What all do you dose

[nate1633]

I am getting ready to add corals and was wondering what all to dose
I already dose super-buffer and calcium but do I need to do any more?


55 gallon fowlr soon to be reef

 

[54seaweed]

If you do weekly water changes that will add all the nutrients needed so
theres really no need to dose but if you do dose just be sure to test for everything you dose
I'm keeping softies ,zoa's,LPS,GPS, and all I do is weekly water changes and run good lighting
when I used to dose I found I always ran into problems

 

[Animal-Chin]

No offense, by why are you adding calcium and buffer to a FOWLR tank? What's consuming your calcium now? I ran a 55 gallon packed with soft and LPS corals for a long time before I had to dose and only dosed because of my fast growing sps coral. Are you testing the water for your alk and calcium levels nows?

 

[nate1633]

I dose those because I have quite a few inverts already and am adding coral very soon


55 gallon fowlr soon to be reef

 

[nate1633]

I guess it's technically not a fowlr then


55 gallon fowlr soon to be reef

 

[Sniperhank]

Stop dosing. There isn't any need to dose anything. Your weekly water changes will cover it.

 

[nate1633]

Ok


55 gallon fowlr soon to be reef

 

[coralbandit]

Testing is best before you add anything.
The waterchange with proper salts will often work for most.
Get a CA,Kh,Ph,PO4,nitrate kit at least.
The Mg test is a pain in the butt,but if you can't keep calcium level for long you may need to test.
Look into online calculators also to help you know how much of what to add IF you need to.
Anyone can feel free to post a good one?
I do dose for ph,kh,and Ca and do minimal water changes.
I have a Mg test and throw Epsom salt in when needed also.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Ya if you've been dosing a while you should probably test before you put coral in. Your numbers could be way out of wack and fish dont really care. If your alk is really high (or low) your coral will die. If all you have are snails in yhe tank they remive very little calcium so you may have just been adding and adding without using it up.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[54seaweed]

why in the world would you dose for inverts
simple water changes will suffice most corals softies , zoa's , LPS , GPS
the only reason you may need to dose is if your under heavy coral load or keeping SPS
or both
you can also dose calcium if your trying to promote heavy Coraline algae growth most would use ( purple up ) I try not to encourage any Coraline growth as I hate cleaning it off all my pumps and also the glass to me it's just a nuisance ,

 

[Reefer James]

Hi, despite some of the other posts above I'd always encourage dosing. I would highly recommend having a way to test Ca, Kh, and Mg if you're going to dose. But you could safely put in KH and Ca in a take just for the coralline growth... Even if it was a fowlr it'd be a good idea to dose alkalinity to increase the buffer... No need for calcium beyond coralline growth. As mentioned, if you do weekly water changes above 25% you may be able to get away with no dosing and hard corals.. Unlikely though.

I'd recommend a 2-part such a B-Ionic or Seachem Fusion. It's good to have a Magnesium supplement also. Economical would be Seachem Reef Advantage Mag powder. I like Aquavitro Mg because it does not contain ammonia like other Liquid mags. Brightwells, and Sicce are other great Mag options.

 

[likeaboss2645]

+1


90 gal reef