Anyone not dose their tank and only do water changes?

[VirginiaReefer]

I was just curious if theres any reefers out there who don't dose their tanks but just do water changes while still having a thriving selection of coral? I've had a mixed reef tank for years and rarely dose if ever(once every 6 months i may throw in a little iodine) and try to just stick to water changes. Things generally seem to do pretty well.

 

[Rjukan]

I was just curious if theres any reefers out there who don't dose their tanks but just do water changes while still having a thriving selection of coral? I've had a mixed reef tank for years and rarely dose if ever(once every 6 months i may throw in a little iodine) and try to just stick to water changes. Things generally seem to do pretty well.

I think the size of the tank means a lot for the answer to your question. Small tanks get by very well with water changes, but people with larger systems find it's much more economical to dose rather than pay for all that salt and the water bill.

 

[VirginiaReefer]

I think the size of the tank means a lot for the answer to your question. Small tanks get by very well with water changes, but people with larger systems find it's much more economical to dose rather than pay for all that salt and the water bill.

that makes sense. the largest i ever went was a 75 gallon.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I did for a couple years until the frags grew out and alk demand went up.

 

[NanoNana]

Me. I only do water changes but I’m only in a 24 gallon.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dose on my main tank (40 gallons) cause the alk demand became too much. The tank is full of acros with a couple clams so dosing is a way of life now unfortunately.

I haven't dosed anything yet on my 3.5 year old 15 gallon softie tank, but alk now drops from 8.5 to 6 in one week, so I'm thinking about it, I'm on the fence for this one.

 

[wjcastiglione]

I dose on my main tank (40 gallons) cause the alk demand became too much. The tank is full of acros with a couple clams so dosing is a way of life now unfortunately.

I haven't dosed anything yet on my 3.5 year old 15 gallon softie tank, but alk now drops from 8.5 to 6 in one week, so I'm thinking about it, I'm on the fence for this one.

Be curious the see your 15 softie tank. I have a 26g I’m going to be building soon and I want it to be 100% corals that flow… mostly softies. I just want a lot of movement from the corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If one chooses to use water change only then you need to pick a mix with higher parameters than your tank target or it will necessarily be on a continual downward trend unless you do 100% changes.