dosing supplements

[morganatlanta]

I'm still a new to this hobby and one of the things I've been struggling with is what I need to dose on a regular basis to encourage growth in my soft corals (at this point mushrooms, zoas, GSP, colt, xenia, etc) and position my tank for being ready to support hard corals in the future. Below is a dosing program put out by GARF, and is one of the few comprehensive programs that I've seen published. There are a ton of products out there that claim to do just about everything under the sun. Many products seem to overlap with others, even within a single companies product line, much less between different companies product lines. So here's my question, what do those who have been doing this a few years supplement with on a regular basis? Please list amounts (per gallon) and frequency. And if you like, the reason you choose to use a certain product. I don't want to judge, or get into too much a discussion about what is "best", this is more like a survey.



Sea Chem. Liquid supplements per 55 gallon
Two tablespoons Sea Chem. Reef Plus twice a week ***See further note
Two tablespoons Sea Chem. Reef Complete twice a week
Two tablespoons Sea Chem. Reef Calcium twice a week
The capful measures to one tablespoon.
***Further note on the Sea Chem. reef plus: make certain to refrigerate this supplement.
On tanks that have a skimmer make certain to hold off on adding the other two supplements until the skimmer has slowed. In tanks that don't have skimmers yet you can add the other two supplements right away.
Make up water: This is done every single day! To all tanks
I Use
Week two - SeaChem Reef Advantage Calcium. One tablespoon per gallon of makeup water
Week three - SeaChem Reef Builder one tablespoon per gallon of make up water.
Week four - SeaChem Reef Advantage Calcium. One tablespoon per gallon of makeup water
REPEAT.

 

[weaglereefer]

First things first, don't dose anything you're not testing for.

 

[smoothie]

au01st;529245 wrote: First things first, don't dose anything you're not testing for.

+1
With the corals listed I would just invest in a good salt and minimize or maybe even eliminate dosing with weekly water changes

 

[cr500_af]

Dosing calcium by a chart is pointless. It doesn't account for your tank's inhabitants' calcium uptake (consumption). A tank with heavy SPS and a couple of clams will use LOTS more calcium than a modestly stocked tank or a softie tank, and therefore require lots more dosing.

I've always thought it was silly that many supplements (Seachem, for example) don't advise you to test and dose based on the test results until you start using the "advanced" instructions. The beginner directions just advise x per week per gallon.

 

[cr500_af]

Assault;529261 wrote: weekly water changes with a good salt is the safest way 2 go for new reefers

Agreed. Depending on the salt, though, there still may very well be some dosing to do. For example, in my experience Seachem Reef Salt is great as far as CA and MG are concerned, but it always has low alkalinity.

 

[ralph atl]

what they said.............


here:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php</a>



[IMG]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm</a>



[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php</a>

 

[morganatlanta]

I was going for something a little different. Understanding that you need to measure your parameters, and the point of dosing is to keep those in line, and that individual milage will vary depending on numerous factors, what do you actually end up supplementing, and what products do you use to do that? I'm not really looking for direct recommendations for what I should do as a relative newbie with a small softy tank, but a survey of what other people who have been successful actually do for their systems. So a model answer I was looking for was something like:

"In my XX gallon mixed reef tank, I end up adding roughly AA ml of product A and BB ml of product B on roughly a twice weekly basis to maintain calcium and alkalinity levels. I use products A and B because they seem to keep things in balance and don't include ingredient C, which caused me problems in the past. I just dump the amount in my sump (versus having a reactor, or autodosing system). I haven't found the need to add any trace elements other than through bi-weekly XX% water changes with product C salt. I also supplement ZZ ml once a week of product Z (amino acids) because I like the way it makes my corals open up."

 

[texhorns98]

You're not going to get a good consensus on this topic, IME. I know people who don't dose a single thing and have SPS growing like mad. Then I know people who dose religiously and can't keep any SPS happy.

I know one girl who just doses purple up every day and her tank rocks! Personally, I just dose two part 3-4 times a week when my tank is actually full of corals. I go by the directions on the bottle.

 

[ralph atl]

I dose brs two part, 4 times daily with an auto dosed, and 20 ml vodka daily.

 

[morganatlanta]

texhorns98;529349 wrote: You're not going to get a good consensus on this topic, IME. I know people who don't dose a single thing and have SPS growing like mad. Then I know people who dose religiously and can't keep any SPS happy.

I know one girl who just doses purple up every day and her tank rocks! Personally, I just dose two part 3-4 times a week when my tank is actually full of corals. I go by the directions on the bottle.

I haven't found an aquarium topic yet that had any consensus, that's why I asked it more of as a survey of what people actually do.

Which two part solution do you use?