dosing/constant water change?..wats better

Sleepy22 · 10/12/2012, 09:33 PM

i been in the hobby about 6months and still cant quite figure out whats the best to do.....im currently doing weekly water changes on a 25gal tall tank with lps, sps, and soft coral plus some chaeto in the display as well...every now and then i will put in some purple up and some reef nutrition and so far i have only 1 sps begin to bleach on me last week..all others are fine and water parameters are great but i still want to know whats the best?cheapest way to go before i upgrade to somethin bigger

Zappo · 10/12/2012, 09:38 PM

What's in short supply? When you say water parameters are fine, have you measured calcium/alk/mag? If you know what you're short on and by how much, how to proceed depends on how close parameters are. If it's close, it might be worth just doing a slightly larger water change. If it's pretty far off, dosing might be easier.

kurt_n · 10/12/2012, 10:24 PM

Zappo pretty much has you covered - you need to test and know where you're at before you even add anything. Just want to add that you can stop with the PurpleUp. It's really not doing anything. Do some searches on it in the Chemistry forum.

sponger0 · 10/13/2012, 06:39 AM

Yes you need to test your alk/calc/mag/phos. That will tell you alot. My last tank that was SPS dominated, I changed water every week and dosed. Its all based on your tanks needs. And you should be doing water changes to help with nutrient export.

10/12/2012, 09:33 PM	#1
Sleepy22 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: woodland, ca Posts: 626	dosing/constant water change?..wats better i been in the hobby about 6months and still cant quite figure out whats the best to do.....im currently doing weekly water changes on a 25gal tall tank with lps, sps, and soft coral plus some chaeto in the display as well...every now and then i will put in some purple up and some reef nutrition and so far i have only 1 sps begin to bleach on me last week..all others are fine and water parameters are great but i still want to know whats the best?cheapest way to go before i upgrade to somethin bigger

10/12/2012, 09:38 PM	#2
Zappo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Minnetonka, MN Posts: 582	What's in short supply? When you say water parameters are fine, have you measured calcium/alk/mag? If you know what you're short on and by how much, how to proceed depends on how close parameters are. If it's close, it might be worth just doing a slightly larger water change. If it's pretty far off, dosing might be easier.

10/12/2012, 10:24 PM	#3
kurt_n Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: WA Posts: 2,592	Zappo pretty much has you covered - you need to test and know where you're at before you even add anything. Just want to add that you can stop with the PurpleUp. It's really not doing anything. Do some searches on it in the Chemistry forum.

10/13/2012, 06:39 AM	#4
sponger0 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 6,659	Yes you need to test your alk/calc/mag/phos. That will tell you alot. My last tank that was SPS dominated, I changed water every week and dosed. Its all based on your tanks needs. And you should be doing water changes to help with nutrient export.