Hi - wanted to get everyone's take in whether I'm missing anything critical in my dosing routine?
100g tank with protein skimmer and UV light. Lightly stocked mixed reef with few lps, sps and softies.
- 15 ML all for the though the day, in 5 three mL doses
- 4 ML quantum bio enhance
- 3 ML bacto balance
Thoughts on if I'm missing anything critical? My corals are all holding up but not thriving and slowly reducing or stagnant in size from when I first purchased.
Thanks
Only chemicals you must dose is the Ca, KH and Mg that is consumed. Thus a classic balling. All other typ of doses are not mandatory, and sometimes not even beneficial, and sometimes actually harmfull. There are hundreds of strange bottles but those can be sorted in different groups, and my opinion is this based on my own experience:
1) Basic elements. Ca, KH, Mg must be dosing and you control those 3 by measure KH, as there is a relationship between Kh and the Ca, and the recipes are balanced (normaly), so you dont have to do the math. BUT measure Ca from time to time, as a tank is normaly never consuming Ca and KH in the ideal1:1 ratio.
2) Bacterial stuff. Start cycles may speed up, and when start a nitrate reactor or special filters may also be beneficial in start up,
but in general I think dosing bacteria is pointless. You can not control the direction of a microflora by dosing good bacteria. In that case we that work with human medicine would have done that. It doesnt work.
3) Organic carbon sources. This may fulfill a reason if you have issues with high both nitrate and phosphate, and also in a reasonable ratio. In many situations the dosing of organic carbons is a process that is hard to control, and you really have to know what you are doing. The only unquestionable role of this is local dosing in carbon driven nitrate filters of several kinds.
4) Other organics, like amino acids, liquid food for corals etc: I am very reluctant to this aswell. Because first you have no idea what you are dosing (that you normaly have when dosing organic carbon at least). Also, you will besides n and p addition (food for corals, zooxanthelles etc) also add carbon sources, in a ratio and dose you cant control.
5) Finaly, I would also avoid all types of "all in one" solutions, because they have drawbacks. Some of them contains organics to solve the concept all in one (Calciumacetate for instance). Better to separate and run 3 part dosing.
So, AMO,
back to basic, and start to dose only balling solutions. And other stuff, only if/when needed, and with a good reason, and also evaluate the effect to be prepared stop dosing. More tank has been suffering of dosing than tank suffering of not dosing...
/Jonas
