Dosing vs. quality salt

troni · #1 03-21-2012, 02:41 AM

So I was given a suggestion that made half sense. I was told that instead of dosing if you do religious water changes with a quality salt it will keep your levels at par. Now i dont see this because your adding water with proper levels to a water with low levels, overall youll have a level inbetween which is still below ideal.
Now i understand the use of quality salts. My Q is am i missing something? Does anyone do this with great growth on your sps?

fishytime · #2 03-21-2012, 03:28 AM

no dosing for me, just water changes......now I wouldnt say that I have had phenomenal growth, definitely no where near the growth I had when I was dosing the tank heavily, before my move.....Im not really disappointed, outstanding coral growth is cool to a point.....then coral warfare and constant fraggin sets in.....

Proteus · #3 03-21-2012, 03:31 AM

If you have a small amount of corals then a water change would do but even my reef which is young still needs a top up between water changes. And I use seachem which I believe is a good reef salt

spawn · #4 03-21-2012, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

no dosing for me, just water changes......now I wouldnt say that I have had phenomenal growth, definitely no where near the growth I had when I was dosing the tank heavily, before my move.....Im not really disappointed, outstanding coral growth is cool to a point.....then coral warfare and constant fraggin sets in.....

Coral War is sweet.

Fraggin is like you said....

But to answer the question, it's not happening with WC's alone.

reefermadness · #5 03-21-2012, 04:20 AM

If you have even a modest SPS tank you will not get away with waterchanges alone. I do 20% weekly waterchanges and I dose over 300ml of alk and ca a day. My tank's alkalinity drops 1dkh or so in a day with out dosing. In less than a week my tank would be in real trouble with out dosing.

fishytime · #6 03-21-2012, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefermadness

If you have even a modest SPS tank you will not get away with waterchanges alone.

I would call my tank a "modest" sps tank

lpsreefer · #7 03-21-2012, 05:11 AM

I do smaller water changes every two days. And I get amazing coral growth. Down side only one of my set ups Is stream lined with a new saltline in and drain line out.
Keep n mine the walk from the new salt line is like 10 feet.

FragIt Dan · #8 03-21-2012, 05:57 AM

If you can maintain your Ca within ~20 ppm and dKh within a degree with water changes alone, they would be the way to go. This is not typically possible with reef tanks as others have mentioned. As your coral load increases, the draw on your major elements increases and so you begin to need to dose in between water changes. In the meantime, a lighter coral load might (i.e.) only draw your Ca down 10ppm/ week. A good salt might have a Ca level of 450ppm, so a 20% weekly water change would keep your Ca levels from dropping below ~400ppm. I lose about 20ppmCa/day so am at a point where daily dosing is too infrequent (dosing pumps take care of things now). With increased coral load, water changes will eventually not keep up with major element requirements. When you reach that point will be determined by your testing of parameters.

emerald crab · #9 03-21-2012, 06:30 AM

How often do you do water changes? My dosing pumps come on twice an hour.

AquaPin · #10 03-21-2012, 10:23 AM

I only do water changes, every week I do 10-15% water change with H2Ocean. No dosing, currently have a few SPS and several LPS, mushrooms, etc. in a 30G tank. I think you need to evaluate how stocked the tank is too. The more things pulling it out, the more likely you will need dose or increase your water change frequency.

Jason