Water changes

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by fishytime

What exactly are you dosing?....... here is a short list of some of the minerals and elements that are not being replenished when you dont do regular water changes....Strontium, Bicarbonate, Borate, Bromide, Chloride, Iodide, Sulfate, Potassium, Sodium ,Cobalt, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Rubidium, Zinc

I dose all non-conservative elements, major, minor and trace. IME, even daily water changes will not keep up with my tanks demands for measurable elements, I can only assume non measurable elements are depleted too quickly as well.


FragIt Dan

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by FragIt Dan

I dose all non-conservative elements, major, minor and trace. IME, even daily water changes will not keep up with my tanks demands for measurable elements, I can only assume non measurable elements are depleted too quickly as well.


FragIt Dan

Can you elaborate on which elements you test and dose for?
Dosing "Non-conservative elements" is a contradiction in itself, you can't dose for something that by definition varies.

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

Can you elaborate on which elements you test and dose for?
Dosing "Non-conservative elements" is a contradiction in itself, you can't dose for something that by definition varies.

Hmmmm after re-reading on non-conservative elements I can see why you are confused, i have used the term 'non-conservative' incorrectly . Thinking about it a bit more, I should have said that I dose everything you would expect to be replaced when doing a water change with a high quality salt, or at least I think I am . I test for Ca, dKh and Phosphates monthly but have my dosers/GFO dialed in pretty closely so find my levels don't drift too much (I also periodically test for nitrate, Mg and just got an Fe tester more because I am curious than concerned). I also watch for color changes in some of my corals as indicators for some of my supplement requirements (specifically B, Fe and K). For elements I dose K, Fe, I, dKh, Ca, Mg, Boron, Sr and trace. I have also been tinkering with BA Elemental (I think it is the same as Purple Up under a different brand) to see about increased seeding rates for LR with coralline as well. On a side note, to my surprise my recent addition of boron supplementation has actually made a difference (IMO), although I am on a DIY dKh recipe which is boron free, so that may explain why. Thanks for pointing that out .


FragIt Dan

[Gripenfelter]

I went 2 months without a water change and started to notice the corals were stunted. Not growing anymore. Nitrates and ammonia was zero. But you really do need to add more essential elements.

Now I do a 5% water change per week.