Dosing in Fluval 13.5

[Ericqh]

Hello everyone. I am new to saltwater, and need some help with dosing in my tank. I currently have an evo 13.5. I have had some zoas and acros and recently added a hammer and torch. Both only lasted about a week. I checked all parameters and they are ok. When I checked my calcium and magnesium they were very low. My question is should I start looking at dosing? Water changes alone aren’t doing it anymore. Thank you in advance for your help

 

[Glass Algae]

Hello everyone. I am new to saltwater, and need some help with dosing in my tank. I currently have an evo 13.5. I have had some zoas and acros and recently added a hammer and torch. Both only lasted about a week. I checked all parameters and they are ok. When I checked my calcium and magnesium they were very low. My question is should I start looking at dosing? Water changes alone aren’t doing it anymore. Thank you in advance for your help

First of all welcome to R2R! Secondly how old is your tank? Do you do weekly water changes to keep calc and mag in check? It's reccomended generally with acros to wait 6 mo ths (preferably a year) to have a sustained bio diversity to keep acros alive.

 

[Ericqh]

First of all welcome to R2R! Secondly how old is your tank? Do you do weekly water changes to keep calc and mag in check? It's reccomended generally with acros to wait 6 mo ths (preferably a year) to have a sustained bio diversity to keep acros alive.

Thank you!! My tank is about 2 years old, and I do weekly water changes

 

[Glass Algae]

Thank you!! My tank is about 2 years old, and I do weekly water changes

Well I'm definitley not in the 2 year mark so I'll let a veteran here help ya out, to a long time lurker it does sound like your calc and mag seem to definitley be the culprit. Out of curiosity what kind of salt do you use?

 

[Ericqh]

Well I'm definitley not in the 2 year mark so I'll let a veteran here help ya out, to a long time lurker it does sound like your calc and mag seem to definitley be the culprit. Out of curiosity what kind of salt do you use?

Thank you for your help. I use reef crystals. I chose it because I thought It would help with not dosing

 

[Glass Algae]

Thank you for your help. I use reef crystals. I chose it because I thought It would help with not dosing

I would've said that or Tropic Marin! So yeah we're Def out of my league now sorry and welcome!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I checked all parameters and they are ok. When I checked my calcium and magnesium they were very low.

Um, then all parameters are not OK, right?

What values?

What is the alkalinity?

 

[Ericqh]

Yea I guess that was a little contradicting lol
Alkalinity is 6.2 dkh

 

[Barncat]

Total noob myself but all my research says that alkalinity needs to be in the 8-12 range for hammer corals at least!

 

[capt_alaver]

Yes, they would do well in that range but consistency is faaaar more important. If your tanks parameters are jumping all over the place, the corals will be very unhappy - even if it's within range.

I personally dose Tropic Marin's All-For-Reef in my tank with a Kamoer X1 Pro dosing pump. It keeps the calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, strontium and various other trace elements rock solid.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Total noob myself but all my research says that alkalinity needs to be in the 8-12 range for hammer corals at least!

7 dKH is perfectly fine and is already higher than typical ocean water. :)

 

[Barncat]

7 dKH is perfectly fine and is already higher than typical ocean water. :)

Good to know!