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.
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.
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