What to dose with
- Thread starter Dave E
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Premium Member
There are a lot of sayings in this hobby.....the one I like is "pollution in a bottle"....which I find most is. Your correct in less is more.
Dosing.....my definition: anything you add to the water/tank other than salt and water. I don't buffer or mess with the salt other than obtain correct SG
1. You need to find a method of controlling your alk and Ca.....being primarily a softie/LPS tank as you say....if you lean towards the softie then you can probably control it with regular water changes. If you find your alk and ca dropping too fast between the regular water changes, you will need to find a supplementation method. I would suggest a two part mixture for its lack of needed equipment and ease in successfully using. In addition, ones like B-ionic replace trace elements it......long story short, you may need to dose a two part to keep your params in balance.
2. Food.....depends on your stocking choices....currently I feed frozen mysis, cyclopeeze, and DTs phyto and find that covers the gamet of foods for mine.
Try to stay away from quick fix additive solutions or "snake oils" and research everything before addiing it to your tank....odds are someone already has tried it and has an opinion on it.
My grandfather had a funny saying about the stuff you poor in the gas tank of your car......."I didn't know they made mechanics small enough to fit in a can" In short, the best I can suggest, don't rely on a product to give you instantaneous results......I find people nowadays want imediate results and want a product to do it all, right now....that seldom that occurs in this hobby......
Dosing.....my definition: anything you add to the water/tank other than salt and water. I don't buffer or mess with the salt other than obtain correct SG
1. You need to find a method of controlling your alk and Ca.....being primarily a softie/LPS tank as you say....if you lean towards the softie then you can probably control it with regular water changes. If you find your alk and ca dropping too fast between the regular water changes, you will need to find a supplementation method. I would suggest a two part mixture for its lack of needed equipment and ease in successfully using. In addition, ones like B-ionic replace trace elements it......long story short, you may need to dose a two part to keep your params in balance.
2. Food.....depends on your stocking choices....currently I feed frozen mysis, cyclopeeze, and DTs phyto and find that covers the gamet of foods for mine.
Try to stay away from quick fix additive solutions or "snake oils" and research everything before addiing it to your tank....odds are someone already has tried it and has an opinion on it.
My grandfather had a funny saying about the stuff you poor in the gas tank of your car......."I didn't know they made mechanics small enough to fit in a can" In short, the best I can suggest, don't rely on a product to give you instantaneous results......I find people nowadays want imediate results and want a product to do it all, right now....that seldom that occurs in this hobby......
MrMikeB
New member
One thing I would like to add is the basic premise of keeping it simple - the hobby is expensive enough and adding a ton of stuff that costs a bundle just makes it worse. Somebody out there will always be trying to sell you something and most of the time its not needed. I would recommend a regular kalkwasser dosing to help control your calcium and PH. If you are running with fish (small) or other things that need food, you can more than likely skip out on any special filter foods (Micro-Vert and the works) as the small leftover particles will make their way to the filter feeders just the same and many are photosynthetic in the first place. If not a small phytoplankton cocktail every so often would help.
Other than that, a really nice salt will do you fine on the other elements assuming you do normal water changes. One thing to mention, and I am sure you already know this, but never dose or add anything directly to the tank. The concentration can be deadly for anything in the vicinity. I usually will either drip it in slowly or dilute it with the top off water and feed that through a drip too.
Other than that, a really nice salt will do you fine on the other elements assuming you do normal water changes. One thing to mention, and I am sure you already know this, but never dose or add anything directly to the tank. The concentration can be deadly for anything in the vicinity. I usually will either drip it in slowly or dilute it with the top off water and feed that through a drip too.
This is another point where your journey into reef aquaria can dive into the immense amount of products and information out there. My best suggestion is to get test kits (preference to Salifert) and suppliment what is low.
I use Kalk drip for makeup water and dose two part Ca/alk when needed. I usually have to mix in some Mg with each water change. Also I'm adding some phytoplankton and preparing to grow my own starting today!
I use Kalk drip for makeup water and dose two part Ca/alk when needed. I usually have to mix in some Mg with each water change. Also I'm adding some phytoplankton and preparing to grow my own starting today!
Thanks for the input so far.I like the fact that you all agree that simple is best.I do need to get a new test kit as mine has run out,and I need to replace it. Also I notice I have to add about a gallon of make up water per day now that I put in the refugium is this normal. Also If I use a two part like B-ionic can I just add it to the return of the refugium all at once since its only about 20ml or should I dilute it and drip it in.
Also I have a Hanna PH meter(new) if any one is interested in trading for some soft or lps.
Thanks Dave
Also I have a Hanna PH meter(new) if any one is interested in trading for some soft or lps.
Thanks Dave
dots
Premium Member
Yes, about a gal a day is normal....mine is running about that much a day currently +/-.
You can add the B-ionic any way you prefer.....however, I got a automatic doser and noticed a lot more growth and color by constantly dripping it....I buy the gallon jugs and let it run.....takes about a month to run them dry currently.
I dosed by hand daily and would recommend it when starting out to understand the correlation of adding it.......I would get some Salifert Alk and Ca test kits......
How I dosed manually by hand daily was this and found it a great way to control the two.....test your alk daily at the same time.....say getting home at night....find the amount of B-ionic to get it back to the level you decide on.....say 10dkh.......because you are adding stock to your tank, and that it is a biological system driving the uptake of Alk and Ca....it will vary slightly daily and raise continually if you are adding calcareous corals or are starting to grow a bunch of corraline......eventually you will no exactly how much to add daily and can get away with testing alk weekly.....test Ca monthly to ensure your still in balance and adjust your ratio accordingly........after about six months of this and testing daily drives you crazy and you can test for alk one handed and it takes about two minutes to preform.......then I would get a doser.....cuz you can screw up quickly with a doser and crash the tank or be constantly out of ionic balance if you don't understand the system like the back of your hand.......
Personaly I like to learn to walk before I run before I get all gagety and automated....kinda like never learning to add and always using a calculator from the get go.
You can add the B-ionic any way you prefer.....however, I got a automatic doser and noticed a lot more growth and color by constantly dripping it....I buy the gallon jugs and let it run.....takes about a month to run them dry currently.
I dosed by hand daily and would recommend it when starting out to understand the correlation of adding it.......I would get some Salifert Alk and Ca test kits......
How I dosed manually by hand daily was this and found it a great way to control the two.....test your alk daily at the same time.....say getting home at night....find the amount of B-ionic to get it back to the level you decide on.....say 10dkh.......because you are adding stock to your tank, and that it is a biological system driving the uptake of Alk and Ca....it will vary slightly daily and raise continually if you are adding calcareous corals or are starting to grow a bunch of corraline......eventually you will no exactly how much to add daily and can get away with testing alk weekly.....test Ca monthly to ensure your still in balance and adjust your ratio accordingly........after about six months of this and testing daily drives you crazy and you can test for alk one handed and it takes about two minutes to preform.......then I would get a doser.....cuz you can screw up quickly with a doser and crash the tank or be constantly out of ionic balance if you don't understand the system like the back of your hand.......
Personaly I like to learn to walk before I run before I get all gagety and automated....kinda like never learning to add and always using a calculator from the get go.
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