To dose or not dose?

[big_fat_mushroom]

i have a small monti digitata coloney and 2 monti cap frags in a 2.5 gal pico. and i am planning to add some more sps in there. should i dose something?

[PurpleUP]

i have a small monti digitata coloney and 2 monti cap frags in a 2.5 gal pico. and i am planning to add some more sps in there. should i dose something?

 

SPS in a 2.5G? Sweet if you can do it. Let us see it! As far as dosing, I'd say dose if weekly water changes aren't enough. Are you testing?

[big_fat_mushroom]

no i didnt test for calcium level or anything. and surprisingly the monti are doing quite well in the tank. my monti cap frags have grown 2x-3x since the new tank is set up a few months ago. however they arent growing as fast as they used to be. i have a koralia nano in there so flow is excellent. the the only thing i need to fix now is to upgrade the light to 36watt. here is a pic.

 

 

the monti look more orange in real life.

[supreme_spork]

now that you have SPS, you really really really need to test for calcium.

[constantocean]

now that you have SPS, you really really really need to test for calcium.

 

agreeeeed and I have a bleaching cauliflower coral that can attest to this.

definitely dose if youre going to keep corals that sensitive.

[PurpleUP]

the the only thing i need to fix now is to upgrade the light to 36watt.

 

I doubt that a 36watt light will be enough for your SPS. I didn't even think my 250W was enough for my SPS. The challenging thing about SPS is greater light and tougher water requirements.

[big_fat_mushroom]

how much does calcium testing kit cost? yea i do acknowledge the fact that sps are hard corals to keep. they require a lot of light and excellent water parameter. however i think i got the water parameter down so far.... even with out testing anything so far, the param is quite stable. i covered the entire top with a glass with a small slit where evaporation can escape. however i test the SG every time i change water and its very solid. since i only have 2 snails and a scarlet hermit in there, the bioload is at the the minimal. however i heard that some nutrients can help sps grow. is this true? my goal to keep sps in such a small system is to test if such sensitive animal can be kept in a very small system. for the lighting part. are there any good fixture that will be good for a 2.5 gal? 18watts isnt going to do much so i plan to upgrade. suggestions? i would really like to see how this sps in a 2.5 gal project turns out. all your inputs are very valuable. so thank you all for your replies so far and i hope there are many more to come.

[supreme_spork]

however i think i got the water parameter down so far.... even with out testing anything so far, the param is quite stable.

 

riddle me this, riddler: what kind of magic lets you know that your water parameters are stable without testing?

 

do you have special powers?

[jeremai]

do you have special powers?

I must. The only thing I check on my tanks is salinity.

 

But of course, they look like crap, soo...

 

I'm not saying no one should test, but when your tank gets to a certain point, and your skill as an aquarist gets high enough, the tank will tell you when there's something wrong.

 

imo.

 

edit - that being said, big_fat_mushroom should be testing for Ca.

[Nick's Reef]

A cal test kit is anywhere from $5 to $30. You should be testing, because in a 2.5 gal tank with sps by the time something goes wrong you are screwed!

[supreme_spork]

I must. The only thing I check on my tanks is salinity.

 

But of course, they look like crap, soo...

 

I'm not saying no one should test, but when your tank gets to a certain point, and your skill as an aquarist gets high enough, the tank will tell you when there's something wrong.

 

imo.

 

edit - that being said, big_fat_mushroom should be testing for Ca.

 

ummm... no. you can say this about testing for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate -- god knows i only test for those during the setup phase of a new tank and then maybe a few times a year for nitrate and phosphate, but no amount of experience will allow you to skip testing for calcium if you're growing SPS and dosing.

 

the rule of thumb is that if you dose, you test. if you dose and choose not to test then you're just crazy, not experienced.

[jeremai]

Read his first post, he hasn't started dosing yet.

 

This is in the advanced forum, I figured when he said 'params are stable' he meant the am/ni/na.

 

I don't dose, so I don't test.

 

Did you read the edited part of my post by the way?

 

Sheesh.

[supreme_spork]

Read his first post, he hasn't started dosing yet.

 

This is in the advanced forum, I figured when he said 'params are stable' he meant the am/ni/na.

 

I don't dose, so I don't test.

 

Did you read the edited part of my post by the way?

 

Sheesh.

 

then we're in violent agreement, as it were, and i was just set-off by your ambiguous statement. ;-)

 

i still don't think you should ever say "my parameters are stable" without having data to back it up... you can say, "i haven't tested anything but it seems like my parameters are stable because everything is healthy" -- that's a statement that makes sense. it's possible to have high nitrate and phosphate, for example, with no readily apparent problems in a tank... and so before posting something like this it would seem prudent to do a test so you can post your data and verify exactly what your parameters are.

 

*shrug*

 

i dunno, it just seems that half of the problems people experience come from being imprecise and guessing when they need some hard data. if you've had a stable tank running for a long time and you're not changing anything then sure, testing is optional. if you start adding an entirely new class of coral or you start dosing, then it's time to really bump-up the rigor and get a handle on the *exact* numbers.

[jeremai]

And my point is, he posted in the advanced section. Seems logical to me that we should believe him when he's saying his parameters are stable, and not accuse him of guessing.

 

Newbies have their own place - and if this thread were there, I would be rubbing n00bcake in his face and telling him to test EVERYTHING before attempting to show himself here again.

 

[supreme_spork]

And my point is, he posted in the advanced section. Seems logical to me that we should believe him when he's saying his parameters are stable, and not accuse him of guessing.

 

Newbies have their own place - and if this thread were there, I would be rubbing n00bcake in his face and telling him to test EVERYTHING before attempting to show himself here again.

 

 

he actually said that he was just guessing, so it's not like i was interpreting.

 

i'm totally not bashing him, only suggesting that he should really do a test for *everything* before adding SPS.

[Withers]

<-- Has only tested for calcium once in his tank. It was low, lol.

<-- Is not good at practicing what he preaches, LOL.

[big_fat_mushroom]

yes. i am not very good with words so may be that can cause confusions. but yes, like sport says, ""i haven't tested anything but it seems like my parameters are stable because everything is healthy". and indeed everything looks good. and i didnt dose anything. i would never add anything to my tank unless i kno what the level of the stuff i am dosing. the "does or not to dose" question arises because my monti caps arent growing as fast as they used to be. so do you guys recommend dosing calcium only or there should be more than that?

[glennr1978]

yes. i am not very good with words so may be that can cause confusions. but yes, like sport says, ""i haven't tested anything but it seems like my parameters are stable because everything is healthy". and indeed everything looks good. and i didnt dose anything. i would never add anything to my tank unless i kno what the level of the stuff i am dosing. the "does or not to dose" question arises because my monti caps arent growing as fast as they used to be. so do you guys recommend dosing calcium only or there should be more than that?

I'm just learning this stuff myself, but you should read up on how Alk, Ca, and Mg all work together. Simply dosing Ca likely won't do you much good if the other 2 aren't in line as well, particullarly Alk (from what I understand atleast).

 

And you really should invest in some decent test kits to save yourself some head aches down the road.

[big_fat_mushroom]

ok. after much thinking i decided not to dose anything. not even calcium. weekly water changes should be just okay since there are many minerals inside the salt mix.

[Daemonfly]

Well, SPS need calcium. Weekly changes could be enough if your salt is high enough in calcium (Oceanic salt, for example). Otherwise, you may find you have to dose it, and never dose what you don't test for.

 

Once you dose long enough, you can start to get a feel of what the common levels are each & every time you dose, and it gets easier. For example, if you stick with the same salt, and have to dose 3mg of alk to your newly mixed water every time for months on end, then it's pretty safe to stick with such a dose, and not have to test every time. If you buy a new bucket of salt, then I'd test a few times to make sure it's consistent with your last batch of salt.

[big_fat_mushroom]

right now i use "kent" salt. from my experience it is a really good salt. since i didnt get a testin kit yet and i dont know which kinda of testin kit i would need. i need some help over here another reefer told me that he tops off with kalkwasser solution every 2-3 times a week without measuring the amount. i dont kno if thats good or not. and i think i should dose calcium but i am hesitating would it be better to leave it as it is or dose.