Who doses their tank...Kalk, CA, MAG...

[Guest]

I have been reading up on reef chemistry. My tank is rounding the three month mark and I have not dosed a thing. I have been doing 1-2 small PWC's a week.

I am worried about ALK/CA dropping as it seems to be one of the biggest issues for a reef.

When will I have to start this if at all?

 

[Devilishturtles]

I don't dose a thing. Monitor calcium levels in your tank. *most* salt mixes buffer to around the 400 ppm mark, which is about average/good for a reef tank. Your tank doesn't really have sps corals, so calcium will not be depleted very quickly, and with 2 pwc's a week, your calcium is getting replenished then.

I wouldn't worry about it, but that's just my opinion. Do you have a calcium test kit?

 

[melosu58]

I agree that dosing is not needed. I never dose but do frequent PWC`s instead. My calcium stays at 450 using oceanic salt. If you read the back of your salt bucket you`ll see the added elements that are added to your tank during a PWC. There are 86 different types of salt that are in NSW and almost all of them are ingredients in synthetic sea water. Again any thing natural in SW I replenish by weekly PWC`s . The only thing I add to my water is plankton and coralvite.

 

[Guest]

That is funny Devil because I tested last night and it was 400.

Thanks Mel. I have cruised around some other forums and it seems liek some people are dose crazy. I prefer do keep things as natural as possible if I can. Some people tell me that 2 a week is to much. I am doing about 2 1/2 gal twice a week in a 30 gal. That is ok?

I will probably slow down a little but where my tank is still establsihing, and I just beat hair algae I do not want to take any chances.

 

[melosu58]

Let people say what they want. You and alot of us know what we are doing and the results of our work. All I can do is give the IME.

 

[lando]

I do not dose a thing either. I simply reply on regular water changes to keep all levels in check. Depending on source water and tank consumption some dosing may be needed. For instance, if you are using tap water with a low Ph you may need a buffer or tanks with a heavy stoney coral load may benefit from the addition of extra CA. These cases are rare and, in general, water changes are all you need.

 

[angelscrx]

I don't dose but do have a calcium reactor to keep the calcium up for my SPS.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the opinions.

 

[melosu58]

No problem. Have a good one

 

[Scoot]

I've been having problem with chaeto growing - somebody suggested Iron.

My chaeto stopped growing when I started using RO/DI water, so it makes sense that I'm removing too many beneficial minerals.

I'm not sure if this is related, but within 2 weeks of dosing iron (weekly, as per instructions on Kent product), I've had a coralline algae explosion. Could be a coincidence. I used to just have tiny spatterings of it - a haze almost - not ever turning into the circular growths you see in established tanks. Now suddenly both my tank and fuge are growing coralline, pink and green circles, in several places.

Still haven't noticed any change in my chaeto though.

I also dose purple-up and aragamilk, alternating each day, keeping Ca around 450ppm, and iodine weekly (kent marine again). All of my softies are doing great, shrooms have all tripled in size, gsp's encrusting more and more every day, etc.

 

[melosu58]

It looks like your coralline explosion is coming from your Purple Up. PWC`s will add those supplements to your tank. I have My shrooms grow like crazy with no additives except Coralvite. I`m just not a supplement person. I`ve made a little bit over 300 dollars by selling mushrooms to my LFS that have grown in the tank in the last year.

 

[Scoot]

I do lots of PWC's - weekly - but can't keep Ca up to over 300. I've tried a couple different locally-available mixes, but nothing gets Ca up high enough. pH, buffering, everything else is fine, so I never have to add any buffer.

 

[Guest]

What kind of salt are you using. You keep SPS?

You know it is really funny but my tank is only 3 months old and I have a bunch of circular coraline growths all over my PH, and glass.

 

[melosu58]

Have you tried Oceanic Salt. I used to use IO but since I went to Oceanic my calcium stays around 450. I also do weekly 10% PWC`s.

 

[Guest]

I also stay around 400 with weekly PWC's and I use Reef Crystals, made by IO.

 

[melosu58]

Nothing wrong with that

 

[Scoot]

I've been mostly using Instant Ocean "Sea Salt", not Reef Crystals - nobody has RC locally, and shipping is murder. Might have to find a deal somewhere. Without daily dosing, I hit just under 300ppm CA, and that's a strong mix, to 1.025 (which should result in higher than 1.021-1.022 mixtures).


BTW - I didn't mean to threadjack. If I can switch salts and eliminate some dosing, I'd be happy, so hopefully this is "on-topic."


Update - actually, Reef Crystals, with shipping from Drs Foster and Smith, is still about half what I pay locally for Instant Ocean's general Sea Salt mix. Going to be placing an order when I get close to running out of this bucket of salt.

 

[Guest]

There are other good salts around. Many people still use IO and are fine. But, many people also go dose crazy.

There have been studies done trying to compare all the major salt brand and the results are not to reliable. Many salts will work fine with a good PWC schedule. Try what you do have available and see what works.

The only place around me that has RC is like $70 for 200 gal. mix. and I get it for half that online. Dr. Fosters does not charge that much to MA for that heavy bucket as suprising as it is to me. Have you tried them?

I prefer to buy the 200gal because it lasts longer and is much better than trying to buy salt all the time. Check it out:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113009

 

[Devilishturtles]

IO is notorious for having sporadic batches with low calcium levels. My bucket tests 400 ppm even. Fluff's bucket is below 400. And I believe Hara was having a problem with it too. Check out this link for pics Hara took at MACNA. Eric Borneman and a MARSH member did a comprehensive study on salts. It was VERY interesting. You will have to follow the slides in order to get all of the info from it. Pretty neat stuff.

http://www.fantasyreef.com/macna/macna10.php

Highlight a few points. I believe Oceanic tested out the best, but I could be wrong. IO had consistent cyano problems the entire test.

 

[Guest]

salt

Good Stuff Devilshirts!


I really don't like IO for a reef but it is good for FOWLR.

I have had really good sucess with Reef Crystals. Even though it is the same company it has more elements although I have not actually looked at it all and it is available.

All I know is that my reef is 3 months old, my corals are growing rapidly, and I have dark circle coraline spots all over my glass so I am happy. I am a PWC freak though. I do 2 small ones per week and I have a 30 gal. Hey you know what they say, if it aint broken, I aint fixin it!