tank additives

[pixiegirlie]

hey guys,

i have recently moved away from my little nano tank, and stepped into the big world of fish tanks and started a 46 gallon.

But i was wondering what all you guys would recommend dosing? Im still learning all the different chemicals and additives-since Iv never had to dose much.

Im not planning on keeping anything really difficult, but i would like my stuff to thrive.

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks!

 

[macawmagic]

i've got a 75, and the only thing I do is all my top-off is kalkwasser. No other additives. And I try and do weekly waterchanges. like 15 gallons, but it's usually every other week if not the 3rd one. I'm starting to get a high sps load though, so In the near future I will be installing a calcium reactor. In my opinions it's the easiest way to do it. Unless you buy all the equipment to do A and B without having to actually dose it yourself. Good luck.

 

[a2fire2i]

i wouldnt dose anything that you cant test for. The only thing i dose is CA, ALK, and MAG. Other trace elements will be made up with your water changes..

 

[davy182]

It is all a matter of how much you want to spend and the amount of fiddling you want to do.

 

[ben&bobbi]

pick a 2-part and run with it! very easy to maintain.

You really shouldn't need to add all the individual stuff, unless you are really on top of testing and monitoring for each thing you are adding.

 

[JUICE!]

2 part is probably your best bet.......it's easy to use and you need only test alkalinity and calcium. That will keep your tank growing. If you have problems with coloration, a shot of coral vite every couple weeks should help.

All I really dose in my LPS tank is kent superbuffer dKH for alk, and calcium chloride for calcium......I use purple up once a week and kent coral vite once every other week.....that keeps trace amounts of potassium, iodine, strontium, magnesium in the system and encourages coraline growth. Using a salt for reef tanks like reef crystals or red sea coral pro will help to replenish trace elements. Every now and agin, I'll test the iodine, potassium, magnesium, strontium.....maybe every couple months, just to make sure they are in the ballpark

The LPS tank is a 46g. My SPS tank is a different story. I monitor all those levels seperately. I have a few corals in there that need close to perfect levels to thrive.

On the other hand.......it is possible to maintain a tank with just water changes. I've let my 75G go months on end with no additives, and an occasional water change. The growth slowed, coraline died off, and the colors didn't pop like usual......but everything stayed alive and still grew....albeit slowly.

I successfully kept a reef tank for a number of years only testing for ALK, CAL, PH, and spec. gravity. I did use something of a 2 part regime, which I suppose kept trace elements from becoming deficient. Since I started really keeping track of the levels, my growth and coloration is amazing!


Optimum levels doesn't necessarily mean essential levels. Little kids in starving third world countries still grow up, but they'd look a lot better if they ate good meals and popped a few vitamins....

I'm hungry.......just thought I'd share :-D

~D

 

[pixiegirlie]

thanks for the info everyone. is kalkwasser the same as the calcium in the two part?

dont you just dissolve the kalkwasser in water before you add it?

thanks.

 

[a2fire2i]

KALK adds both ALK and CA...

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[davy182]

an alkalinity that is not availble to corals as said in the article. Corals do not consume alk as a hydroxide but as bicarbonate.

 

[evega]

Carefull with calk. make sure you read the instructions before dosing. Part A and B is easier to dose.

 

[pixiegirlie]

ok thanks everyone

 

[plyle02]

Really depends on what you are keeping in the tank.... I run a CA reactor and use zeo-mag to maintain a healthy mag level. I also dose amino acids, and feed coral brilliance to my sps corals. I run a low-nutrient sps tank. So for the basic corals, I don't really think you need to do anything more than a simple 2 part solution, but maintaining a 1300 or better level for mag will also help to maintain a consistent CA/ALK relationship. As stated above, test whatever you dose, and do so for a few days in a row, as to determine the inhabitants daily consumption. Once this is established, then continue to dose the amounts equally at that level for consistency.....

 

[onano]

I use 2 part on my nano and my 75. It's easy and I am dialed in. I test weekly and My levels are solid. I also dose mag but only during my weekly (nano) and monthly (75) water changes. I mix my new water and add 2 part as well as mag to get it to match my tank levels. I test each new batch of salt I get and then I used the reef calculator to help me determine proper doses to get to my ideal conditions. After that for every change I do I know how much to mix into each batch until I buy a new salt bucket. The mag is dosed only on my new water and it stays good until my next change (I mix it it to 1400ppm and it stays above 1350 until my next change. It really is easy. Not sure if I made it sound that way.