Water parameters and dosing

[Sdeluca10]

Hey, so I need help with my water parameters. I’ve had good luck keeping LPS, softies, and anemones. But the corals never seem to grow at a decent rate. Also SPS corals only just manage to stay alive, can’t seem to get them to grow. I’d like to try to become more involved in my tank and get more into SPS and growing corals.
I know it’s not the ideal setup but I’m running a 40 gallon breeder with a reef breeder photon V2. It’s not reef ready so I’m running 2 emperor 400s on the back and I do a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks. Currently I have softies and anemones in there
I’m looking for any advice you can give me. How often to you check your parameters and what exactly are you testing, and what are the ranges your looking to be in. I do understand the importance of regular steady calcium alkalinity and magnesium levels, I just havent been able to figure out how to maintain them. What parameter testing kits are you using. Are there any digital ones or do you use the like “chemistry set” ones. Also when it comes to dosing, how do I know how much to add and how often to add it without too much fluctuation. And how long after you dose should you wait before testing again.
Note: I can’t just go out and buy a whole new dosing system so I’ll be doing it the old fashion way of manual dosing. Also not I’m not running a protein skimmer which is why I try to keep frequent on water changes.
also note, I am very knowledgeable in the hobby, and have had saltwater fish tanks for a long time. Mostly just hardy corals. I just haven’t really ever been too knowledgeable about in depth parameters and dosing which is why I’ve never been able to get into for sensitive livestock like SPS and clams and such. My extent of testing has been with test trips and occasional dosing of PH or essential elements according to the bottle.

 

[Lilys]

Hi, I would invest in good tests, redsea, salifert, Hanna checkers, take notes every time you do them, it’s help creating a base line. I dose manually and I made a schedule that works for my tanks. On a 40 g I would run a skimmer I do in my IM 40 not that expensive. Quality add on products , I dose phytoplankton mostly every day, I love redsea ab +(2x week) feeding your corals is important for growth in my opinion.
You might want to borrow a par meter to check your lights , sps are finicky too much they burn, not enough they survive a while and slowly disappear.
I try to test every 2-3 weeks but do ph and sal every week. I use an Amazon electronic ph meter not expensive and easy to calibrate.
Ph, salinity, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, nitrate and phosphate. It helps with knowing what to dose and the frequency. When I started the tank I tested every week. Once you can see how things are maintained or used in your tank it’s easier to establish a dosing schedule. And you can wait longer between the testings. a refugium goes a long way, even a tiny one, in maintaining good water quality.
I’m sure other people have other ways of doing things that are great, that works for me, in the 40 I grow only softies, not enough lights but I recently got a biocube 32 with upgraded lights and the sps are very happy.

feel free to reach out if you have more questions on how I do things, I hope my answer willhelp a little.