emerald, blue leg, red leg crabs. & margarita, turbo, cernith, nessus snails.
1 yellow bubble coral
1 kenya tree coral
1 yellow finger coral
1 medium rock covered in pollyups
Compact Florescents 20k (day~5hours) on and 10k(actinic~11hours on) & Blue/Red night LEDS, The tank gets a lot of natural light as well. hence the short daylight time.
Water conditions are perfect (basic tests) I do a 10%-20% water change every 2 weeks where I had Kent trance elements and sometimes Seachem ph buffer, occassiionally I'll put in seachem phosphate remover (in a bio bag) with a large water change. I don't use RO/DI, just tap water with Jungle purifier & Red Sea Salt Mix. Fish get a vairiety of pellents, flakes, frozen ominvore & carnivore food as well as seaweed and zooplankton (2-3 times a week)
So just wondering do I need to be doing anythign else.. mainly the corals look great most of the time, but it's not uncommon to see the tree start to look "sad" and less than optimal.. I've read it's bascially an idicator to change your water.. I read that Strominum and Iondie are needed for the tree also, I've never put anything else in the tank and I want to do as little as necessary as I'm not a chemist, nor do I desire to be... I would like a self sustaining environment that dosen't require me putting in 200 different chemicals and playing the cocktail games..
Any advice would be appreciated.
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Strictly speaking to the original question, you do not need to add any supplements for soft corals if you do regular water changes with a quality salt.
That being said, what are "perfect" water conditions? Does the mandarin goby eat frozen food? If not it will likely starve to death. The Hippo tang needs a much larger tank when full (or even half) grown and there is simply too much bioload in that tank to be sustainable.
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Jeremy http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7...ef-119089.html
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Well anyway, Brasky decides he's gonna hunt down all four members of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machete. They all beg for their lives, except Fleagul.
To be honest I'm surprised you have all of that in a 30 gallon with "perfect" water tests. But I agree with Jeremy, your softies require nothing but good light no additional addatives needed. But your Tang deserves a much larger home, 100+ gallons I believe at their size.
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Nick
There's a reason why blood, sweat and tears are all salty. I have saltwater coursing through my veins. - Melev
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75 Gallon RR, SPS dominated, Outer Orbit 2x250 (14k)MH 4x54 T5, Bubble King Mini160, Tunze Ozmolator 3155, Eheim 1262
To be honest I'm surprised you have all of that in a 30 gallon with "perfect" water tests. But I agree with Jeremy, your softies require nothing but good light no additional addatives needed. But your Tang deserves a much larger home, 100+ gallons I believe at their size.
36Gal Tank( for what it's worth)
Thanks All.. yeah the Hippo will move to a larger tank here soon.. found out after she was in she needed a bigger tank...unfortunatly not all information around the world is the same on requirements..
the Mandarin is fine.. copepods all over the place.. Most reading shows 1 fish / 2-3 gals so 12 would be a max (I do have a lot right now.. but it is a fish tank not a water tank )
"Perfect Conditions".. No Nitrites/Nitrates, Amonia, ph is 8.2-8.3,
I have a decent skimmer, Prizim Deluxe, and I use a 10G standard filter to keep the water a little more clear, without it I get some scum on the top so it works like a cheap sump. 2 Hydro Power Heads
..unfortunatly not all information around the world is the same on requirements.. Very true, there are lots of disagreement on what is needed. I think liveaquaria.com has pretty good
the Mandarin is fine.. copepods all over the place.. the worry is it being outcompeted for food by other fish, just something to keep an eye on
Most reading shows 1 fish / 2-3 gals so 12 would be a max (I do have a lot right now.. but it is a fish tank not a water tank ) It is hard to give rules on how many fish are ok in a given tank. Neither fish/gallon or inches of fish/gallon are really all that useful. But even talking a small fish like a clown or goby, I think 1 per 10 gallons would probably be closer to sustainable IME. Part of the issue is not only bioload but also aggression. Most damsels get pretty mean as they get bigger, and depending on what species the clowns are, they can get pretty territorial as well. There are no hard and fast rules, but in general I think 5-6 fish in a 36 would be considered moderately high bioload.
"Perfect Conditions".. No Nitrites/Nitrates, Amonia, ph is 8.2-8.3, what brand test kits do you use?
I have a decent skimmer, Prizim Deluxe, and I use a 10G standard filter to keep the water a little more clear, without it I get some scum on the top so it works like a cheap sump. 2 Hydro Power Heads
__________________
Jeremy http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7...ef-119089.html
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Well anyway, Brasky decides he's gonna hunt down all four members of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machete. They all beg for their lives, except Fleagul.
36Gal Tank( for what it's worth)
Thanks All.. yeah the Hippo will move to a larger tank here soon.. found out after she was in she needed a bigger tank...unfortunatly not all information around the world is the same on requirements..
the Mandarin is fine.. copepods all over the place.. Most reading shows 1 fish / 2-3 gals so 12 would be a max (I do have a lot right now.. but it is a fish tank not a water tank ) Don't agree with this statement much at all i think ultimately the number of fish in a tank depends on how well you take care of the tank, fish compatibility, and how the fish react to a certain number of tank mates I know of numerous folks that once their tank hit a certain number any more fish would get push out of feeding of killed off and 12 fish in a 36g is like flushing money done the drain soon the tank will crash
"Perfect Conditions".. No Nitrites/Nitrates, Amonia, ph is 8.2-8.3,
I have a decent skimmer, Prizim Deluxe, and I use a 10G standard filter to keep the water a little more clear, without it I get some scum on the top so it works like a cheap sump. 2 Hydro Power Heads
As far as supplements go water changes replaces most of things used
I have 13 fish in my 125 (200 gallons total sys vol.) and I don't intend to add any more. In a fish only tank you can go pretty heavy on the fish, but once you go reef and start adding inverts you have to really watch the bio-load...I would have to agree that long term both bio-load and aggression will most likely catch up with you...so start thinking about that tank upgrade now, LOL!
As mentioned, do keep a very close eye on the Mandarin...they are hard fish to keep/feed...just the Mandarin will likely wipe out the pod population in time, but with the wrasse he is probably getting out competed for food as well...not trying to post gloom and doom, but Mandarin's have one of the highest mortality rates in the hobby for a reason.
With regards to your actual question, I think regular water changes will be all you need with your current setup...I do add a little iodine daily myself (very little though, like 2-4 drops in my 200 gallons)...I do this as I have a large number of very large soft coral colonies...in your system I think I would forgo dosing and just step up your water changes to 10% weekly.
Keep reading and asking questions...the "advice" given here is very sound for the most part IMO.
36Gal Tank( for what it's worth)
Thanks All.. yeah the Hippo will move to a larger tank here soon.. found out after she was in she needed a bigger tank...unfortunatly not all information around the world is the same on requirements..
the Mandarin is fine.. copepods all over the place.. Most reading shows 1 fish / 2-3 gals so 12 would be a max (I do have a lot right now.. but it is a fish tank not a water tank )
"Perfect Conditions".. No Nitrites/Nitrates, Amonia, ph is 8.2-8.3,
I have a decent skimmer, Prizim Deluxe, and I use a 10G standard filter to keep the water a little more clear, without it I get some scum on the top so it works like a cheap sump. 2 Hydro Power Heads
Whatever, I hate to tell you but you have been sadly misled, 1st off even a tiny hippo tang will not be happy in a 36g for long, if you an move it into a bigger tank great, otherwise trade it back( these fish can get well over 12+")
Secondly the mandarin may have pods a plenty with a recently cycled tank, but that will not last, they can decimate a pod population in no time. IF you get rid of the hippo and the mandarin, you are still over stocked for you tank size, esp with a Prizm skimmer(sorry, marginal at best, (usually a POS) and e hang on external filter. With even a slightly reduced bioload and newbs propensity to over feed the starving fishies, I see serious elevated Nitrate and Phosphate(read mega algae issues) s well as mystery deaths traced back to STRESS and Overcrowding.
I hate to come of as the voice of doom but like so many new to the hobby I am guessing your LFA set you down this path and assured you "It's OK"
Sorry, but it's not
Your tank is way overstocked for its size... In that size tank id keep the wrasse, the 3 clowns and maybe 1 other small fish. As stated before, the hippo tang needs atleast about an 100 gallon tank and will die in there, and the mandarin needs a refugium and a well established tank so he has plenty of food. With that bioload your guaranteed to have some problems.
Your tank is way overstocked for its size... In that size tank id keep the wrasse, the 3 clowns and maybe 1 other small fish. As stated before, the hippo tang needs atleast about an 100 gallon tank and will die in there, and the mandarin needs a refugium and a well established tank so he has plenty of food. With that bioload your guaranteed to have some problems.
+1 that bio load is a huge crash waiting to happen.
If you keep up with water changes, generally your trace elements should be replenished in the setup you described. However if you want to encourage strong coraline algae growth, you may want to test your calcium to make sure it is kept around 400-450ppm. To raise your Ca you can add Calcium in the form of Calcium Hydroxide, Calcium Chloride or a commercial calcium supplement like TM Bio Calcium.
I would like a self sustaining environment that dosen't require me putting in 200 different chemicals and playing the cocktail games.. 
