2 part beginner...?'s

[Ruckus16]

Here it goes....

 

Fusion 20

nanobox duo

rw4

chemi pure blue

Red sea coral pro

 

I finally got test kits (cal/alk/mag) and have been looking into dosing. I feel like my corals (mixed reef) lose colors after being in my tank for awhile. SPS has browned but is growing like crazy. I know this can be a lack of light or phosphate issue. I read through the nanobox owners thread and my lighting values are similiar to others. I believe the cause of browning to be alk swings.

 

This is my plan. I do a 10-15% WC every Tuesday night. This Wednesday afternoon I will test my big 3. The following Tuesday afternoon I will test them again to see what the tank has consumed. I work out of town so I will be using a doser but plan to use BRS' calculator to figure up my dosing amounts. Alk will be dosed at night to help minimize ph swings and cal during the day. Mag as needed.

 

The thing that throws me off is what to do at the time of the water change. I have never done testing on a freshly mixed batch but I can assume it's never the same. More than likely it will be close enough that the dosing schedule I come up with will be ok. So for the day after a water change what do you do? skip a day of dosing?

 

I'm probably making this more complicated than it needs to be but I'm looking for some guidance.

[metrokat]

One of the most common causes of SPS browning is phosphates.

[Ruckus16]

Phosphates can also cause algae correct?

[Ruckus16]

One of the most common causes of SPS browning is phosphates.

I bought a red sea PO4 test kit. 6 days after last water change and I read 0.02.