Dosing for a nano with lps, zoa, sps...

[xgame2k]

What is usually being dosed? cal, alk, mag.......

 

 

I was planning on doing cal, alk and mag, but I'm wondering if a weekly water change with Tropic Marin Bio-Actif might do the trick or maybe a mix of that and Tropic Marin Pro Reef.

[chucktdbm321]

Tropic Marin Pro Reef is a waste of money unless you have a calc reactor. Thats really the only difference between the normal stuff and pro reef. One is suited for a calc reactor.

 

IME, Reef Crystals is the way to go

[Bill Nye]

If you are looking for a "high end" salt I would check out ESV B-ionic salt system. I just picked it up and it mixes to 450 calc, ~10 kH and 1400 mag.

[reefer916]

It really depends on your coral load, whether or not you need to dose. I like Reef Crystals and am used to using it, but I still need to dose Ca and Mg every other day and 2-parts Kent Nano daily. However, my tank is full of various corals, which deplete the trace elements. Best bet is to upgrade to a better salt and test your Ca, Mg, and Alk over a few weeks. If you notice that your numbers keep dropping then you'll have to start dosing. However, with a low coral load the water changes will probably suffice.

[xgame2k]

...

[Nemo Niblets]

You'll get to the point, with enough SPS, that just weekly water changes won't be enough to keep your parameters up. I'm dosing 15 ml daily of Bulk Reef Supply Two-Part and Magnesium, along with weekly water changes w/ Tropic Marin Pro.

 

The tropic marin pro is good stuff

[jiriki76]

In small nano's/picos.. high end salt ... the cost difference is negligible.

 

I do think it sounds a bit weird that a salt is built specifically to use with a calcium reactor. Kind of doesn't make sense to me.

 

But to fully answer the question in the original post... it depends on what you have stocked.

 

So before even dosing those three, you need a reliable test kit for all three.

 

1) Test all three everyday for 7 days

2) Start the test right after you do your water change

3) Log the results

4) Do another water change

5) Test again for another 7 days

 

You should see a trend.

 

The trend actually does not mean much because depending on how sensitive your livestock is... it may or may not be acceptable.

 

For example, if you have mostly soft corals... the range and swing can be fairly large acceptable range.

 

 

On the other extreme end, as the last poster mentioned, if you are heavy on SPS, you should see calcium drop below 380 ppm and alk down below 7 dKH before you reach your next water change. If that is the case, you need to be dosing daily to maintain a calcium level above 380ppm and above 7dKH. The swing for alk of more than 1dKH per day for SPS is dangerous. Calc should is fairly forgiving but not alk.

 

Magnesium, you will not dose that everyday. You may not need to dose it at all since it is extremely forgiving. Nevertheless, any value between 1250ppm to 1400ppm is good unless you're trying to kill bryopsis.

 

Bottom line, what are you stocking first?

[xgame2k]

thanx. i will be starting out with small frags and not too heavy on sps (maybe 6 sps) mostly focused on lps and zoas

[jiriki76]

I would trend your parameters in a log book for a few weeks to get an idea if you even need to dose.

[FishOnTheBrainCoral]

I use H2Ocean pro salt and it is amazing how much less I dose now.. Had to do alk, cal, mag fairly regularly now I easily 1/5th as much and I do water changes every 2-4 weeks

[jiriki76]

I use H2Ocean pro salt and it is amazing how much less I dose now.. Had to do alk, cal, mag fairly regularly now I easily 1/5th as much and I do water changes every 2-4 weeks

 

 

For nano's, using a higher end salt may make up for less dosings. However, keep in mind alk swings can hurt sensitive SPS. They require more stable environments. Though that does not apply to all SPS either. Acros come to mind though.

 

However, every tank is different.. if it's working... don't mess it up!

 

My tank will drop 1.5 dKH of alk per day... a week of that and I'm below 6 and it stops. Which means the SPS has stopped growing...