2-part dosing amounts

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   Bur - Although I'm arguing with you, I'm really only doing it to play devil's advocate.  I dose...it's no big deal to me.  But, it's not for everything, so I'm just playing the other side.  

Ultimately it's up to him as he has to find what works for him.  He did mention he neglected his tank for a while...which supports the dosing routine (although we all know we shouldn't dose if we don't test.)  Yes, it's good to learn dosing, but <10% a month on water changes isn't a lot...he could probably stand to bump up the frequency a bit.  He would probably notice more benefits from increased water changes (less nitrates/phosphates, more stable trace elements, etc.) than he would from keeping his Alk within +/-1dkh.

1.  1ml/gallon/day is not a lot.  When I was dosing 300ml each of alk/ca/mag on my little 40g...THAT was a lot.  1ml/gallon/day can usually be fixed with more frequent water changes.  A tank stocked like his shouldn't need dosing yet...except maybe if the clam is growing a lot right now...or he just doesn't feel like doing water changes.     

2.  He's chasing parameters with dosing right now, so how is continuing this a good thing?  Not all reefkeepers have to dose.  Yes, it's good, and it's ideal...but it's not for everyone.  The amount of testing required up front, the calculating, the extra supplies (which some significant others frown upon), etc may not be worth the hassle.  Caps don't tolerate low alk well, but they can handle swings between water changes to some extent.  We aren't talking about a fully stocked Acropora tank with the rarest of the rare.

3.  More frequent water changes are not going to hurt anything.  Again, it's not going to maintain alk 100% perfectly steady, but it'll be close enough to probably not cause problems for a while.

4.  Agree completely.