dosing and LPS

[jon1985]

So I am going to start this off by saying, I am reasonably positive that regular sufficient water changes are more then adequate to maintain happy, healthy LPS. That said, I have all the equipment and supplements to dose as I was running an SPS only system for a few years.

So my question, is there any advantage to dosing for an truly mixed (softies, LPS, SPS, anemones) reef?

If done correctly dosing will maintain more stable parameters. Which should benefit everything in the tank. That said, is worth the time and energy to dose magnesium, calcium and alkalinity?

Thoughts?

Experience?

 

[Tigerdragon]

When i had my 200 up it was a mixed reef sps/lps/softie and i ran a ca reactor on it because once the sps really start growing they will chew up the alk,ca,mag but until you start having to really dose and wc's keep things level stick with that

 

[A1t2o]

Some LPS can grow really fast so you might end up dosing more than you would have thought. As a principle though, you always want your parameters to be on spec to encourage coral growth. You might want to add the occasional dose of trace elements if there are very many softies and you don't do water changes always on time. When I was behind on my water changes, I found my corals seemed happier when I started dosing the trace elements every week or two.

I think it is worth it to dose and test, but you should have as much usage so there will be more room for error so you do not have to do it as religiously as if it were a reef tank. I probably wouldn't run an automatic dosing system, just adding when low should be sufficient, unless of course it would be simple for you to just add the equipment to your system and set it up. I have never set one of those up so I wouldn't know how much work it is. Never wanted to either if that means anything.

 

[TangingOut]

I have a mixed reef and have to dose Cal and Alk. Twice monthly 25% water changes didn't keep up. I now change 1.5% daily since new mix has higher values than I'd like to keep mine at.

 

[fredfish13]

i have a mixed reef mostly lps for a few years. had issues here and there, but never really had to dose. This past year some of them didn't do well so have been dosing CA, Alk, and Mg the last year and the lps have done awesome. my duncans and hammer are great.

 

[jon1985]

I already have a dosing pump so after a few weeks it would be pretty timeless. Small water changes daily might work....

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I have a mixed reef with only 5 SPS 17 LPS and 4 Leathers two BTA's and fish. Most of my LPS are smaller frags but I do have a few large LPS. This all said I still don't have to dose as I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and me doing a 20% WC every 2 weeks is sufficient to keep my parameters within normal reef parameters. All of my corals are doing well and look fantastic with the WC schedule I do. I've tried going 3 weeks but they don't extend as well as they do with the two week WC.

I have started to collect what I'll need to dose anything should I have to at a later date. If I get to doing the WC every week I'll weigh out the cost involved for auto dosers or the cost of the WC. It may never come down to me dosing because even 20% of my system is only 10 gals. 40b DT and a 20g sump.

Every system is different you just have to see what it's using or not using and decide from there what will work best for you and your reef tank.

 

[180+55reef]

Do you know what the alk and calc is of the new water

 

[jon1985]

No idea what my levels are as of current. I cant think of the last time I checked any of those levels.

 

[Reef Frog]

So I am going to start this off by saying, I am reasonably positive that regular sufficient water changes are more then adequate to maintain happy, healthy LPS. That said, I have all the equipment and supplements to dose as I was running an SPS only system for a few years.

So my question, is there any advantage to dosing for an truly mixed (softies, LPS, SPS, anemones) reef?


Thoughts?

Experience?

Test your parameters to be sure. Your water changes may be enough to keep up now but that could change in time. Sometimes things can be stable and corals look good for quite some time, but usage can change quickly and catch the reefkeeper off guard.

LPS can take up large and varying quantities of minerals depending on species, size & growth rate. I wouldn't let parameters dip below those of natural sea water, no matter what you keep. If water changes can't keep up, it's time to start dosing. I would venture to say that most mature tanks you see packed with LPS or SPS or both need to dose Ca/ALK/Mg, drip Kalk or use a calcium reactor.

 

[Bpb]

Dosing should only ever be done to maintain consistent levels. No matter what you're keeping. Only your test results should dictate whether you dose or not.

 

[Reef Frog]

Bob ^ is correct.

Mr Lester's statement in the first sentence isn't correct.

LPS is a broad, informal and artificial category of corals. Many species can put on large calcium skeletons quickly. As they grow, their consumption of minerals can EASILY outpace the ability of typical, regular water changes ability to keep up (under normal circumstances).

There are many variables involved. But if you have a young tank and are stocking it heavily with LPS or any combination of hard corals, be prepared to supplement sometime down the road. And it may surprise at how quickly it happens.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Test your parameters to be sure. Your water changes may be enough to keep up now but that could change in time. Sometimes things can be stable and corals look good for quite some time, but usage can change quickly and catch the reefkeeper off guard.

LPS can take up large and varying quantities of minerals depending on species, size & growth rate. I wouldn't let parameters dip below those of natural sea water, no matter what you keep. If water changes can't keep up, it's time to start dosing. I would venture to say that most mature tanks you see packed with LPS or SPS or both need to dose Ca/ALK/Mg, drip Kalk or use a calcium reactor.

Dosing should only ever be done to maintain consistent levels. No matter what you're keeping. Only your test results should dictate whether you dose or not.

:beer: Well said guys. Without testing your water parameters between wc's you will have no idea if you need to dose or not. There are some great threads in the chemistry forum that are worth :reading:

Good luck and like I said earlier, with quality reef salt and a proper water change schedule you may not need to dose anything. Adding Kalk to the top off RODI water can be helpful in locking in ca and mg.

 

[kurt_n]

Agree with others... testing will give you the answer you're looking for, and is the only way you'll know if/when you need to dose.

Don't do like I did when I started: I didn't test calcium/alk because I just had a little Platygyra and some mushrooms. What I didn't realize was that all that coraline algae that was growing *like crazy* all over the tank and rocks was sucking out an enormous amount of calcium from the water. When my coraline all started to bleach, I finally tested my calcium and found it waaaaay below normal levels. Water changes (10% weekly) weren't enough to keep up with even the coraline growth.