dosing, in english please

[digidana]

ok, the fuge talk got me thinking about the halimeda, the halimeda got me thinking about calcium and alk, and that got me thinking about dosing. i tried reading some about it, but most of it is just greek to me. right now, i have the 240 (plus about 100g downstairs), a couple fish, some soft corals (mushrooms, ric, zoas, kenya trees, a baby finger leather, frog spawn, gsp), and just got my first sps. a little stylophora. i bought some iodine, some strontium, and some coral food. so..now what?

1. at what point do i need to start dosing? with 1 sps or 50?

2. when to dose? do i need to buy test kits for iodine, strontium, magnesium? i bought a phosphate test the day before i found out it was useless, so i gotta ask.

3. if you do test, how often? is it part of a weekly ritual, or just if things look like they're starting to go south? (like halimeda not growing = ca is low)?

3. what to dose? i figure calcium is a given. what else is necessary.

i know that all the answers will probably depend on something else, and the answers will probaby lead to a thousand more questions. but general guidance would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

 

[cee]

Since several people have asked me about Ca/Alk/Mg as of late, I may give a lecture on it at next month's meeting. Here are the short answers w/o going into a lot of detail:
1) When your system requires it, and "when" will depend on many factors but can only be determined by testing.
2) Constantly is best, with more frequently being better. After frequent testing and dosing, you'll hone in on a dosing program that is right for your tank. It will, however, change as thing grow and/or you add more corals.
3) Depends on 1) if you've established a dosing regime which maintains constant parameter values or not, 2)whether conditions have changed or not, and 3) if you're just confirming values are stable
4) Most dose only Ca and an alkalinity buffer, which is usually adequate. I also dose potassium, strontium, AA, and occasionally trace elements. Generally, you should only dose what you can test.

Dave

 

[EvilMel]

Someone once said to me "you should never dose things for which you don't test." I took that to mean...just don't ever dose. hah hah. Nearly everyone will disagree with me on that one though. I just water change and used to have a calcium reactor, but that was my thing.

If I were you, yeah...I'd dose stuff. But definitely test for it first. I mean, what if you don't need any of that stuff? What if you add too much calcium and end up dropping your alkalinity like a rock? There's a balance btw the two components that needs to be reached.

Surely, in that large of a system, you'll need to dose for calcium and alkalinity. If you are super high tech, I'd probably just go ahead and get a calcium reactor. It was the best money I ever spent on my reef tank.

Chris doses, Randy doses, Chase used to dose (not sure lately), Dave probably doses (Dave A.), and I'm sure tons of other people do too.

I don't dose and I don't plan on starting any time soon, but that's because I have a tiny tank and I'm just going to water change it like mad with a good salt (actually a mixture of two salts).

 

[GPhiAce]

I am glad that I am not the only one with questions. Sounds like a good topic for a future meeting-- Hint Hint.
I had the same question recently, so I am going to share a little of what I learned, but others please feel free to jump in and correct me. I found http://www.advancedaquarist.com/iss...il2004/chem.htm
to be a helpful link about balancing Calcium and Alk. What I am now doing is measuring Ca, Alk, Trates, Trites, Ammonia, pH, Temp (I have learned my lesson), and Sp on a biweekly basis and using that to judge my water change. I have my I, St, and Mg checked once a month. So far, I have not needed to supplement anything for my I, St, or Mg. I read the back of some of the feed that I use, and they have levels of the trace minerals, so I guess that is why I am getting away with that. I am using the 2 part Ca Alk described in the link above, and have been fine for a while.
But I do only have a 29g w ith a sump, no fuge and under 1 year reefing experience. So If the pros would like to jump in and make some suggestions, it would be greatful. Oh, and thanks Fishdoc for the link and have fun with your "break" from classes.

 

[Anchovy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11879293#post11879293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GPhiAce
I am glad that I am not the only one with questions.

Me too !

 

[acrodave]

Im a doser.. I use the TMPR salt from what i hear is got a lot of CA in it. And in my small tank and full of acros i have to dose CA on top of the salt. I have never tested the water after a water change but after a few days it around 380-350. And i use the TM bio-calcium to bring it up untill next water change...Testing magnesium will help alos if its to low you will never get your ca right.

 

[digidana]

sounds like a great meeting topic to me! its making a little more sense. i like the idea of just getting tested at CR instead of buying all the test kits. what all do they test for?

i need to do more reading. i don't understand the relationship between calcium, alkalinity, and pH.

g-guy that link didn't work for me...

dave, is iodine not one of the important ones? and what about feeding the corals? do you feed something like zooplex in addition to dosing? or do they survive off of the minerals in the water? thanks!

 

[ct_vol]

http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm

Raising Calcium too fast will lower your Alk, and vice versa... Oh, and if you don't have sufficient Mg, you'll never get your Ca and Alk to balance properly... A lot of people dose limewater (kalkwater) wich will raise you Alk level and your pH...

 

[KafudaFish]

I dose and top off with limewater.