Do you manually dose? What do you dose?
 

My tank is seeing more and more SPS these days, and I'm curious what I could use to promote growth. My corals don't really spread, or grow all that fast.

Have you found after using a specific product, you've noticed different results in different areas?

I've been dosing Aquavitro fuel recently to try and promote coral growth and polyp extension, but it really doesn't do anything significant from what I can tell. I don't dose the 3s, as my water parameters are absolutely spot on, with no detectible NO3 or phosphates, and don't want to add to the pollution.

Do you just do the big 3's for stability? Do you dose different things for different reasons? Have you stopped using a product, then noticed a different, so you started using it again, or stopped a product completely?

I used to manually dose, but kept forgetting and it would throw my parameters off. So I got a couple of BRS 1.1 ml dosers for Ca. & Alk. I check my Mag. and adjust if needed at water change time. It took a few weeks to get the levels where I want them and now they stays spot on. I don't have a lot of SPS coral mostly zoes, a couple of real nice pipe organs & softies. and they all do well.

What are your parameters exactly?

I'm not sure where your Alk sits but you can try boosting it to a higher level or increase lighting on the tank to spur a growth spurt.

How's the fish load?

Nitrate and phosphate undetectable, Ca 430, Mg 1350, Alk 9. Moderate to heavy fish load, and my PAR is good, running Vertex Illuminas.

I tried and stopped using; Coral Snow, Phyto Plankton, Phyto Feast, and Zeovit Coral Vitalizer. The last actually caused me issues with corals. Forget right now the specifics, but it wasn't good.
I think it was stuff closing up and loss of color, but I'd have to look back about a year through my logs to confirm that.
Whatever the case, I don't feed my corals anymore

I dose the big 3 daily and that's it

Maybe 1 day I'll get a Calcium reactor

I manually dose acropower for amino acids, immediately noticed new shoots from several sps, continued and still continue to dose with back to normal growth thou. I add it about twice a week.

auto dosing main 3, but also manually dose potassium, strontium, iodine weekly. Potassium is important for some sps if not all... research shows particular for blue and purple colour.

Where in Ladner are you? I'm also in Ladner..

What colour leds you got in your fixture? What's your flow like?

Also, if you are not dosing, what are you doing to keep cal, mg up?

Good question! Those are text book perfect numbers, doubt they come out of a salt bucket :)

I'm off of 45th Ave!

In regards to the lighting. I have a Vertex Illumina SR260. So whites, blues and purples, no add-on modules.

Flow is provided by 2 mp40s, 1 wp40 wave and two returns.

I dose aquavitro fuel, and that's about it. I do 50% water changes every 2-3 weeks with IO reef crystals.