First time dosing

[Charley]

Have a 29 gal biocube and picked upped a Red Sea Coral Colors on a whim. I a pretty much a newbie and just starting testing for calcium, phosphates, alkalinity etc......

So I too the the Coral Colors home all excited I would simply add in a few drops of each of the 4 letters every few days. Little did I know ( don't ask me why I didn't read the box at the store ) that it is all tied into calcium dosing.....ok, so I tested my calcium as was a whopping 600! Ok, now I am not dosing calcium and adding the Coral Colors. Still have not.

Question is: can you add the color supplements even if you are NOT dosing for calcium?

I have very few corals:

1 trumpet
2 small zoas
1 small sps
1 duncan
a few small mushrooms
something else I do not know the name

All doing very well and have them for a good 4 mos know. Tank is 6 mos old.

Have a:

6 line wrasse
1 pygmy angel
pair of clowns
2 diff gobies
2 shrimp

Fortunately all doing good.

Thanks

 

[MIKE NY]

IMO in a tank that small and only 6 months old don't waste your money on any more "magic in a bottle" coral colors etc...so don't use it...keep your parameters in check..cal/alk/mag/phos/trates etc... and keep up with your water husbandry water changes etc.. and it will be fine..
cal 600 is very high, what test kit are you using? cal that high it may fall out of solution, excessive salt creep and build up on your heaters, pumps etc..

 

[fireshark02]

You have very little corals in your tank and no sps so there should be no need to dose calcium. Even your alk shouldn't really be fluctuating. I would test daily for few days with a good test kit to see if your levels actually change before you dose.

 

[Charley]

Thanks, got it.....but just want to understand dosing a bit more....forget my tank at this point.

Lets say you have a 65 gal. avg amount of corals and you want to use the Red Sea Coral colors but you calcium simply does not go down so quickly and sits around 450. Can you dose the coral colors without dosing calcium?

 

[BAD FISH]

I have never used it but I assume it is tied in to dosing because there and some kind of supplements in the "magic juice" that will increase cal/alk and will through off your levels. cal and alk are constantly competing for space so if you increase one or the other it will force the opposite down. I would not bother with this stuff all the trace elements to make any of your corals color up are in your salt. ill have to agree with mike ny on this one.