Acropora/ SPS growth with No Dosing

[IntrinsicReef]

RC is pretty high in whats needed so the replenishment at every 2 weeks is nice. I suppose it's gradual enough and enough on schedule to be just fine. 'Massive' consumption is all relative I suppose.. agree that the monti is a thirsty one! However it works is cool.

Reef Crystals is a high alkalinity salt. As is Red Sea Black Bucket, which i had a lot of success with over the years. I also find RC high in iodine. I rarely have to dose iodine in tanks where I do moonshiner type ICP testing/ dosing.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Absolutely awesome reef!

I’ve been surprised at how adaptable corals are. A 15 gallon change probably amounts to a 30% water change when factoring in rock and corals so that’s definitely a significant amount.

 

[Doctorgori]

harkens back to when there were no dosers, Apexes or elixers and all we had was hand dosing and maybe kalkwasser...
totally feasible/believable/doable

 

[Reefer Matt]

Very nice tank. Actually you are dosing though by doing water changes. :winking-face:

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Very nice tank. Actually you are dosing though by doing water changes. :winking-face:

While I'm sure you are being lighthearted and not trying to engage a semantics debate, I am fighting the urge to pull out a dictionary.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Have to remind people of the before times.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

harkens back to when there were no dosers, Apexes or elixers and all we had was hand dosing and maybe kalkwasser...
totally feasible/believable/doable

Have to remind people of the before times.
(Sorry for the duplicate post. I was in spotty reception)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

With a salt mix containing 11 dKH and 450 ppm calcium, the alk will likely be the limiting factor during consumption initially, but calcium may become limiting long term.

At 15% changes per 2 weeks, and alk down to near the floor around 6 dKH or a bit lower, it is adding (11-6)/14 =0.36 dKH per day.

For comparison, calcium would initially decline from 450 to 414 ppm the first 2 weeks, then be boosted back to 420 ppm, then keep dropping back until some calcium bottom is reached.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Have to remind people of the before times.

Absolutely, dosing is not always necessary and varies each tank. I’d have to change the water in my sps tanks everyday to keep up with the alk demand if I didn’t dose 2 part though. They draw about 1.5 dkh alk a day.

 

[twentyleagues]

When I first came back to the hobby I had a 30g and was trying to just do water changes weekly to handle everything. I did 7-8g every friday with rc. I really wasnt testing much if at all. I had 2 hammers and 4 torches as typical consumers. After about 3 months of no testing I decided to run a couple tests no particular reason everything looked good and had added new heads or polyps. Alk was low 6 calcium was 280. I tested again right after the wc and alk was high 6 at most and calc was around 300. Everything still looked good, had no issues but following standard reef procedures I started a dosing regimen. Wonder what would have happned if I had just continued without testing or dosing?

 

[billyocean]

Reef Crystals is a high alkalinity salt. As is Red Sea Black Bucket, which i had a lot of success with over the years. I also find RC high in iodine. I rarely have to dose iodine in tanks where I do moonshiner type ICP testing/ dosing.

Nice!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

With a salt mix containing 11 dKH and 450 ppm calcium, the alk will likely be the limiting factor during consumption initially, but calcium may become limiting long term.

At 15% changes per 2 weeks, and alk down to near the floor around 6 dKH or a bit lower, it is adding (11-6)/14 =0.36 dKH per day.

For comparison, calcium would initially decline from 450 to 414 ppm the first 2 weeks, then be boosted back to 420 ppm, then keep dropping back until some calcium bottom is reached.

Thank you Randy. On tanks I have tested that don't get alkalinity supplements, they seem to always test around 6dkh. Is this where it reaches equilibrium with the dissolving calcium carbonate?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you Randy. On tanks I have tested that don't get alkalinity supplements, they seem to always test around 6dkh. Is this where it reaches equilibrium with the dissolving calcium carbonate?

The dissolution value depends on pH and calcium, but at pH 8.2 and normal calcium, it wouldn’t start until below 4 dKH. But in a reef tank at pH 7.8, say at night, it might begin at 6 dKH.

I’m not sure where the bottom end is where corals cannot take up any, but it may not be much below 5.5 dKH.

 

[Jasonak]

Nice tank! I did similar for years, just water changes zero testing. I just called it lazy reefing lol You can 100 percent have a SPS tank without dosing or testing my tank was full of volleyball size pieces it just takes a long time to get there and not every SPS is tolerant of these conditions.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

⁷

Nice tank! I did similar for years, just water changes zero testing. I just called it lazy reefing lol You can 100 percent have a SPS tank without dosing or testing my tank was full of volleyball size pieces it just takes a long time to get there and not every SPS is tolerant of these conditions.

Absolutely, and thank you for making that point. These Acros and SPS are among the easiest to keep and most tolerant of a wide range of parameters.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

The dissolution value depends on pH and calcium, but at pH 8.2 and normal calcium, it wouldn’t start until below 4 dKH. But in a reef tank at pH 7.8, say at night, it might begin at 6 dKH.

I’m not sure where the bottom end is where corals cannot take up any, but it may not be much below 5.5 dKH.

This is an open top aquarium in a large office with relatively few people. So the pH may not even be dipping very low. From what you said, it sounds to me like there is some limiting factor of calcification, but the coral is otherwise able to biologically function. They just grow after water changes then stop when the pool of ( Calcium maybe) reaches a certain point?

Rather than the tank reaching some functional equilibrium through dissolution of the rock and sand?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

They just grow after water changes then stop when the pool of ( Calcium maybe) reaches a certain point?

Yes, that’s my expectation. It’s somewhat unclear whether corals need to be actively growing to be healthy, but yours obviously have sufficient growth, however much that is.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Absolutely awesome reef!

I’ve been surprised at how adaptable corals are. A 15 gallon change probably amounts to a 30% water change when factoring in rock and corals so that’s definitely a significant amount.

Yes, I agree. 25% every two weeks has always been a sweet spot for me. That is the calculation I use when sizing RO water mixing tanks on new setups.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Absolutely, dosing is not always necessary and varies each tank. I’d have to change the water in my sps tanks everyday to keep up with the alk demand if I didn’t dose 2 part though. They draw about 1.5 dkh alk a day.

Yes, I think this being a mixed reef is part of the success. There is less direct competition for scarce elements. The soft corals are the fast growers in this tank. I bet if I started dosing 2 part, the SPS and LPS would take off and start winning turf wars. I am guessing the soft corals sequester much of the organics without depleting minerals too much. So they are acting as the filter then nutrient export when trimmed.

 

[TacticalBacon]

Reef Crystals at 1.027 give or take

Thank you for posting and showing what is possible, as a new "reefer" learning, this is amazing and your simplicity in explanation make it a bit less daunting to tackle.