Is dosing necessary? Frustrated

C

canadianeh

New member
In the past few days I had spent numerous hours testing different test kits trying to find that one close to perfect all around test kit. My wife scolded me for spending hours and days on it. I then realized that I have been spending more hours on equipments, water chemistry, test kits, and etc. than actually sitting down and enjoying the view of my tank.

The more I read and watch articles, the more I feel like I still need to buy this and that and do this and that. It makes me think when do I get to enjoy my tank?!? LMAO

I prefer to not add husbandry onto my list other than WC and once a week water testing, but is dosing really necessary? I know that they have the automatic ones but it still requires me to mix and set it up and I don't have the luxury of extra space and time.
I just want to keep a handful of fishes, anemone, softies coral, and maybe only one or two LPS or SPS.
I was told that doing regular WC should be enough for most cases.
My questions are:
-is there a specific salt brand that contains enough chemistry that allow me to do water change only without dosing?
-how much water change is enough to replenish the chemistry if I do per week?
 
You need to dose when you need to dose.. Its that simple..

If you need to dose is going to be HIGHLY dependent on whats in the tank.. Some coral tanks don't need dosing and some have enough coralline in their tanks that it alone is sucking down alkalinty,etc..

Decide what water change schedule works for you.. A good starter is 20% every 2 weeks.. See how levels change and go from there..

There really is no formula as there are many variables.. But dose when its needed..
And you don't need to go crazy with testing after a little while.. You know what the tank is doing just by looking at it/observing the corals,etc..
Don't make it a chore or the hobby stops being fun..
 
vashawn said:
i like red sea coral pro. i hardly dose and my par are
cal 460
mag 1350
ph 8.2
alk11
sal 1.025
Click to expand...


In my humble opinion, Red Sea Coral Pro is the best salt out there. I use it, and wont use anything else. With a good quality salt, and water changes, dosing isnt really a requirement. Im sure some will disagree, but I have kept LPS and all sorts of softies with nothing but water changes. If you get hard core into sps, then you will need to supplement, or do alot of water changes.

Here are some of my stuff in my tank that I only did water changes to. FOrgive the bad cell phone pics. Sadly I lost the tank due to a 3 week power outtage during a blizzard...









 
mcgyvr said:
You need to dose when you need to dose.. Its that simple..

If you need to dose is going to be HIGHLY dependent on whats in the tank.. Some coral tanks don't need dosing and some have enough coralline in their tanks that it alone is sucking down alkalinty,etc..

Decide what water change schedule works for you.. A good starter is 20% every 2 weeks.. See how levels change and go from there..

There really is no formula as there are many variables.. But dose when its needed..
And you don't need to go crazy with testing after a little while.. You know what the tank is doing just by looking at it/observing the corals,etc..
Don't make it a chore or the hobby stops being fun..
Click to expand...


^This^

It really depends on what you have in the tank and what the tank consumes. You should be able to get a feel for it fairly quickly and back down on testing. I have two tanks to maintain. One is a small 27g cube with a few small fish and some mushrooms. I do a 25-30% water change on it roughly every 3 weeks and that's it.

My bigger tank (110g) has some corals (Mostly sps) in addition to fish, etc. I also do a water change of about 25% or so every three weeks on it. The only thing I dose for is Alk once every few days in between the water changes. The salt I use (Kent) has Alkalinity pretty close to what I keep the tank at (Between 7-8), and also has little higher cal and mag, so I haven't needed to dose for those two at all.
 
What I do---with a stony reef.
I test alkalinity weekly. If it's falling---it means the mg has run low. If it's down, I test mg, which I want at 1350.
I also put kalk powder into my autotopoff reservoir. I hand-dose to set my numbers (mg 1350, alk 8.3, calcium 420) where I want them, then just let the autotopoff spit rodi laced with as much kalk as will dissolve (two tsp per gallon) for however long the water holds out, and yes, you can refill the ro/di and kalk. The numbers will not budge until the mg runs down. And I can leave my tank for weeks on vacation and come home to a tank still in balance.
 
jmcdaniel0 said:
In my humble opinion, Red Sea Coral Pro is the best salt out there. I use it, and wont use anything else. With a good quality salt, and water changes, dosing isnt really a requirement. Im sure some will disagree, but I have kept LPS and all sorts of softies with nothing but water changes. If you get hard core into sps, then you will need to supplement, or do alot of water changes.

Here are some of my stuff in my tank that I only did water changes to. FOrgive the bad cell phone pics. Sadly I lost the tank due to a 3 week power outtage during a blizzard...









Click to expand...

No offense, but everything I see in your tank are just frags... no growth sense purchased.
 
canadianeh said:
In the past few days I had spent numerous hours testing different test kits trying to find that one close to perfect all around test kit. My wife scolded me for spending hours and days on it. I then realized that I have been spending more hours on equipments, water chemistry, test kits, and etc. than actually sitting down and enjoying the view of my tank.

The more I read and watch articles, the more I feel like I still need to buy this and that and do this and that. It makes me think when do I get to enjoy my tank?!? LMAO

I prefer to not add husbandry onto my list other than WC and once a week water testing, but is dosing really necessary? I know that they have the automatic ones but it still requires me to mix and set it up and I don't have the luxury of extra space and time.
I just want to keep a handful of fishes, anemone, softies coral, and maybe only one or two LPS or SPS.
I was told that doing regular WC should be enough for most cases.
My questions are:
-is there a specific salt brand that contains enough chemistry that allow me to do water change only without dosing?
-how much water change is enough to replenish the chemistry if I do per week?
Click to expand...
From the corals that you've listed you should be able to keep them just fine by doing water changes with a good quality salt. Personally, when I didn't have a fair amount of sps, I used reef crystals and did 15% water changes while adding a dose of coralvite and essential elements every week. Now that I do have sps I've added a 2 part doser. Anyhow, I don't think you need a doser for the corals you want.
 
I have yet to find a reason to buy these "premium" reef salts. I use regular IO/RC and dose it up to the levels I want/need. Even with these small adjustments, it still isn't anywhere near the cost of these "premium" salts. The way I see it, slap a fancy sticker on it, charge a premium price, and people will buy it. It's called advanced marketing, and household products do it all the time even though it's the exact same thing you were buying before at a cheaper price.

Just my .02$, but to each their own.

With your relatively small stocking list, you could probably get away with Kalk in your topoff, and regular WC's.
 
Dosing, not necessarily needed. Testing, absolutely needed. You can't know if water changes are keeping up if you aren't testing. And if you aren't keeping up, and not testing, parameters will fall out of line and then corals will do poorly. Uptake will also change as more frags are added and corals grow. For a long time you might not need to dose, you may never need to based on what corals you have, but to say flat out yes or no it is needed is not possible. And no salt will keep up if your update is too high.
 
I am only thinking to keep some fishes (2 clowns, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 bi-color blenny, 1 purple firefish, 1 Cardinal bangai), CUC, one or two shrimps, one starfish, BBTA, majority softies corals, and MAYBE one SPS and one LPS in my 40 gallons tank.
I am using Fauna Marin salt right now, but I am thinking of switching to Red Sea Coral Pro salt or Aquaforest. Are these very good quality salts based on my livestock plan with WC and kalkwasser ATO only?
 
canadianeh said:
I am only thinking to keep some fishes (2 clowns, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 bi-color blenny, 1 purple firefish, 1 Cardinal bangai), CUC, one or two shrimps, one starfish, BBTA, majority softies corals, and MAYBE one SPS and one LPS in my 40 gallons tank.
I am using Fauna Marin salt right now, but I am thinking of switching to Red Sea Coral Pro salt or Aquaforest. Are these very good quality salts based on my livestock plan with WC and kalkwasser ATO only?
Click to expand...

More than likely you won't need to use kalkwasser in the ATO either with that list..

Sounds like water changes alone will do just fine for you..
 
sde1500 said:
Dosing, not necessarily needed. Testing, absolutely needed. You can't know if water changes are keeping up if you aren't testing. And if you aren't keeping up, and not testing, parameters will fall out of line and then corals will do poorly. Uptake will also change as more frags are added and corals grow. For a long time you might not need to dose, you may never need to based on what corals you have, but to say flat out yes or no it is needed is not possible. And no salt will keep up if your update is too high.
Click to expand...

+1
Only thing I'll add is that if you get alot of coraline growth, it may necessitate dosing, even if you only have few corals.
 
I have question for someone who uses Kalkwasser in their ATO.

Let's say if you have add 1 teaspoon of Kalk powder in a 2.5 gallons reservoir. Do you add more Kalkwasser powder each time you refill, OR do you just shake the reservoir jug only since there will be some kalkwasser powder left in the jug, OR do you completely rinse it out and add a new RODI water and add 1 teaspoon of Kalk powder?

Also, before did you test for Alk everyday for one week to see how much Alk your tank uses, and then use the Kalk powder? How do you know how much Kalk powder to use in ATO?
 
So please correct the following steps if I am off base.


1.Before starting to use Kalk in ATO, test Cal, Mag, and Alk level everyday at the same time. I prefer to do it at night time as my young son is already asleep. Is it okay to test at night time? Do I need to measure all of them (Cal, Alk, and Mag), OR just one of them?
2.After a week of test results, I will then have to guess how many teaspoon/gallon I put into the ATO reservoir. I can start with half teaspoon maybe.
3.During the first week of Kalk dosing via ATO, I will need to measure the Cal, Mag, and Alk levels every night. Do I need to measure all of them (Cal, Alk, and Mag), OR just one of them?
4.On the second week, I can adjust the amount of kalk powder based on the data set from the first week.
5.If after I reach to the full saturated Kalk amount 2 teaspoon/gallon my Cal, Mag, and Alk level is not where I want, I will then need to do 2 part B-Ionic dosing.
 
I think the best way to assert your doubts about dosing is...

you dont try and feed a family of 4 with food only enough for a family of 2. Eventually someones going to starve.

and in terms of what you dose...

you don't try to feed a vegetarian a steak.
 
I have been under the impression that once you get to the desired water parameters (see Sk8r signature), you can add two tsp per gallon of kalk to your auto-top of container. Thing should stay pretty consistent as long as the mag stays where it is supposed to be.
 
JeffyT said:
I think the best way to assert your doubts about dosing is...

you dont try and feed a family of 4 with food only enough for a family of 2. Eventually someones going to starve.

and in terms of what you dose...

you don't try to feed a vegetarian a steak.
Click to expand...


Great analogies. Make sure you buy enough food for all your fish and don't feed your fish the same thing you feed your cats. I'm sure that's just the advice the OP was looking for.
 
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