Questions regarding supplementing for corals

[KMS.Kyle]

Hello,

I've had my saltwater tank for about a month now and I added a few more corals (don't worry, its cycled - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2541653 )

Everything seems to be going great but I know it could probably be going better.

The one thing I haven't touched much is testing for Ca/KH/Mg and the supplements for coral growth.

Could I get away with doing 20% water changes and using my Red-Sea Coral pro salt or should I invest in some supplements (if so, which ones are the primary ones to look for/test for)

That said - I did buy the Reef Foundation ABC+ and after some extensive reading on the forums found that I shouldn't use it / return it and get a 1/2 part rather than one with a bunch of extra stuff I can't test for..

I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment and I don't want to screw up how amazing everything is going inside my tank.

 

[Sapelo]

The answer to these questions depends largely on what type of corals you have.
Having said that, most corals do need at least CA and ALK supplements. I personally find that Red Sea Pro runs high on Mg so I do not supplement it BUT I do test for it once a month or so.
I would never dose anything for which I did not test. So you need test kits for the big three and you need to be prepared to dose if your values are not in line.
I dosed by hand for about six months before finally moving to dosing pumps. If you're serious about corals, I think that auto dosing is the way to do (of course you still need to test).
Good luck!

 

[KMS.Kyle]

Thank you!

 

[homer1475]

I'm nearly a year in, and with a large stock of LPS's, I've had to dose nothing but kalk in my top off.

My weekly water changes take care of just about everything else, for now.

I think people get way overwhelmed in this hobby just reading these forums. There is a wealth of knowledge here and you read posts from well established tank that are dosing, to newbie that think they need to start dosing off the bat. My general rule of thumb, never dose anything you can't test for, and don't chase number on a test kit. Get to know your tanks personality, and get to know what to look for at the first site of things going bad(people tend to add "canary" corals for this reason).

 

[KMS.Kyle]

I'm nearly a year in, and with a large stock of LPS's, I've had to dose nothing but kalk in my top off.

My weekly water changes take care of just about everything else, for now.

I think people get way overwhelmed in this hobby just reading these forums. There is a wealth of knowledge here and you read posts from well established tank that are dosing, to newbie that think they need to start dosing off the bat. My general rule of thumb, never dose anything you can't test for, and don't chase number on a test kit. Get to know your tanks personality, and get to know what to look for at the first site of things going bad(people tend to add "canary" corals for this reason).

Great to know -Going to constantly use my Red sea/Coral Pro Salt and water changes weekly for now!

 

[CStrickland]

what they said.
Also, here's a good primer for what parameters are important and why
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
I keep the first table from it on my phone to double check, but some like to print it and keep by the tank.

There's also a few tracking apps, I use aquaticlog cause its free but there are prolly better ones. Whether you do something like that or just keep track in a notebook, you want to have a few weeks of parameters under your belt before you start thinking about adding anything besides salt. Tracking your levels is a great habit to get in early and it's fun to watch your tank change as it finds its natural levels.

 

[KMS.Kyle]

I've been keeping track of my SG, PH, Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia so far in my book beside the tank so far.

 

[seamonster124]

I've been keeping track of my SG, PH, Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia so far in my book beside the tank so far.

You can keep healthy corals with water changes but dosing improves growth. You also want all things stable and consistent. Your PH, SG, alk, etc should be very stable; minimum fluctuation

This is a great start:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bVI69xOb_JM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Ron Reefman]

You can keep healthy corals with water changes but dosing improves growth. You also want all things stable and consistent. Your PH, SG, alk, etc should be very stable; minimum fluctuation

If your corals are zoas and softies, they really don't use calcium and very little alk, so it's really not an issue.

Lps and sps use it to make skeletons and keeping the levels stable and in the right range is very important for them.

 

[C.Eymann]

If your corals are zoas and softies, they really don't use calcium and very little alk, so it's really not an issue.

Lps and sps use it to make skeletons and keeping the levels stable and in the right range is very important for them.

actually many softies/leathers do use calcium and carbonate to form their spicuals, which are basically little slivers of calcium carbonate, they maybe do not use up the two as fast as sps/LPS coral, however we should strive for NSW levels in all our reefs despite what you keep. it's just good husbandry

 

[CStrickland]

Especially alk. Idk if it's because of its relation to ph or what, but zoa and even fish aren't happy if it gets too far out of range.
I had an alk dip once where I added a bunch of corals at once and they sucked it all out of the water. The whole tank was cranky until I fixed it. That's also why you want to establish trends, so you know if it's a onetime dip or a steady consumption since your dosing should aim for stable good params.

 

[Ron Reefman]

actually many softies/leathers do use calcium and carbonate to form their spicuals, which are basically little slivers of calcium carbonate, they maybe do not use up the two as fast as sps/LPS coral, however we should strive for NSW levels in all our reefs despite what you keep. it's just good husbandry

Especially alk. Idk if it's because of its relation to ph or what, but zoa and even fish aren't happy if it gets too far out of range.
I had an alk dip once where I added a bunch of corals at once and they sucked it all out of the water. The whole tank was cranky until I fixed it. That's also why you want to establish trends, so you know if it's a onetime dip or a steady consumption since your dosing should aim for stable good params.

I understand they use some. But it's not even close to what lps and sps use. And water changes can keep that in range, it shouldn't require dosing.

 

[C.Eymann]

I understand they use some. But it's not even close to what lps and sps use. And water changes can keep that in range, it shouldn't require dosing.

Actually genuses such as sarcophyton and sinularia that are very dense in sclerites can suck calcium and carbonate down pretty fast, also given the demand for other calcareous organisms found in all reef tanks you can't really make a statement that just because you have a predominantly soft coral tank you have no need to dose in order to maintain NSW levels.

Bottom line, every system will have different rates of consumption. Using stonies vs softies isn't a very definative way of determining that.