular water changes. You could manually dose Mag once a month or so as needed.

 

[matt_longview]

I have great luck with the BRS 2 part solutions keeping my tank stable with dosing pumps. Personally, I would not waste the money on a third dosing pump for the Mag as it is usually held fairly stable through regular water changes. You could manually dose Mag once a month or so as needed.

I've noticed that some 2-parts add Mag as well. I wonder if that's a reason for not needing to dose as often or something. I'll definitely do more research on using a dosing pump for mag and if needing one would be related to having a different two-part.

Thanks for the suggestion! You could have saved me some money just now.

 

[jeff@zina.com]

My theory on dosing is to never dose what you can't measure (I violate that with iodine at times) and never dose what you don't measure lower than desired consistently. For me, that means basically kalk, which is self adjusting anyway and rarely anything else but a good salt mix and water changes.

That said, I'm looking at changing back to IO for salt, which does need dosing, because I'm increasing my fish-only breeding system and the IO is perfect for that. I use more water (or will) for the breeding system so it makes sense to use the IO and dose for the reef. I think.

I dose about half what I think I'll need until I dial it in. I have pretty consistent evaporation, so I can dose reasonably in top-off water for a lot of things.

Jeff

 

[Denadai]

I ´m dosing in my tank just ca, alk , mg and fish food and I´m very happy

I think a lot of thing that you guys are dosing is not necessary to keep a healthy tank

Just my two cents

Best Regards

 

[allsps40]

IMO clean salt water, ca, alk, mag and fish poop is all you should dose to a reef tank.

 

[matt_longview]

It'll be different in a biopellet system with a skimmer rated for for times the tank volume. The biological filtering has to be sufficient enough to deal with large fluctuating bioload because of large coral shipments and who knows what coming in. Therefore the tank is ultra low in nutrients that the corals need...aka...the fish poop. With all of that gone, something must replace it. Done tons of research and just checking with others who have done that research and hopefully have that experience.

I have another personal tank that runs no skimmer and doesn't dose a thing and grows sps. I agree with what you're saying, it just won't work in this application.

Thanks!

 

[chrishayes]

It'll be different in a biopellet system with a skimmer rated for for times the tank volume. The biological filtering has to be sufficient enough to deal with large fluctuating bioload because of large coral shipments and who knows what coming in. Therefore the tank is ultra low in nutrients that the corals need...aka...the fish poop. With all of that gone, something must replace it. Done tons of research and just checking with others who have done that research and hopefully have that experience.

I have another personal tank that runs no skimmer and doesn't dose a thing and grows sps. I agree with what you're saying, it just won't work in this application.

Thanks!

A high quality food mix and weekly waterchanges will still provide those things even when skimming is heavy and NandP are UL...But it is easier IMO to count drops out of a bottle than make sure to feed a pound of food a day like is needed in a ULNS. I agree with an above poster that itll be several months til you need to dose those trace elements or much else due to being a new setup. I dont use porbiotics and I feed 3xday and I would say I have ULNS. No algae, no NandP and my corals are fairly pale still. If I used vodka at this point id have a hot mess on my hands of white coral. My tank is only 2-3 months old but is fully stocked and running a fuge and appropriately sized skimmer. I dont really see myself going down the probiotic system route anytime in the near future either.

So fo me, skimming, pruning a fuge, and weekly 10ish% WC is all that is required to keep my tank healthy. THis may change as the tank stores nutrients but I feel ive got to where im exporting what im importing and really thats the goal anyways I think.

 

[droth335]

imo clean salt water, ca, alk, mag and fish poop is all you should dose to a reef tank.

+1

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

No need for AA etc if you're not running the zeo stones or carbon dosing.

I used Kent tech a/b and tech m when I dosed with much success and it's very cheap. I used it for over 10 years before changing to reactors a little over a year ago.

I know the diy and brs chemicals are cheaper, but the convenience is worth it to me.

I've also found if you can dump it in (as i did) it's daily but it sure is easier than pulling and servicing pumps and reactors!

I have replaced vodka with biopellets myself and it appears to me that it "strips" the water in a more gentle manner as alot of my colors have deepened. I also pulled my gfo offline about 5 mos ago and my tanks appear to be happier.

If you dose, use pellets, zeo--keep your alk at 7--I've found the regular red sea salt in the blue bucket is just about a perfect salt for these applications!

 

[matt_longview]

No need for AA etc if you're not running the zeo stones or carbon dosing.

I'll be running bio-pellets. Which are a solid carbon source. That's why I was needing to dose a few of these things.

I know the diy and brs chemicals are cheaper, but the convenience is worth it to me.

Agreed. I've read all of the info on mixing this and that and using this kitchen product instead of this aquarium product for half price ect ect. I'd just rather know something is safe and effective. If I want to change in the future I can change 1 thing at a time and truly understand the differences.

I've also found if you can dump it in (as i did) it's daily but it sure is easier than pulling and servicing pumps and reactors!

Are you talking about biopellets? Or are you talking about dosing 2-part? This will be an SPS prop tank and will be packed. I think I would have to manually dose several times a day to keep swings to a minimum. Plus... when I'm out of town no way am I trusting that much in corals to my fish babysitter dosing exactly right! Haha!

I have replaced vodka with biopellets myself and it appears to me that it "strips" the water in a more gentle manner as alot of my colors have deepened. I also pulled my gfo offline about 5 mos ago and my tanks appear to be happier.

I've researched and come to the same conclusions. I wasn't even considering any other form of carbon dosing.

If you dose, use pellets, zeo--keep your alk at 7--I've found the regular red sea salt in the blue bucket is just about a perfect salt for these applications!

Thanks again. I've read the same advise, but it's very important for people to hear. ULNS need a lower ALK/KH!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[chercm]

But it is so hard to get it below 7. Everytime after water change my DKh will raise above 8

 

[allsps40]

Few concerns I have after rereading your OP. You plan to keep only needed fish assuming fish like a tangs to eat algae and a CUC to keep bio load low with the goal to grow sps corals, aquaculturing. Correct? You plan to run a larger skimmer even though most of us already tend to run skimmers rated for larger tank already, so sound like you want to go 3-4X the skimmer for tank size. Along with running Bio Pellets for a ULNS and very few fish. Sounds to me like you may be looking at over stripping the of water of nutrients. K.I.S.S keep it simple stupid, less is more. I would just run a larger skimmer and keep the fish load low and feed well, that with regular maintenance and stability IMO leads to the best results. Also why are planning to run a kalk reactor and dose 2 part? You only need one or the other. If you plan to aquaculture which it sounds to me like is what you are doing or if you just want good growth and color as we all do, just do 2 part or a Ca RX. I only dose kalk in my top off and it is starting to not keep up with the alk needs.

 

[chrishayes]

Few concerns I have after rereading your OP. You plan to keep only needed fish assuming fish like a tangs to eat algae and a CUC to keep bio load low with the goal to grow sps corals, aquaculturing. Correct? You plan to run a larger skimmer even though most of us already tend to run skimmers rated for larger tank already, so sound like you want to go 3-4X the skimmer for tank size. Along with running Bio Pellets for a ULNS and very few fish. Sounds to me like you may be looking at over stripping the of water of nutrients. K.I.S.S keep it simple stupid, less is more. I would just run a larger skimmer and keep the fish load low and feed well, that with regular maintenance and stability IMO leads to the best results..

This is what I was getting at in my post, thanks for making that easier to understand.

 

[d0ughb0y]

I used to be a dosing/additive junkie.
now I just do a 25% water change once every 6 weeks, and just dose 2 part only.

I use biopellets, but not sure if that is really doing anything or not, so just letting it run out since it is already there. Just make sure detritus are not accumulating in the tank.

 

[matt_longview]

The biggest things on every reefers mind are Ca, Alk & Mg and NO4 & PO4. I just don't think there's a better way to run a system than to take those two concerns out of the equation by running an ULNS via biopellets & oversized skimmer & having a plan for the big three to be replenished on a large scale.

I'm deciding to use both kalk and two part because of the last sentence in your post. Kalk is no longer able to keep up with your needs... so you need to dose two part. I'd rather have kalk be a constant in my system and then be able to use two part for the rest. The more I can keep constant, the better. Plus, diversity is always a plus in a reef.

So... kiss... keep it simple. Drop NO3 & PO4, keep CA, Alk & Mg up, and feed SPS their required foods in any quantity you desire because overfeeding is basically impossible. In many ways... this is more simple.

Not really looking for the "don't dose" suggestion. I've seen the tanks. I've done the research. Just looking for opinions from others running ULNSs.