Best dosing techniques

[Sunee]

I have not researched this but I would think dosing Alk and Ca in small amounts alternately throughout the day would produce smaller swings in both pH and Alk and Ca levels than dosing all your Alk at night and all your Ca during the day. Maybe someone who has looked into this could chime in.

[Reef Pilot]

I think the fears of alk swings are overblown. Of course, you want to be reasonably consistent. I keep mine close to 8, but it ranges from 7 - 9 (as high as 10 sometimes) with water changes and as I adjust my dosing. My SPS growth and color have certainly not been affected.

And yes, better to dose alk at night to keep your pH up. And my Ca has been all over the place, too, from 380 - 480. It varies the most for me.

What I have seen, though, is the impact of higher phosphates. That seems to have a pretty immediate and lasting effect, and takes a while to get back to good growth and color.

If you want the best growth and color for your SPS, get the phosphates down to zero (as measured by the Hanna digital checker, not the color test kits). Plus your algae disappears then, too, so it much less work to keep your tank looking good. And don't forget your MB7.

[mark]

^ am I missing something, is there a linkage between dosing and phosphates?

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by mark

^ am I missing something, is there a linkage between dosing and phosphates?

Yes,... SPS...

[mark]

but why? I'm adding calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate, not seeing phosphates in the recipe.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by mark

but why? I'm adding calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate, not seeing phosphates in the recipe.

Well, if you want to be picky,... you can dose Foz Down (I have used it, too) to reduce phosphates, which helps SPS growth...

My point was really that how you dose Alk and Ca are not the only things that are important about good SPS health. And the OP did mention that he had an SPS dominant tank.

[jason604]

What is MB7? One of my biggest colony did die over night due to either alk or mg fluctuation when I was trying to fine tune them