Just got these for dosing, good decision?

OK so I was at my lfs and for a while I have known that I need calcium supplements. I rarely do water changes so I needed a way to replenish Ca and stabilize pH and dKH...

I got Kent Tech CB parts A and B. "Ionically Balanced Calcium Buffer System For all Marine Aquariums"

Seemed good to me... got them both plus a KH/GH test kit for about 40 bucks. (test kit was on sale)

So tell me, was this a good decision? Right now I only have softies...

 

IMO you'll be fine for softies with liquid supps but if you ever get into sps and demand rises liquids are going to break the bank. Also if you're not on a regular w/c schedule it might be a good idea to look into Kent Essential Elements and Kent Coral Vite. To safely replace used elements like iodine, stontium, etc.

 

yeah i just am trying to avoid the kalk and slow dosing and all that...it scares me

 

then start doing water changes, 5 gallons every 2 to 3 weeks and you should not have any need to supplement

 

only 5 gallons in a total 135 gallon system would keep the levels up? I was always under the impression of larger water changes but i definitely like this idea

 

If you only have soft corals, the only thing that should use it are inverts such as snails and certain algaes, such as coraline algae. In a 135 I would do more like 15-20 gallons every few weeks. But check your parameters to see how much is taken up if that is what you're concerned with. It may be that 5 gallons will get you by.

Also, why are you "scared" of dosing? It's really no big deal.

 

my bad, wasn't paying attention to your tank size. you want 10 to 15% total so 13.5 gallons for 10%

 

+1 on water changes being adequate to maintain levels of the big 3 on softie tanks
Im doing just over 5% weekly on my 4ft softie set up, and the levels dont vary IME

the Liquid supplements you got will work great for your system as it stands IMO
But if you ever move towards SPS corals, you will need to dose more regularly and as such a more cost effective method would be worth considering

The water changes for me are ideal, because I cant measure for everything that was in the salt mix to start with, so I like to refresh the mix with a water change on the weekly basis


Steve