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Looking to start dosing 2 part... need info/links

C

Candi

Hi Everyone

I've never dosed anything in my tanks, just maintained them with weekly 20% water changes, while things have gone well I'd like to have them go better, very little coralline in my 70g I'm assuming as the corals are using any available calcium.

I've love any basic info, as I really don't know anything about dosing. Any links or articles are appreciated, I know I'll need to get 2 part and tests, anything else?

Thanks!
 
D

DaveK

My take on this is don't dose anything unless there is no other way. Before you start to do this make sure you actually need to. Test the calcium and alkalinity levels of your tank and compare them to test done on SW that you mixed and let circulate a few days. If the levels are close, you don't need to dose.

If the levels of the tank and new SW are both low, you need a better brand of salt.

If the new SW is much higher, you may need to do water changes more often.

If one reading is higher and the other lower, you may have something else out too. Then test magnesium, since if it is low, it's tough to maintain the others.

IMHO, you can dose 2 part or other stuff, but unless you already have a stable environment, you'll cause more problems than you'll solve. Usually dosing is needed when you have a massive amount of corals and they deplete calcium faster than water changes alone can replenish it.
 
K

ken6217

If it is fish only, then he doesn't have to supplement Ca and Alk. If it is a reef tank he absolutely has to. The corals and coralline algae use up the Ca and Alk. This is fact.
Ken
 
reefsandrotts

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
I'm a huge fan of the Kent tech 2 part,I buy it by the gallon and it lasts me about 2 months.I dose 3x/week in my 120 and the corals love it,costs about $50.00 for the 2 gallons.
 
C

Candi

Thanks for the info and links everyone. My tanks are all reefs, my 24g aquapod is softies (mostly rics right now since I lost my zoas growing out all the toadstools, and still 3 larger toadstools and more smaller ones growing) my 70g is a mixed reef... this is the one with very little coralline and the one I'm assuming is using up the calcium faster then a weekly water change replenishes it. I do 20% with reef crystals on all tanks. My 8g is new, will just be zoas & a few shrooms/rics.
 
blange3

blange3

Candi said:
and the one I'm assuming is using up the calcium faster then a weekly water change replenishes it.
Click to expand...

You need to quantify that before you start dosing.

I would check CA,Alk and Mg daily for a few days before a water change, check again after a water change, and again for a few days before the next water change. This should give you an idea of your daily ca/alk consumption and if your Magnesium is stable and at the correct level. This willhelp you determine how much to dose.

You should monitor levels at least weekly when dosing two part. If you dose too much Ca will precipitate and you can wind up with lower levels than you had without dosing.
 
S

stcreef

Yes I would have to agree with blange3. It is very important to first get your levels stable and where you want them. Then determine your daily/weekly consumption of ca/alk/mg. Once you know how much your tank is consuming daily/weekly, you can use any of the online calculators to determine how much to dose to maintain your levels.
 
D

DaveK

ken6217 said:
If it is fish only, then he doesn't have to supplement Ca and Alk. If it is a reef tank he absolutely has to. The corals and coralline algae use up the Ca and Alk. This is fact.
Ken
Click to expand...

I would have to disagree with your statement, especially "If it is a reef tank he absolutely has to."

You only need to supplement Ca and Alk if they system consumes them at a faster rate than water changes, alone, can replenish them.

Now if you have a reef system really loaded with corals, and such, then you will likely need to supplement Ca and Alk. However, if your system only contains some corals, and you only have a modest consumption of Ca and Alk, you may very well be able to maintain the system via water changes alone.

Of course, you need to use a quality salt to start with. If the new water is reading low, it's not going to replenish anything. It may be an advantage to use a salt that is made with reefs in mind.

The worst thing you can go is to start adding things with out a complete understanding of how all these readings are interrelated. Over a long period of time, it's easy to take a system that simply has a low on a reading or two, and throw it way out of balance, to the point where the additives are not doing anything.

Test first, see what you have and then see when you need to do to correct the problem.
 
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