dosing chemicals??

[joelb]

i need some expert help please, i have tried in the past to dose my tank with chemicals and have only had bad experiences with them. right now i only add fiji gold and dt's for the clams. i am seing growth in the polyps and other softies but never in lps or sps. i use giesemann and euroreef, a thick sand bed and plenty of live rock in a refugium. i would like a tank that performs like txreefer's, Bill's, Giau's, Ace's etc. . Please Help, thanks

[Jonthefishguy]

It seems that you are feeding phyto for the softies which is good. However, SPS and LPS do not eat phyto. They are zooplankton eaters and require meaty and not so much plant. Continous use of phyto will only keep the softies growing. You also need proper lighting and a very good water flow. What chemicals have you used specifically and what was the negative effect?

[Texreefer]

Less is more,, I dose nothing that is not absolutely essential to the life of the tank... use the calculator in the do it yourself forum to maintain a good balance of those three parameters.. I use mag flake, Dow flake, and baking soda, to raise those levels.. ONLY when needed,, IMO you can toss out all those other bottles of chemicals and cures. as always, what works for me may not work for everyone

[apedroza]

I feed the reefroids and the roti-feast and my sps look fantastic!!!! The colors have really come out since starting the rotifeast.

[joelb]

so aside from the salinity and temp,, if i keep the Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium at desired levels, i will have a healthy reef??

if so, the next step should be to buy a modual with probes that continuously test the water for those key parameters? if that is so, which one is good??

thank you for helping.