Never dosed Calcium or alkalinity but always great! Doing something wrong?!

[14 foot reef]

A good option for you to dose all trace elements including the Manganese and Iron mentioned by @Randy would be Tropic Marin A & K. They are separates, but are very easy to dose.
https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/a-elements?lang=enhttps://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/k-elements?lang=en

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

To dose iron and manganese that is.

You can source those elements directly

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Not really. I’d trust tropic Marin A and K as a reasonable choice.

 

[bjmartie]

Not really. I’d trust tropic Marin A and K as a reasonable choice.

Awesome thank you!

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

A good option for you to dose all trace elements including the Manganese and Iron mentioned by @Randy would be Tropic Marin A & K. They are separates, but are very easy to dose.
https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/a-elements?lang=enhttps://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/k-elements?lang=en

I was using A&K and I am now getting off a&k and have started moonshiners, I was getting some elements way out of value or super low, I think its a little to good to be true to make all the elements perfect with only 2 supplements. Also im not sure what they do to each other as far as oxidation but there's a reason there's not just one bottle and if there's a reason for 2 bottles then there's probably a reason methods like moonshiners and triton methods use individual element dosing. I will say don't blindly dose a&k for months, just like anything else test for what you add, get an icp test because some elements can run away from you or never get elevated to proper range, speaking from personal experience.

 

[bjmartie]

So little update. I'm starting to cut back on my water changes. My goal is to try to get my tank as self sufficient as possible. My last water change was about 2 weeks ago and I did a 10%.

Yesterday I checked my levels due to a zoa skirt down. Everything was decent. Ammonia 0, nitrate around 20. Calcium around 400. Akalnity was the lowest yet, at 7.

I went ahead and dosed a little calcium and aklanity. Going to check it today to see where it's at now.

Would it be better to dose or do a water change to raise the level?

I feel like with what I'm trying to do and to get the tanks as self sufficient as possible, to dose and to do water changes as little as possible.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So little update. I'm starting to cut back on my water changes. My goal is to try to get my tank as self sufficient as possible. My last water change was about 2 weeks ago and I did a 10%.

Yesterday I checked my levels due to a zoa skirt down. Everything was decent. Ammonia 0, nitrate around 20. Calcium around 400. Akalnity was the lowest yet, at 7.

I went ahead and dosed a little calcium and aklanity. Going to check it today to see where it's at now.

Would it be better to dose or do a water change to raise the level?

I feel like with what I'm trying to do and to get the tanks as self sufficient as possible, to dose and to do water changes as little as possible.

It is certainly far cheaper to boost calcium and alkalinity by dosing than by water change.

 

[bjmartie]

It is certainly far cheaper to boost calcium and alkalinity by dosing than by water change.

As far as the livelihood of the tanks ecosystem, is one more beneficial over the other?

Or is the main difference just the cost?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

As far as the livelihood of the tanks ecosystem, is one more beneficial over the other?

Or is the main difference just the cost?

Water changes can have benefits unrelated to dosing calcium and alkalintiy, and are good to do, IMO, but not because you need alk or calcium. :)

 

[bjmartie]

Water changes can have benefits unrelated to dosing calcium and alkalintiy, and are good to do, IMO, but not because you need alk or calcium. :)

Awesome I appreciate it!