Walk thru on buffers/supps

[nothingfishy]

Can someone give me the laymons understanding or explanation of buffering and or supplements.

I have two tanks, a 150 fish only, which I never dose anything in, and haven't in ten years. I also have a seahorse/reef tank 60 cube, that I started in January. I have yet to dose anything in the tank. I have 4 seahorse, few lps, couple sps, and some softies. My ph, with the exception of last two days, has been pretty consistent at 8.0 and 7.9 at night. My alk ranges from 7 to 9.5, calcium is 440, and magnesium is the highest read level of red sea mag kit (believe it is 1500).

I have a lot of flow, for a seahorse anyhow, 30x over turn, and the only real maintenance I have done are weekly 15 percent water changes, scraping glass, and siphoning sand. I feed pretty heavily for seahorse, about 4 Mysis cubes per day. My amm is 0, nitrite 0, and nitrates 30-40. I run a phosphate reactor, even though I have never test for phos.

So my question is, with those given numbers, is there any real reason to buff manual water top offs, or having any type of reactor?

I see my local lfs using part a and part b (brighwell products) each time he adds top off water. But I am really confused on this, and don't want to follow what someone else does, not knowing exactly what I am doing, or should be doing to the water. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This article has everything you need to know in this regard:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

from it:

Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity
Nearly all coral reef aquaria need calcium and alkalinity supplementation because they are what hard corals, coralline algae and even some soft corals use to deposit calcium carbonate structures such as skeletons and spicules. The concept of alkalinity confuses many aquarists, but it is most readily thought of as a measure of bicarbonate ion (HCO3-) in the water, and corals take up bicarbonate to deposit calcium carbonate. Because rapidly growing corals and coralline algae can quickly deplete calcium and alkalinity (especially alkalinity because seawater contains much less alkalinity than calcium), these ions must be supplemented to the aquarium.

 

[nothingfishy]

I will read that thoroughly when I get back home.

I suppose my question is, I was told the important measures are alk, mag and calcium, which according to me test, are idea. So why would someone like me dose anything?

Is it because it is a new tank, and parameters are fine now, but in time may decline? Or am I missing a measurement that I am not accounting for?

And also, without dosing, why aren't my numbers out of line? Can weekly water changes keep them in line?

 

[reefwars]

I will read that thoroughly when I get back home.

I suppose my question is, I was told the important measures are alk, mag and calcium, which according to me test, are idea. So why would someone like me dose anything?

Is it because it is a new tank, and parameters are fine now, but in time may decline? Or am I missing a measurement that I am not accounting for?

And also, without dosing, why aren't my numbers out of line? Can weekly water changes keep them in line?

It's based off consumption , right now with water changes your system is getting its required needs this may stay the same orcould change in time depending on your stock and their growth. A lot of corals and you may find it hard to replenish what was used for cal and Alk , dosing also allows you to keep these more stable
And precise. As corals grow their consumption gets larger , water changes may keep this stable but that could change in the future. You'll need water changes anyways even if you dose but they can be smaller.

 

[tmz]

What livestock are you keeping in the reef tank with the seahorses?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You dose to replace calcium and alkalinity (and possibly magnesium) that corals and other creatures use up. If those are still in appropriate ranges in a new tank, you do not yet need to dose.