coral dosing question?

what do I need to be dosing for my corals there so much different stuff and brands...
I got ph buffer and calcuim.


also what is a good brand for lighting, need to replace my pc bulbs soon.
I saw 50/50 current or it might of been coral life 65w straight pin for 33.75.
I saw sps south pacfic systems 10,000k for 25.95 at dna and dna also has 20-30% this weekend they are doing there spring sell...

it all depends. what corals you are keeping? I use a 2 part dosing system from Bulk Reef Supply it's Alk and Cal then I also use the Mag recipe. they have a good reef calculator you put in your total water volume take in consideration water displacement from your live rock for instance in my 180 with 75 gallon sump/fuge I dose for a total water volume of 150 gallons and go from there. then test your cal, alk and mag enter those numbers in the calculator and where you would like them to be and the calculator will tell you what amount you need to add to get the elements up. always bring them up slowly
I don't use PC's sorry no help there.
here's a couple links
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/calcium-alkalinity-magnesium/two-part-calcium-and-alkalinity-solution

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-calculator

by the way I don't dose my softy/nem tank at all. regular water changes keep it stable. I use the ubove recipes for the 180 because of the SPS's.

Reef Alchemy "proper Reef parameters"
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Don't dose for anything you can't test for! If you don't know what your levels are currently, then don't even bother dosing. Just do frequent water changes.

Water changes replace depleted minerals. So to determine what and how to dose you need to know what you're consuming between water changes, and then determine the frequency/amounts/products you need to use to keep your parameters where they should be. This is only useful if you can verify and track the results.

Personally, I use a DIY version of the BRS system cwhip mentioned. I'll finish the batch of stuff I have on hand, and then order from BRS going forward. It's less hassle than sourcing some of the ingredients.(primarily Magnesium Chloride)


There's a wide variety of "food" available commercially for coral. What you feed depends on what you keep. I feed phyto 2 - 3 times a week.

zoa's kenya tree, and a head of crypto-night candy cane. oh and a nice size favia.

um would 50/50 bulbs works...

for the corals you have I would feed coral frezny/Phyto/arctic pods. you can target feed the candy cane if you want when its extended. the rest I would just shut down the pumps and put it in the tank and let it sit a half hour. imho other than weekly water changes with a good quality salt will be enough for what you have
those are all easy corals to grow.
good luck!

thanks, how offen should I do water changes, 20% every two weeks, or 10% a week right. any brands I should look for, and any I should stay away from....


oops I see the links now cindy, thanks...

I do 4 gallons every thursday on my 40 gallon breeder.
the only time I do large water changes is when I need to remove something harmful. I found that small weekly water changes is much better on the system than one large monthly water change. it keeps your params stable without removing too much beneficial bacteria all at once.

I'm probably going to hell for it, but I generally do about a 20% change once a month.

popebosephus wrote:

I'm probably going to hell for it, but I generally do about a 20% change once a month.

NO... I used to do 20-30% on the 180 but I realized doing small weekly w/c's kept my mag cal and alk stable because I was adding it via the salt weekly where before my cal,mag and alk would nose dive in a months time between water changes then after the water was change they went straight up and the SPS's really dont like those kinds of swings.
does that make sense?

Absolutely, but my dosing regimen keeps my alk and calc stable at 9dkh/440ppm. I only water change when my magnesium drops. If it weren't for the daily dosing my calcium levels would drop to 200ppm in a matter of a couple days with my massive invert collection. This is well verified through appropriate testing at a frequency you'd expect. I keep a tank diary* that tracks testing results and general observations. Believe me when I say it's been a long slow, dare I say PAINFUL, process figuring out how much to dose to keep parameters where they should be.

At this exact moment in time I have no SPS. This is subject to change throughout the course of the day as I've found an opportunity to obtain an ORA green birdsnest, and have decided that this species will be my first sps experience.

*edit - My system is only 29 gallons. Parameter swings can be catastrophic in general, but happen fast in a small volume system. Therefore daily testing over a 3 month time frame was used to determine how best to stabilize ALL system parameters. I've since reduced the frequency at which I test, but looking over the log the average seems to be 3 times a week.

yes, tank size does make a differance! glad to see youre getting a BN congrats!
I located another RSM 130d for sale I'm trying to contact the person. the last one the dude sold it out from under me:( I even offered him a deposit via paypal to hold it for me till I could make the long drive to pick it up. wish me luck this will be the pony tank if I can get it.. my sweet hubby offered to buy me a new RMS 250 for my birthday so if all else fails I might let him:)

oooh fingers are crossed for ya

dosing.. is kinda up to you.. you can overdose your tank though.. i say dont dose it at first.. watch it. and test the water.. add accordingly if you need to. i personally hardly ever dose my tank. hell i hardly feed the fish lol.. i usually spot feed my brain corals with a varied died of frozen food mixed up.. there is always enough left over floating around for my fish.. and the clean up crew takes care of the rest but, my tank is doing super.. and it works for my tank, we all got reef tanks for the most part and we all do something different in our routine to manage it because well our tanks are different. not size specifically but for example we all use diff water.. the water i use in OK is diff then the water in TX and MD, differnt LR with different organisms on it even if its the same amount of rock. basically your going to have to find your groove for your tank so to speak.

water changes lol im not good at. lol i do them but not like x amount every week or anything like that lol.. might be asking for trouble buts its been fine since i set it up.. minus the one crash, but that was caused by chemicals used in my apartment by maintenance

as far as bulbs go, coralife is a pretty good bulb for PC lighting. 65 wats is 65 wats.. and with what you got stocked, brand of bulb shouldnt make a difference..

cool, Thanks... I guess I need to just go throw ups and down and do more reading.
got planted tanks down, now if only I could get saltwater down. do have brown spot algae on thefront of the tank.. I moved some stuff around, and need to still get the lights on a timer...

brown spots on glass most likely diatoms.. turbo snails.. astrea snails make short work of it. your going to have diatom's. i dont think there is a person with a SW tank that has never had diatoms..usually come with a new tank, or when your lights bulbs need replacing(speaking in terms of a reef tank)

cool, Thanks... I will get some turbo snails, and yes the bulbs are old around 8 months and need to be replaced should be getting my check this friday so I can do some weekend aquarium shopping....

ok, well thats most likely where your brown algae is coming from, no biggie really..well its an easy fix, id replace the 10000k bulbs first.

cool, then I will replace the 10,000k first... would a 50/50 or a 6,700 - 10,000k work. when do corals start photosynsis at what kelvin?...

SORRY FOR THE ALL CAPS,, THE BUTTON IS STUCK LOL

50/50 WOULD WORK BUT GO WITH THE STRAIGHT 10000K..YOUR JUST GONNA END UP GOING BRIGHTER LATER ON ANYWAYZ(I BET...JUST WAIT N SEE LOL)

Thanks, is it friday yet that is when I get my check.. will look for 10000k.

lol i wish it was lol..the 10k will do your55 right....well its late.. im gioing to bed lol ttyl