Noobie dosing help :0

[Tezzie]

Hi everyone,

I am getting confused on how I should proceed with my dosing and thought id ask some of the experts on here

I just have a little red sea reefer 170 that has been running for 2 years now, I don't do water changes and I know what some are going to say about it but that's just me.
I have been using a wide range of products over the 2 years but have narrowed it down to a few that I now use regularly but I want consistency and to stick to all products from one brand if possible.

Currently using
Brightwell ReefCode B for alk ( 8.5ml a day to keep my alk at 9dkh)
Red Sea Calcium supplement ( dosing is only done when needed, I noticed my calc doesn't go down at a steady pace like my alk does, I try to keep it at 430-450ppm)
Brightwell Magnesium supplement ( maybe once every couple months, I keep it around 1350-1380ppm)
Brightwell replenish to add trace elements back into the system since I don't do water changed ( 1.5ML a day, just did a recent ICP and my trace was low so I upped it to 2ML a day)
All my readings are done from as trident and usually once a month I use Hanna checkers to verify its correct


I came across 2 products that I am interested in as it seems headache free to use

First one is the Red Sea complete care, it interests me as it would pair up with my reefdose fairly well and all chemicals are dosed in relation to each other including all 36 trace elements so its fairly headache free. But how would I continue with this product when I don't notice much calc usage? My alk is at a steady pace but calcium is... well... does its own thing.

The other product is Fauna Marines Balling light method, I've been trying to read about it but its getting difficult to find information on it as most of it is in German. This uses just 3 solutions and you add different trace elements to each one and dose as needed from what I can tell. Now the kit comes with jugs that you make the solutions in and it makes a 5L sample which for a tank my size it would last 1.5 years... would it still be good being stored for so long? does anyone use this method and can give me pros and cons about it?

Cost for Red sea would be about $300CAD a year and the balling set would be half of that. I'm not too concerned with price ( it is important ) but I just want to move ahead with something that delivers everything my tank will need from 1 company and 1 system.

Any help would be appreciated :)

 

[exnisstech]

What type of coral do you keep and how much is your consumption?
I keep almost all acros in this tank and the only thing I dose is tropic marin all for reef. I do water changes but only to remove detritus that collects in a corner. I change 2g a week on 65g total.
Ive been using only AFR for a little over a year now and have been very happy with the results.

What is your objection to water changes? Unless you have a very high alk demand a small water change once a week on a Reefer 170 would be easier and probably cheaper than dosing IMO

 

[Tezzie]

What type of coral do you keep and how much is your consumption?
I keep almost all acros in this tank and the only thing I dose is tropic marin all for reef. I do water changes but only to remove detritus that collects in a corner. I change 2g a week on 65g total.
Ive been using only AFR for a little over a year now and have been very happy with the results.

What is your objection to water changes? Unless you have a very high alk demand a small water change once a week on a Reefer 170 would be easier and probably cheaper than dosing IMO

I keep mostly LPS with maybe at 20% mix of SPS. My alk demand is about 0.5dkh a day and my calcium barley goes down sometimes, maybe 20pmm over 2 weeks or so.

I used to do a 10% water change a week, I went to my LFS one day and was talking to the manager there about how they don't do any water changes on their home tanks and just dose replenish to replace the used up trace elements and everything has been fine for years. So I tried the same thing and well I can say I do enjoy having my 1 hour back every Sunday for other chores instead of mixing water so that's how I got onto it

 

[exnisstech]

Maybe look into AFR. Its a one and done and I have read of quite a few people that use it not doing water changes. I would most likely skip mine or at least extend them if my detritus didn't pile into one corner so it's easy to vacuum out. I chose AFR because it simple and I love simple. No need to do ICP and monitor trace or dose multiple things.
You'll probably get as many opinions as there are products available.
I've used AFR, ESV 2part and even ran a large mixed reef with only kalk and WCs for almost 8 yrs.
The kalk only tank is in my showcase.