Question about dosing

[subbyjay]

I have a bio cube 14 with an ai 26 hanging over it. I do weekly water changes with Red Sea coral pro salt, do you recommend dosing anything? I've tried a couple frags of acros and they just seem to turn white and just die. I start them out at the bottom but before I could move them to where I want they die. I'm basically running colors on the light and the max I am running on some colors is 12%. I basically want to do a mix reef so I want to know if dosing is nessary or is keeping acros just a hot or miss.

 

[Aquatic Reef Creations]

What are the rest of your tank parameters? What water are you using for water changes? How much of a water change are you doing?
This info might help to diagnose what is going on.

 

[subbyjay]

Ph 8.0 ammonia, nitrate & nitrite are all at 0. Calcium is at 480. I use RO water from allpets and then I mix the Red Sea coral pro salt in and I do a 4.5 gallon water change every week. I'm also running chemi pure elite an temp is at a stable 82 degrees. Lights come on at 3:30pm and are off at 10pm

 

[ERivera65]

there could be a few factors on corals bleaching out and dieing. I recommend you check your levels and monitor them especially the alkalinity and temperature. try to keep them stable and everything else stable. Don't chase a certain number like 9 or 10 dkh, just keep the numbers as stable as possible. Also changing your water weekly could be a good or a bad thing. I used to change my water often and I stopped doing that, you don't want your water to be too clean but then again you don't want a ton of nitrates or phosphates. I change water every 2-3 weeks and only a small portion but I do dose my tank daily since I have been keeping track of my parameters. with corals bleaching, it usually is a light issue or a parameter swing of some sort in my opinion. When you mix your water, do you check the levels of saltwater? If I were you, I would start at checking my levels and trying to keep them stable and when changing water measure your paremeters in your tank and the new saltwater and try to match the new water to the water that is in your tank. measure your paramaters also every few days and that will give you an idea of how much your tank will consume or gain. if keeping sps, this is what you need to do. LPS and softies are way more forgiving. with sps the tank will also need a good amount of water flow. in your biocube, dosing will be the easiest way to maintain your levels. the chemical such as 2 part from ESV B-Ionic or Two Little Fishies C-balance will be great, I use them still to this day in my 75 gallon mixed reef. In small system such as the Biocube 14, levels can swing drastically since it is a small amount of water, also make sure you top off your tank daily and invest in an auto top off if you don't already have one.

 

[rovster]

Loaded question. My BC 14 was loaded with SPS and I ran that thing super simple. What else do you have in there? How are your other corals doing? What fish do you have in there.

For SPS you really need to get a grip on what your paramaters are, how they fluctuate, and what you need to do to minimize that. You need good flow, good light, and lots of patience.

In my tank, I was running Rapid LED, I had an MP10 for flow with the MJ900 return, and I ran CPE and Purigen changed every 4-6 weeks. I did about a 2-3 gallon water change weekly, and dosed C-Balance. Everything I did was manual, including top-off. I wouldn't say acros flourished, but I did not kill them and they had decent color and growth.

I hate to say this, but I would not trust the Allpets water. I noticed a big difference when I stopped using their RO and just started making my own. It will pay for itself in about a year but totally worth it. FWIW, I also used RSCP, but you have to be careful with large waterchanges because it will spike your alk, unless you are running it super high.

 

[AquamanE]

Loaded question. My BC 14 was loaded with SPS and I ran that thing super simple. What else do you have in there? How are your other corals doing? What fish do you have in there.

For SPS you really need to get a grip on what your paramaters are, how they fluctuate, and what you need to do to minimize that. You need good flow, good light, and lots of patience.

In my tank, I was running Rapid LED, I had an MP10 for flow with the MJ900 return, and I ran CPE and Purigen changed every 4-6 weeks. I did about a 2-3 gallon water change weekly, and dosed C-Balance. Everything I did was manual, including top-off. I wouldn't say acros flourished, but I did not kill them and they had decent color and growth.

I hate to say this, but I would not trust the Allpets water. I noticed a big difference when I stopped using their RO and just started making my own. It will pay for itself in about a year but totally worth it. FWIW, I also used RSCP, but you have to be careful with large waterchanges because it will spike your alk, unless you are running it super high.

1+- Loaded questions. Too many variables.