Should I dose

[imnewplshelp]

Okay, I'm a freshwater guy so all I've got is a 15 gallon AIO cube. I have mostly softies, a bubble tip anemone, and a hammer that's doing really well for some reason. I'd like to do more LPS but I don't have any test kits yet. I heard about that Tropic Marin AFR stuff and how you only have to test for alkalinity if you dose it. So my question is, can I just get and alkalinity test kit and maintain that by using Tropic Marin? Do I even need this or can I just get by with doing water changes. I do 10% weekly at least, although it's been more lately because I've been getting a lot of corals. Oh also I use the plain old instant ocean mix.

 

[lil sumpin]

At the minimum you should have alkalinity and calcium. Check out this article thread:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/when-do-calcium-and-alkalinity-demand-not-exactly-balance.1033201/

 

[imnewplshelp]

hmm, that's pretty interesting. So it sounds like the 1 part dosing is good for most applications. I think I'll just get an alk and cal test, then dose AFR if it gets low. To my understanding, he said that tests will show alkalinity being depleted before calcium being depleted but if that's the case I should still just dose more AFR to balance alkalinity? Or am I mixed up

 

[Science/G]

I use AFR, and of the big three, I only test Alk weekly. Calcium and Magnesium are almost always in line. FWIW. If you're doing weekly water changes, dosing might be a little excessive. But if you start noticing you're struggling to keep your nitrates up and your phosphates at detectable levels you might have to reduce your water changes, and then you should consider dosing. Another factor of course is going to be the corals you continue to add to the aquarium and their increasing needs.

 

[Garf]

hammer that's doing really well for some reason

You may be a natural, or very lucky.

 

[imnewplshelp]

The hammer has almost tripled since I got it a month ago. Obviously they don't grow that fast but it's extended really far. Makes me feel pretty good. I need to get a test kit because I want more LPS now lol

 

[Science/G]

Hanna test kits are great, expensive, but considering the time effort and money we put into our reef tanks, well worth the investment.

 

[MoshJosh]

Keep in mind AFR is said to affect alkalinity on a delay, take that into account when testing. With such a small tank and doing water changes you may not need to dose, but if you are depleting your alkalinity, calcium, etc. . . between water changes, AFR may be a good bet. I recently started dosing AFR in my 11 gallon.

 

[imnewplshelp]

Ive done a lot of research since this. I think I'm going to get an alk and ca test and keep an eye on params for about a week. Then if it's not too much I may just go the water change route. I don't want any sps so I figure the most I'll have to do is use a more high quality salt mix but I need to actually test my water.