discussion on what people are dosing in SPS dominated tank

[duke62]

So i was dosing some additives from zeo and brightwells for months and i stopped probably about 2 months ago when things were going bad in my tank and havent noticed anything different since i stopped. Never goping to waste my money again. Mag,cal,and alk is all

 

[smoq]

No, some diatom on the sand, but that doesn't surprise me. PO4 is also very high--again not a surprise. All the animals look perfectly content. I changed out the carbon and added some GFO. All other parameters are spot on.

Kevin, I have the Bactiv8 in hand that is why I am asking about it.

Since I started f(&ing with myu tank I use Microbacter 7 with biopellets. That keep my phosphates in the 0.01-0.02 level. Biopellets are very good with stripping down nitrates and phosphates and I don't want to break the balance. I add half the suggested dose weekly and it seems to do the trick. But the holy grail still remains in the form of water changes and test kits

 

[Zuska]

alk, cal and Mag all from Esv. %50 water changes once a month is doing me fine But im stocking up on fish so i will probably starting using that Absolute again keep my corals happy and my fish drunk 24/7 haha

 

[Sps4Life]

Well on a sps tank a water change every week is mandatory , 10 to 20% a week.
What a lot of people don't do is check your cal , alk and mag daily . Any swing in any of the 3 is no good and will stress the sps out. Temp is also a key factor a 1 to 2 degree swing the most.
Light cycle is a key also , to much light will stunt growth and loose color (bleach). To little light little growth and no color (browned out) . As for
Dosing , unless you are running a ultra low nutrient system then you dose to feed sps. If not a uln system and dosing will just cause a nutrient problem in your system.

 

[Paul B]

Well on a sps tank a water change every week is mandatory , 10 to 20% a week.
What a lot of people don't do is check your cal , alk and mag daily . Any swing in any of the 3 is no good and will stress the sps out. Temp is also a key factor a 1 to 2 degree swing the most.
Light cycle is a key also , to much light will stunt growth and loose color (bleach). To little light little growth and no color (browned out) . As for
Dosing , unless you are running a ultra low nutrient system then you dose to feed sps. If not a uln system and dosing will just cause a nutrient problem in your system.

Not always. I have quite a few SPS and i change about 20% of the water 5 or 6 times a year. I have never checked alk, mag or anything else and my temp swings quite a bit from summer to winter. I only dose ice melter for calcium and some baking soda. My tank is high nutrients as I add mud from the sea a few times a year.
The tank has been running for 42 years.
But it is not a bad thing to check those parameters and change a lot of water if that is what you want to do. It is just not always necessary. :smoker: