What are you dosing? Sps keepers.

[Troylee]

I had a few ICP results saying it was low and recommended that I add it. I did a couple of times but if truth be told I'm not sure if it matters or not. A bit of a mixed bag of who says yes or no or maybe. Tropic Marin, Hans-Werner, talks about it a bit in the post below. RHF also is in the thread providing his input. A decent thread.

Long and short of it is that I did add some a couple of time but let AFR manage it to be honest. I do not do consistent ICP tests but try every 3 or 4 months. I buy them on sale and stash them away. Always the same vendor so assuming their testing protocols are followed, and sounds, I trust the results for the value.

Honestly I wish I knew why a number changes up or down without anything major happening in the display. Is it a burst of coral grow? Algae? Water change? No idea.

Oh - you asked about water changes. I try and do them every 2 to 3 weeks but I'm not really a huge fan of it since I'm lugging buckets around. I am also not a fan of the waste water it creates. We are both near enough to each other to know about the drought cycles. Anyway this ICP is my baseline as I'm going to go three months without a water change and compare results. I'm curious how the values compare just using AFR to manage water chemistry and ESV transition elements.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...g-up-with-trace-elements.899260/post-10018295

I’ve been in a couple of Randy’s threads and mentioned my iodine deal.. the only difference I’ve seen with a couple drops a day is better polyp extension.. am I tripping? Maybe! Randy thinks so! lol.. maybe certain corals just got happier over time I really don’t know! That was an observation I made and came to that conclusion so I still do it! I’ve seen Lou talk about low levels also and was gonna up the dosage in afr or something. I can only imagine the corals are uptaking it like you said nothing has changed but what are they doing with it? Using it to repair cuts like we do?

 

[BillyW]

I’ve come to the conclusion by a preponderance of evidence that there are absolutely gorgeous tanks on here, and all vastly different running very differently and thriving.
Being in the Army I’m busy AF, so I Am running a CARX, and dosing the TM bacto balance, A and K, and I had an extra head on my two DOSes so I bought Dalua CVE+ to try. And when I remember 4 drops of their Aminos.
Do water changes on weekends I have time, maybe twice in the last 6 months. I don’t test anything except what my trident sends me, haven’t lost a stick since moving back to Texas, and everything is growing, some much faster than others though. Someday I want to be like all of you!
Don’t bash my cords and **** everywhere, I am THE WORST, at cable management.

 

[alindell]

Who has time to consistently dose things daily??

 

[areefer01]

I’ve come to the conclusion by a preponderance of evidence that there are absolutely gorgeous tanks on here, and all vastly different running very differently and thriving.
Being in the Army I’m busy AF, so I Am running a CARX, and dosing the TM bacto balance, A and K, and I had an extra head on my two DOSes so I bought Dalua CVE+ to try. And when I remember 4 drops of their Aminos.
Do water changes on weekends I have time, maybe twice in the last 6 months. I don’t test anything except what my trident sends me, haven’t lost a stick since moving back to Texas, and everything is growing, some much faster than others though. Someday I want to be like all of you!
Don’t bash my cords and **** everywhere, I am THE WORST, at cable management.

And here I was thinking that all of you Army lads and lasses are sitting around all dang day under a shade tree ;) At least you are not in the Coast Guard :D Teasing on both counts. Well, maybe not the Coasties :D Ok, I am teasing.

Looks good and anything that can save you some time or provide some quality of life is worth it. Keep up the great work and be safe!

 

[Troylee]

I’ve come to the conclusion by a preponderance of evidence that there are absolutely gorgeous tanks on here, and all vastly different running very differently and thriving.
Being in the Army I’m busy AF, so I Am running a CARX, and dosing the TM bacto balance, A and K, and I had an extra head on my two DOSes so I bought Dalua CVE+ to try. And when I remember 4 drops of their Aminos.
Do water changes on weekends I have time, maybe twice in the last 6 months. I don’t test anything except what my trident sends me, haven’t lost a stick since moving back to Texas, and everything is growing, some much faster than others though. Someday I want to be like all of you!
Don’t bash my cords and **** everywhere, I am THE WORST, at cable management.

Carx are old school and a great way to run a tank! I’ve never owned one but seen many tanks with great results using them and it was one of the first tools people had at their disposal to grow sps back in the day!

 

[Red_Beard]

Carx are old school and a great way to run a tank! I’ve never owned one but seen many tanks with great results using them and it was one of the first tools people had at their disposal to grow sps back in the day!

I've always wondered if there was a tipping point in alk consumption from an upkeep/time perspective as well as financial perspective where carx would be a no brainer. I have not come close to that yet though, but always think in the back of my mind that when the fish run out of swimming room for sticks i may consider it.

 

[Troylee]

I've always wondered if there was a tipping point in alk consumption from an upkeep/time perspective as well as financial perspective where carx would be a no brainer. I have not come close to that yet though, but always think in the back of my mind that when the fish run out of swimming room for sticks i may consider it.

Lots of people choose a reactor over dosing just for ease of use and they’re much cheaper to use! Down fall is they’re not as precise as dosing 3 part.. they def have their part in the sps world if that’s your jam! Me not caring about stability that much it fits my bill I just have zero room under my stand for one.. I have custom built everything under my stand to fill every spare inch I have lol.

 

[Red_Beard]

Also, while I am sitting with my cart ready to check out with new RO filters and a nitrate test kit....

Is fluoride of any use to dose? My last ICP flagged it as low. That and iodine.

 

[areefer01]

I've always wondered if there was a tipping point in alk consumption from an upkeep/time perspective as well as financial perspective where carx would be a no brainer.

While not answering your thought about tipping point as it relates to CaRx use I will say that I have one for All For Reef daily dose. It isn't the dose per say due a set limit but rather the cost break down over time. The largest container most of us have access to is 1600 g which makes 10 liters for $75.00 USD pre tax, shipping. So I take that number and use a sliding scale on my dosing amount to see how long 10 liters lasts then calculate for yearly run and maintain.

I know Lou / Tropic Marin stopped by earlier and mentioned the 5 gallon bucket but so far I've not heard back from any of the vendors near me on the list. So either they don't have access, out of business, or uninterested. Wish Tropic Marin would just offer it up on their portal or via BRS or whatever the equivalent is. Ok, done nit picking.

TL; DR while not CaRx related I have a tipping point based on how long the product will last as it relates to my dosing needs. When I reach that point I have to assess what I can change until I'm back to that number.

 

[areefer01]

Also, while I am sitting with my cart ready to check out with new RO filters and a nitrate test kit....

Is fluoride of any use to dose? My last ICP flagged it as low. That and iodine.

Funny enough I just recieved my report from ATI and they mentioned Fluorine was low. Mine came back as 0.46. It isn't that expensive but the one source I saw offered it in a liter bottle that was good for 3 months after opening.

I went back through my history and see it is sort of all over the place like Iodine :) I sort of noted it and will circle back later once I think on it some more.

 

[Red_Beard]

While not answering your thought about tipping point as it relates to CaRx use I will say that I have one for All For Reef daily dose. It isn't the dose per say due a set limit but rather the cost break down over time. The largest container most of us have access to is 1600 g which makes 10 liters for $75.00 USD pre tax, shipping. So I take that number and use a sliding scale on my dosing amount to see how long 10 liters lasts then calculate for yearly run and maintain.

I know Lou / Tropic Marin stopped by earlier and mentioned the 5 gallon bucket but so far I've not heard back from any of the vendors near me on the list. So either they don't have access, out of business, or uninterested. Wish Tropic Marin would just offer it up on their portal or via BRS or whatever the equivalent is. Ok, done nit picking.

TL; DR while not CaRx related I have a tipping point based on how long the product will last as it relates to my dosing needs. When I reach that point I have to assess what I can change until I'm back to that number.

I saw that, the closest one to me was in grand junction, but it looks like they went out of business or something. The next closest was over 6 hours away. Not that i use enough to make a 5 gallon bucket practical. Yet.

 

[Troylee]

Also, while I am sitting with my cart ready to check out with new RO filters and a nitrate test kit....

Is fluoride of any use to dose? My last ICP flagged it as low. That and iodine.

I personally can’t answer that question because I’ve never dosed it or even heard of anyone that dosed it before.. I’m sure the shiners do maybe one of them can step in and answer that.

 

[Troylee]

Also, while I am sitting with my cart ready to check out with new RO filters and a nitrate test kit....

Is fluoride of any use to dose? My last ICP flagged it as low. That and iodine.

According to Ai fwiw here’s an explanation.. most of this was taken from Aqua forest website! It seems to play a role with iodine of all things lol.

 

[reefpanda]

This is turning out to be a post that needs to be pinned

 

[Formulator]

Who has time to consistently dose things daily??

When you enjoy chemistry and like to tinker, you make time. I work 100% remotely and my home office space is in my basement about 12 feet from my sump and wet-lab. I do my daily dosing on my way upstairs at the end of the day as kind of a virtual commute to de-stress before I go face the family (currently including a 4 year old and 6 month old) :p

To each their own I suppose!

 

[Red_Beard]

According to Ai fwiw here’s an explanation.. most of this was taken from Aqua forest website! It seems to play a role with iodine of all things lol.

Thank you for that, maybe i will dose some, as i am planning to dose iodine anyhow and see if it makes any difference. I will have to remember to report back.

 

[reefpanda]

Any iodine test kit to recommend before I start dosing

 

[Troylee]

Any iodine test kit to recommend before I start dosing

Hannah has a egg checker Idk how accurate it is thou.. there’s also a hack for the Hannah calcium checker to check iodine again idk how accurate it is.. I believe redsea has one and again idk if it’s accurate . Maybe we can ask @Randy Holmes-Farley for his input as I’m not a chemist.

 

[reefpanda]

Hannah has a egg checker Idk how accurate it is thou.. there’s also a hack for the Hannah calcium checker to check iodine again idk how accurate it is.. I believe redsea has one and again idk if it’s accurate . Maybe we can ask @Randy Holmes-Farley for his input as I’m not a chemist.

Ok meaning dose and hope for the best

 

[Troylee]

Ok meaning dose and hope for the best

A drop or 2 a day won’t hurt anything..