To Dose or not to Dose,,,

[Catdiggy]

That is the question??

First let me start off by saying the Swap was cool... the tanks at pratt were Very impresive,, this is a understatement,,,

as i am new to reef what are the upsides to dosing and what types of corals require dosing apposed to what types dont,,
and whats best chemical? i guess it would be called that?

Thanks,,
And Thanks to

Wingo... for the cheatos!!
Custom King... for my Super Sump!!
InkBlue.... For the filter socks....P.S Need more...
House of Fish.... the VorTech is Great!!!
Dr.Mac for the corals,,,

Etc... etc... etc...

 

[Deanos]

Reefkeeping

 

[tosiek]

There are a few books that give good write ups on it and reefcentral has a nice tutorial on chemicals that are dosed. Think our beginner forum has links to a few also. And probably the reefcentral post too.

The main thing you have to consider is what your keeping vs the mineral levels in your saltwater your mixing, some brands have higher stuff and lower stuff than others. Your gonna have to test for things before you start dosing anything. and maintain daily testings when you dose to regulate how much you will need untill you figure out the magic numbers. Usually people dose calcium/alk, SPS guys dose magnesium on top of the calk/alk. Then people trickle in weekly doses of iodine and strontium which is said to aid in colors and growth. calc/alk is related to each other as is mag to the rate at which calc is broken down and used.

The main thing is testing for what you are using up in your water. So get the test kits. Usually the standards are calk/alk and magnesium. Strontium and iodine are usually weekly doses and usually don't need to be dosed/checked if your doing weekly water changes and don't have a heavily overstocked tank. Clams and anything that makes a skeleton will use up calcium, so thats where you should start.

 

[tosiek]

or u can go through deans link.