Dosing 2 part question

[Noobreefer90]

So I’m sure everyone know I’m a noob to this reef stuff and seen somewhere where people was dosing daily on cal and alk 

my local petstore has 2 part dosing in bottles should I start dosing my 14g biocube I don’t have the test for the alk or cal yet. My tank has only been running about a month and a half or more starting to get the purple algae growing on glass

[ReefGoat]

I would say there's absolutely no need to start dosing in a month and a half old tank even if you have coraline growing. Even more so of a reason to not dose it with you saying you don't have testing kits for it. Your water changes will replenish what you need for now. 

[specore]

Yep, testing is the only way you'll ever know the answer to this question.  Get a decent kit (Salifert, Red Sea, etc) and test periodically.  If you are seeing alk/ca drop significantly between water changes then it is probably time to ease into dosing. Some people use online calculators to figure out what to dose, others just start really low and work their way up to the appropriate amount.  As ReefGoat said though, usually not necessary with tank so young.  Won't see any significant calcium uptake until you get several frags and they start to take hold. 

[paulsz]

Dosing is used to replenish what is being consumed. Without knowing what is being consumed (through testing), you won't know if dosing is required.

[Clown79]

Blindly dosing is the worst thing anyone can do

 

Dosing should be done to replenish what corals consume and the only way to know what they consume and your target number is by testing.

 

As a new hobbyist, I would not recommend dosing until you need to.

 

Consumption changes, so regular testing of alk is necessary or you can over dose and cause major fluctuations.

 

For ex. My tanks are 4 yrs old and in 4 yrs I have gone through periods where daily dosing is required, periods where only 2 times a week I needed to dose, and even periods where my parameters don't drop enough to warrant the risk of dosing too much.

The only reason why I know of these changes is from testing alk with a good kit 2-3 times a week.