Dosing for lps corals

[dirtknight9]

Hey everyone,

I'm curious about dosing kalk (or Kalk+vinegar) in an LPS/Sof only tank - would it be effective? Or is it even necessary, or can I just rely on regular water changes?

Any thoughts on this?

[zenoxa]

Water changes could be enough, but you'll need to keep an eye on your levels to be sure. Test your calcium and magnesium after a change, then again before the next one. If your numbers stay relatively stable from week to week, you're probably in good shape.

I found a pretty informative article on the topic - it's worth checking out for some more in-depth info: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

[dirtknight9]

thanks for the link, really appreciate it.
I'm still having trouble finding a specific answer on the maximum amount of SPS/LPS that can be added at the same time.
So, to summarize, if water changes don't keep my levels in check, I can rely on kalk as a backup solution, right?

[flintek]

Just monitor your alk levels closely and ensure they're stable before adding more stonies. As mentioned earlier, it's crucial to maintain a steady level. Coral doesn't contribute to the bio load unless you're feeding it directly, so that's something to keep in mind.

[flame9x]

Hey everyone,

I'm curious about dosing kalk (or Kalk+vinegar) in an LPS/Sof only tank - would it be effective? Or is it even necessary, or can I just rely on regular water changes?

Any thoughts on this?

Honestly, you can add as many as you want, just keep a close eye on things. If you're getting huge colonies, do a weekly parameter check for a month. Tiny frags, not as big of an issue.

[tiderock]

I've got a mix of softies and a few LPS - pictinia, hammer, frogspawn, and pipe organ. No dosing for me, just 15% water changes every two weeks. All good so far. Strangely, I'm having trouble keeping some of the "easy" corals. Nitrate levels are zero, so that's not the issue.

[Aurora1]

Just test and see how your tank's doing, if you're keeping an eye on your Alk and Ca levels it should be pretty clear if water changes are enough or not.

[talonix]

I supplement my water changes with KALK, as my ALK and Calcium levels were consistently dipping below the mark. I also started dosing Seachem Trace and Plus elements a few weeks back, and my LPS corals have taken off - they seem to thrive on it.

[dirtknight9]

Thanks for all the helpful info guys, really appreciate it.
So to sum it up, Kalk is more beneficial for LPS, whereas for softies, it's not that necessary, right?
Also, I'm still a bit puzzled about GFO/Carbon reactors - I've heard they can potentially harm corals, does anyone have any insight on this?

[dirtknight9]

When you say check alk levels, if it's dropped what would be the best option to bring it back up - Kalk or 2 part dosing? I'm thinking if it's not a huge drop, I can manually do it instead of investing in a dosing pump. To be honest, I'm not a fan of too much tech in my tank. More devices just mean more can go wrong, and that's just a recipe for disaster. I also came across something about getting the right size skimmer instead of going for the biggest one - any truth to that? Has anyone had any issues with oversized skimmers?