Punchanello
Member
Hi all,
It's nearly time to fill my first reef tank. It's time to choose salt mix and think about dosing cal, alk and mag. Just about every salt and dosing regimen I look at contains trace elements and other stuff (I'll just call it stuff from here on in). And then most of the manufacturers of those products also recommend dosing additional stuff.
This adds a bit of confusion for me.
To start with, you're adding additional amounts of stuff with your 2 part based on your calcium and alkalinity consumption. So there's also all this other stuff going in without any consideration as to what rate it will be consumed. The manufacturers claim they are matching sea water or to just trust they know what they are doing. Isn't this a bit arbitrary?
My second issue is, assuming all this stuff is consumed at different rates, or even not at all, how can you be sure it's not just going to keep building up in the system to toxic levels? Water changes?
I'm guessing these companies think that with all the complexity and bells and whistles people will feel they are buying the best thing for their reefs. For me it just becomes overwhelming.
Am I on solid ground if I ditch the brand name dosing regimen and start my tank with Randy's Recipe?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
It's nearly time to fill my first reef tank. It's time to choose salt mix and think about dosing cal, alk and mag. Just about every salt and dosing regimen I look at contains trace elements and other stuff (I'll just call it stuff from here on in). And then most of the manufacturers of those products also recommend dosing additional stuff.
This adds a bit of confusion for me.
To start with, you're adding additional amounts of stuff with your 2 part based on your calcium and alkalinity consumption. So there's also all this other stuff going in without any consideration as to what rate it will be consumed. The manufacturers claim they are matching sea water or to just trust they know what they are doing. Isn't this a bit arbitrary?
My second issue is, assuming all this stuff is consumed at different rates, or even not at all, how can you be sure it's not just going to keep building up in the system to toxic levels? Water changes?
I'm guessing these companies think that with all the complexity and bells and whistles people will feel they are buying the best thing for their reefs. For me it just becomes overwhelming.
Am I on solid ground if I ditch the brand name dosing regimen and start my tank with Randy's Recipe?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
