Snake Oil

[Chip Wick]

Howdy folks. I was just wondering what some of your thoughts on "miracle additives" are. Looking through a not-to-be-named catalog, and there's just tons of different supplements, buffers, etc. For example, the many coral boosters, coral vital, spectra vital, black powder, amino vital- anyone use these and seen an effect? And foods- phytoplex, zooplex, smorgasbord and gumbo? I use phytoplex and zooplex (Kent) sparingly, but do you use something different? And last, but not least, calcium, pH, strontium, trace, molybdenum (old miners used to call it "molly be ****ed"). What sort of regimen of additives do you use? Just wondering, especially those of you with "Tank of the Month" photos to your credit. They are some truly amazing tanks, and I aspire to that sort of thing Thanks for your input.

[Reefdude5]

I use Coral Vital once a week and black powder 1 or 2 a week on a very conservative amount (the smallest the directions say). I also use Kent Marine CA supplement 1 tps every day(by the way I have a 120) and Kent Marine Iodine and Kent Marine Strontium+Molybendeum 1 tsp a week. Oh, and I dose 2 tbl DT's Phyto every 3 days.

[Chip Wick]

Thanks reefdude. Alright everybody, no need to be shy Or are you just unwilling to share the secrets of your incredible success??? Negative comments also welcomed (within reason). I used way too many supplements (invert food) and ended up with a major hair algae problem.

[Reefdude5]

That's what I had in the beggining, but I thinned WAY back! And yep, they probably don't want to tell the two of us their secrets!

[MiddletonMark]

Hmmm... I use 2-part Calcium / Alkalinity [was C-Balance, now ocean's blend]. Every other day, dose based on how my weekly tests of the two turn out.

I try to do a 8-10% water change every week, sometimes it's every other week.

When it's been more than 10-12 days since a water change, I dose about 1/2 the recommended amount of Iodine and Strontium to the tank

---
That's it.

I feed frozen mysis, Cyclops-Eeze [sometimes both soaked in selcon] ... and DT's every other day to my tank.

Used to do other things, but once I discontinued - less algae, just as good if not better health. Waste of money [everything but DT's, cyclops-eeze, and Calcium/Alkalinity]

[RWD]

I do a 20% water change per month
(divided up into 2 changes per week) and use a calcium reactor to take care of the calcium. I also use Kent Turbo calcium and a home made buffer when needed. Nothing else other then food is added to the tank. I gave up on additives many years ago.

[Chip Wick]

OK, I feel like I should know this, and I probably do, but I'm drawing a blank on the meaning of "DT". A little help? Seems like most folks have a pretty minimalist approach. A fool and his/her money are soon parted???? I've spent a heck of a lot of money on this "hobby"

[GeoJoe]

http://www.dtplankton.com/ for DT's

I use Kent A&B, a few drops of Lugol's Iodine, a capfull of Strontium and a skimmer.... nothing else. No carbon, no CA reactor, no chiller.... just good lighting and good RO/DI H2O.

As far as food... frozen or fresh brine, some Prime Reef (flakes or frozen) some Invert cubes, and a leaf of lettuce from time to time for the tang.

I've tried some Black Powder and Spectral Vital, not sure if I can see a difference.

[thefatman]

i use a smorgasboard of stuff.

kents iodine
kents strontium and molybdenem
mydor chelated iron, thiamine, and b-12
mydor vitamins and amino acids
mydor essential minerals and trace elements
mydor idodide and bromide

is all necessary...... i doubt it. but my corals and fish aren't complaining, and i dont have any algae problems. my fish and snails are growing wonderfully, snails and crabs are growing exponetially! my zoos are multiplying, my pincushion leather is getting HUGE and growing a "daughter", my goniopora seems to be doing extremely well, and my starfish are great, my pods are multiplying like cockroaches!

so, i guess i'll keep using it.

btw: i have a 75g display, 35g sump, 20g fuge. running a skimmer 24/7 andauto top off, via a kalk/nielsen reactor. lighting is 440w vho (2 uri actinic blue 03, 2 uri super actinic white) and a 40w blue noflo actinic for "dusk" and "dawn"

i stopped adding the DT's because as predicted by others on the board, it DID give me a small diatom bloom. as soon as i stopped, the bloom went away in a matter of a day or two.

i also feed blender mush, enhanced with selcon. i'm sure this does something for the entire reef and not jsut for the fish.

[SouthernReefer]

i run my ca reactor during the day, and kalkwasser at night, i also drip feed dkh buffer from a kent's aquadoser, and drip feed a mixture of kent's coral vite, essential elements, and coral accel from another kent's aquadoser. corals look great.
i feed corals mostly at night, either with a mixture of dt, bioplation, f1, or some blender mush.

[JennM]

I use Kent Tech CB parts A and B - I dose tanks I maintain more regularly than my own, but many maintenance tanks are only dosed every other week when *I* do it. Some tanks also get some Tech M magnesium to help make the calcium more biologically available - I've seen exponential coralline growth in one tank in particular, with that combination.

I think there should be a distinction made among additives... there are several kinds - there are elemental or mineral additives (calcium, strontium, iodine etc) and food additives (Phytoplex, DT, Invertebrate Smorgasbord etc) and then there are bacterial or biological additives (some of the *vital stuff, anything that claims to boost the bacterial count etc.).

Regular water changes with a quality salt mix should replenish most trace elements, unless you have a heavy load of something that drains a particular element, such as soft corals (iodine), calcium (clams, sps corals) etc. In that case, monitor your water quality and add supplements as required to maintain calcium or iodine etc. Be careful not to overdose - too much calcium can precipitate out. Too much iodine can poison a tank... err on the side of caution, IMO.

Food additives can be overdone - there's a lot of conrroversy both ways regarding over-feeding/under-feeding - use common sense and watch your creatures as well as your water quality and find a balance. Every tank is different.

I don't use or recommend any of the biological additives. Mother Nature finds her balance based on biological load. When we mess with her, she takes her time to get back the balance. Adding a "bacterial boost" can provide a short-term gain or speed up a cycle, but when the "extra" bacteria die off they can spike a cycle again - making the whole process longer. A properly set-up, properly stocked and maintained tank does not need biological "help".

JMHO

Jenn

[BuckWheat]

Originally posted by Chip Wick
gumbo?

There is only one place you can get Good Gumbo, and you can't Order It!

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by RWD
I do a 20% water change per month... ...and use a calcium reactor to take care of the calcium. I also use Kent Turbo calcium and a home made buffer when needed. Nothing else other then food is added to the tank. I gave up on additives many years ago.

Yup!

Ditto.

EOS

[RWD]

Excellect post Jenn!

[BuckWheat]

I drip Kalk at night, supplementing with AgraMilk at the end of the lighting period, and use Kent's Two part to maintain CA/Alk balance, the Limewater keeps PH up and the AgraMilk helps with the CA and Mag levels. Not sure if this will continue, I have a Mag. kit on the way, in which if my Magnesium levels are ok, then I'll drop the AgraMilk. Only using Kalk and Two Part to a weekly boost. I may be overdoing it a little with AgraMilk, so my test will determine that, which I've been adjusting what I put inside my glass box. Once a week I add two drop of plankto & I try not to over feed my fish. I use Spectrum Pellets twice a week, with a little seaweed on a clip & once a week my mush I feed including directly feeding my two engineer gobies.

Nothing else is added, I do about 25 gallons every month or 6 weeks, Whichever comes first LOL! Right now I'm doing 30g changes each week until I get a balance, seems as though I've might of tried too many CA supplements throwing it out of wack. Other that the CA problems, the over all tank is looking wonderful at almost a year with this setup.

Two Engineer Gobies, One Regal Tang, 2", one small Sailfin Tang, Yellow Hog, fire tail and 6 line wrasse. Candy coral, yellow leather, toadstool, CatsPaw, Striped Xenia, Spaghetti leather, Frogspawn & Pipe Organ