Quick question about dosing

[wcj_ink]

okay so I set up a IM50 and ever since I have had it setup I have dosed once and been testing everyday to figure out my dosing schedule but calcium, alkalinity and magnesium have not come down from my first dose but went up the next day after and have remained there for the last 4 days.
4-8-20
ca. 460
alk. 9.1
mag. 1230

4-9-20 to today
ca. 480
alk. 9.4
mag. 1350

do I even need to have a doser now? or should I just stick with weekly water changes and only dose when I see a drop or change?

 

[Mixed Reefer]

That’s ok. Your tank isn’t consuming Alk, magnesium or calcium fast enough. As you add more coral it will be consumed much faster. Pick a number and stay there that’s the most important. Stability.
You don’t need to use doser now, water changes might be enough for a bit. My tank didn’t need a doer for a few months in. Make sure your testing weekly. Also BRS has a calculator to help with dose amounts. Make sure your not making large adjustments for example. Don’t raise alkalinity more than 1Dkh in 24 hours.

 

[wcj_ink]

That’s ok. Your tank isn’t consuming Alk, magnesium or calcium fast enough. As you add more coral it will be consumed much faster. Pick a number and stay there that’s the most important. Stability.
You don’t need to use doser now, water changes might be enough for a bit. My tank didn’t need a doer for a few months in. Make sure your testing weekly. Also BRS has a calculator to help with dose amounts. Make sure your not making large adjustments for example. Don’t raise alkalinity more than 1Dkh in 24 hours.

I haven't been dosing at all...I like the numbers I have right now and they are staying steady. I'm due for a water change today so I'm kinda wondering what kind of numbers i get after a water change compared to what I've been getting for the past few days.

 

[afboundguy]

moved to reef talk...

 

[coralfishreef]

It depends on what corals are in your tank. My soft coral, polyp, zoa tank needs to be dosed approximately 2.5 mL a day mainly to keep up with coralline algae growth. There are dosers on this tank, but they aren’t required. Daily dosing isn’t needed for this tank since soft corals, polyps, and zoas can handle minor Alk/Calc swings. I previously manually dosed 2-part for years and still do for a couple tanks.

 

[wcj_ink]

right now it's a mix of mainly soft and lps...I mean I'm not going to dose or do anything to it if it's staying stable in that range...I'm happy with where it is. I was just wondering if it was normal for a tank to not consume anything at all.

 

[Chris A.]

If it’s pretty new it’s pretty normal. Lps and softies don’t use up as much alk/calcium as sps until you have a tank filled with them. If you like those numbers try to find a salt mix that matches it , that way you don’t swing those numbers doing a water change.

 

[Mixed Reefer]

One more thing when you get going with dosing, you’ll want to match your tank parameters and fresh mixed water as close as possible. I would test your fresh mixed saltwater and try to keep your tank within range. Hope this helps

 

[wcj_ink]

One more thing when you get going with dosing, you’ll want to match your tank parameters and fresh mixed water as close as possible. I would test your fresh mixed saltwater and try to keep your tank within range. Hope this helps

yes of course, I always do that as well...thank you!