Is it possible to not have to dose?

[imnewplshelp]

Okay I’ve asked a lot of questions including about dosing. I have a dosing pump and plan to use AFR if it comes to it but I’m wondering, will weekly or even small bi weekly water changes be able to keep up with what I have? I’ll be dragging things as they start to outgrow the tank so if it seems like a possibility that water changes would be fine. How would I know that they aren’t fine? Low all numbers or even just all numbers that are changing? This is my first saltwater tank so I’m still kinda bamboozled. It’s a 15 cube with lotsss of LPS and soft corals, no SPS, I’m not insane.

 

[Uncle99]

You’ll know when water changes can’t keep Alk and CA stable, the level will consistently fall.

Then it’s dosing time.

 

[buruskeee]

Yes. It’s why there are higher element salts out there (Red Sea pro vs regular). There’s more swings with water changes though unless you start doing them very frequently to minimize it.

If you test enough to start, you can calculate how much and how often you’d need to keep up with water changes to accommodate a swing you’re comfortable with.

 

[fish farmer]

Time will tell, once alk and calcium start to consistently stay low.

 

[imnewplshelp]

Right now my all goes down a little throughout the week but it’s still usually around 9 I believe. I need to see what my salt normally sits at, it’s just instant ocean but I’m about out of it anyways. I wasn’t going to do any corals to begin with but then I had to go fallow and got a bit carried away. Any recommendations for better salt?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I once tried to not test and not dose on my 15 gallon, at a certain point , corals stop growing and coraline starts dying. Thats when I started testing and dosing...

 

[stewy14]

yes and no
I dont need to dose in my 11.4 gal
depends though!

 

[Patx]

just a word to tell you, you do what you want but the gsp on the rock work will end up being invasive for the other corals. and I would also keep an eye open on the "yellow" zoa at the top left. for the rest beautiful tank! watch alk, the time will come when you will have to dose or change the water more often.

 

[areefer01]

Is it possible to not have to, yes. As to when, that would depend on consumption. Several members already have made the comment about it so I'll more or less not repeat it.

It sounds like you are already doing some basic water tests and keeping track. That is good. What I would do is after your next water change start a battery of tests for two weeks. Collect the water sample at the same location, same time of day, and then document the results. You can keep it simple and start with testing Alk only if you want. Test every other day because what you are looking for is the trend over two weeks.

Why do this for two weeks? Data points. Also two weeks is a decent amount of time between water change(s). The more data you have the better the trend will be then you can go from there. In fact what I would probably do, or have done, is test, water change, test, then fall into the every other day test, assess results, and be done.

It could be that the water change alone will replace Alk, Ca, and Mg. It will vary over time as your display matures (corals grow) but this at least gets you going with a "known" consumption rate. The before and after water change lets you know what was added to some degree. Test results over the two weeks the consumption.

 

[PharmrJohn]

With my last tank, I avoided dosing at first because I was VERY new and intimidated with it. Just did water changes and monitored. But then lots of corals happened and I had to. Really no choice. So I basically stopped water changes and started dosing. Worked like a charm.

 

[KrisReef]

Corals can hold their breath underwater but if they run out of Alk & Ca they are going to give up.

 

[Timfish]

Dosing certainly does not have to use complicated equipment or fancy schedules or lots of bottles. But yes, sooner or later you will have to dose. To what extent is highly variable and depends on how much demand there is on the part of your corals and how the cryptic biology and biofilms are responding by dissolving substrates. You should test regularly (frequently at first?) and be ready to dose alkalinity, calcium and magnesium as needed at the very least. You may also need to stay on top of PO4.

 

[morris2015]

Okay I’ve asked a lot of questions including about dosing. I have a dosing pump and plan to use AFR if it comes to it but I’m wondering, will weekly or even small bi weekly water changes be able to keep up with what I have? I’ll be dragging things as they start to outgrow the tank so if it seems like a possibility that water changes would be fine. How would I know that they aren’t fine? Low all numbers or even just all numbers that are changing? This is my first saltwater tank so I’m still kinda bamboozled. It’s a 15 cube with lotsss of LPS and soft corals, no SPS, I’m not insane.

Water changes are always a win… nevertheless you could adopt a method with less frequent water Changes, You Have Attention and be and beat beat beat beat very restrictive restrictive restrictive with the food and use product product from tropic marin Named “all for reef”
It’s very reliable and it’s designed for small tanks like yours… so you’ll change your routine of water changes and you’ll dose only one solution… but before doing that take a week to test your parameters and determine the behavior and based on that, you’ll see if it’s necessary that you dose or not

 

[imnewplshelp]

Thank you guys, that was super helpful. I’ll start testing more before and after water changes and when the time comes I’ve already got my dosing setup!