What to dose?

[jetlink82]

I have had my 90 gallon up and running for a year now and want to turn it into a reef. I have new lights on the way that should be here in a few days. In the meantime I am trying to get everything ready to add coral into the tank and making sure all my parameters are where they should be. My Calcium level is good but my question is what else should I be dosing?

To start out I am planning to do zoanthids, ricordea's, maybe a rose bubble tip anemone, green nepthea leather, etc. I figure I will start out with the easier to keep corals to see how they do. Going to the different LFS's, I am getting conflicting answers as to what I should be dosing in my tank. One shop recommended that I dose calcium, magnesium, iodine, strontium, the next shop recommended I just stay on top of my normal parameters and dose and monitor calcium and magnesium. I just want to start off on the right foot and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spankdog]

I read somewhere that you shouldnt dose anything that you can't test for. If your parameters are good then you don't need to dose anything. Water changes may be all you need for a while.

I should add that you should use reef salt vs fish only salt. Reef Crystals vs Instant Ocean

 

[tbub1221]

What test kits are you using , I would not dose anything unless your testing it.
All the coral you named are softies and don't require a whol lot of doseing of cal and mag , if you do regular water change with good reef salt it should replenish the needed elements and iodine needed.
Once you start keeping hard coral you Will need to dose cal and mag more than likely depending on your tanks use.
Coralline algae also uses cal and mag same as a coral so they will also bring lvls down , so keeping cal and mag in optimum range helps it to grow faster as well.

 

[hiimsean]

If you plan on starting out with soft corals, IMO you really don't need to dose anything. Regular waterchanges will take care of everything you need. If you start leaning heavily towards LPS or SPS monitor you water and use quality tests every few days to see what is being depleted and how fast, that will help you determine what to dose, how much and how frequently. You don't want to just in blindly dosing things you don't need.

 

[jetlink82]

Since the tank has been set up I have been using API test kits. This past week I went out and bought Salifert Calcium, PH, Alkalinity, and Nitrates test kits. I figure it will be more accurate and easier to read compared to the API kits. I have had and am still having great pink and purple coralline growth and is spreading throughout the tank and onto my power heads very quickly. I also have this really awesome looking neon lime green sponge that came on a piece of live rock I bought about 6 months ago that has since spread though out the tank.

As for the salt, I have been using the Reef Crystals salt from day one. I have not had to dose any calcium as it has stayed at about 440ppm and have been doing a 25ish % water change once a month, thinking about possibly doing a 10% change every 2 weeks possibly.

Edit: I may dose magnesium and pick up a test kit for it since it helps the coralline grow.

 

[fishdude]

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I kept a softie tank for years with only water changes and never saw a drop in Cal and Alk (didn't test mag) and all coral flourished. Once you start adding inhabitants that have a hard skeleton (LPS/SPS) You&#8217;re water changes may not be able to keep up and it&#8217;s time to start dosing. </span></span>

 

[nickh06]

Jetlink82;924493 wrote: Since the tank has been set up I have been using API test kits. This past week I went out and bought Salifert Calcium, PH, Alkalinity, and Nitrates test kits. I figure it will be more accurate and easier to read compared to the API kits. I have had and am still having great pink and purple coralline growth and is spreading throughout the tank and onto my power heads very quickly. I also have this really awesome looking neon lime green sponge that came on a piece of live rock I bought about 6 months ago that has since spread though out the tank.

As for the salt, I have been using the Reef Crystals salt from day one. I have not had to dose any calcium as it has stayed at about 440ppm and have been doing a 25ish % water change once a month, thinking about possibly doing a 10% change every 2 weeks possibly.

Edit: I may dose magnesium and pick up a test kit for it since it helps the coralline grow.

I wouldn't dose anything. I would just add the corals slowly to see how they respond. If your calcium goes down you might want to start with a small kalk drip. It helped me and is fairly simple to do. The less you put into the tank the better if the params are in check.

 

[jetlink82]

That's what I am planning on doing, will just keep up with the water changes and see how it goes.

 

[snowmansnow]

for what its worth... i don't dose anything.
i do run a ca reactor, but thats pretty much it.

get a GOOD salt.. stay with water changes once a month and you should be good imo.

don't make it more complicated / expensive than it already is

 

[jetlink82]

Well this is good news to me, I will plan to just keep up with the water changes, stay on top of water testing, and see where it goes.

 

[dylan j_]

You should never have to dose unless you are either keeping Large amounts of SPS/LPS or are not planning on doing a weekly water changes.

 

[kirkwood]

Quality salt. No dosing. Water changes. Add corals slowly. After 3 months with coral test your Params. Find test kits you trust. I trust ELOS. Dosing mag on a softie tank is laughable.