[royalbijoy]

Friends,
I have been owning this 4 foot reef tank which includes a couple of fishes, anemone and soft corals. Looking forward to add some LPS. I was using kent reef supplements till now, but I think I should be dosing chemicals directly instead of relying on these bottled liquids. Can someone guide me on the chemicals and the dosage required? I learnt that Magnesium, Iodine, Calcium, Strontium, Kalkwasser and Trace are required. But not sure what chemicals to look for and in what concentration....Any help would be appretiated. Thanks.
Planning to get test kits for the same so that I do not overdose...With the planted tank, it was quite easy to dose chemicals by using Estimated Index and there were a dozen of websites where you could specify the tank size and it would tell you how much of each chemical to dose in what quantity. Anything similar would be good. By the way, my tank is around 85 gallaons including the sump.

 

[helenwheels]

Bump

 

[ynot65]

I use a product called "Fuel" by Aquavitro 2x's a week. It's described as carbohydrate,vitamin,fatty acid supplement for corals

 

[tankjunkie]

General rule of thumb. If you can't measure it, don't dose it. WC should give you everything your reef needs. I've heard of mixed results with amino supplements and have used them myself for a few months but have stopped for a while. Three major water parameters to watch are calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. 2 part calcium alkalinity buffers have a lot of the other elements in proper proportions for coral consumption. Proper coral feeding would supply the needed nutrients. I've had luck with marine snow for filter feeders as well as Mysis shrimp for the carnivores. Soft corals would like filter feeding stuff like zooplankton or phytoplankton. Lps like the bigger foods.

 

[Wopadobop]

+1 water changes. just think how much salt you can buy for even one of those bottles worth of money. I change water daily and barely break 200 bucks a year on salt.

 

[royalbijoy]

Thanks all. I guess I will stick to WC. I was advised by a LFS to dose the tanks weekly(ca, strontium, Mg, Iodine and Kalkwasser). After reading the replies, looks like its not really worth it.

 

[CDKT]

General rule of thumb. If you can't measure it, don't dose it. WC should give you everything your reef needs. I've heard of mixed results with amino supplements and have used them myself for a few months but have stopped for a while. Three major water parameters to watch are calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. 2 part calcium alkalinity buffers have a lot of the other elements in proper proportions for coral consumption. Proper coral feeding would supply the needed nutrients. I've had luck with marine snow for filter feeders as well as Mysis shrimp for the carnivores. Soft corals would like filter feeding stuff like zooplankton or phytoplankton. Lps like the bigger foods.

+1 water changes are all you need unless you have a large coral population.

 

[OHBA]

Water changes are your best form of dosing.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Find a new LFS.
Water changes with RO/DI and a good reef salt mix is all you will need until such time as regular testing with quality test kits shows you have a demand for any specific thing. Its usually calcium. alkalinity and magnesium, leave the other stuff alone as it is in your salt mix and they are considered minor elements.

 

[royalbijoy]

I wanted to get the coralline algae in my tanks. Its almost 6 months old now. I see a small spec on one of the rocks. But nothing like what people have. So thought Kalkwasser would help in increasing the rate..... I have close to 15 ppm nitrate as I use well water. My RO unit is at home where I will be shifting in 6 months time. Until then, I will have to go with the well water. Check my LR.

 

[ynot65]

Looks great to me. You could try" Purple up" I don't know who makes it but someone will

 

[tankjunkie]

+1 purpleup. Maybe get some live rock to seed with. Purple up's prolly cheaper though.

 

[ynot65]

The montipora is Awesome! what kind is it?

 

[tankjunkie]

+1 I agree. Your tank has some nice pieces.

 

[OHBA]

I wanted to get the coralline algae in my tanks. Its almost 6 months old now. I see a small spec on one of the rocks. But nothing like what people have. So thought Kalkwasser would help in increasing the rate..... I have close to 15 ppm nitrate as I use well water. My RO unit is at home where I will be shifting in 6 months time. Until then, I will have to go with the well water. Check my LR.

Looks great! I would not add anything to get coraline going. Most of it is just not worth it. Once it starts you will want it to stop. Grows on everything.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Unless you know EXACTLY what is in Purple Up, or any other additive or supplement, DO NOT add it to you reef unless you have test kits for each and every ingredient and use them on a regular basis. Its not the risk to possbly speed up the formation of coralline algae. It will happen on its own when you keep the calcium, alkalinity and magnesium where they should be and eventually you may grow to hate the purple on everything!

 

[OHBA]

Unless you know EXACTLY what is in Purple Up, or any other additive or supplement, DO NOT add it to you reef unless you have test kits for each and every ingredient and use them on a regular basis. Its not the risk to possbly speed up the formation of coralline algae. It will happen on its own when you keep the calcium, alkalinity and magnesium where they should be and eventually you may grow to hate the purple on everything!

Amen! Going through razor blades like they are going out of style.

 

[CDKT]

I wanted to get the coralline algae in my tanks. Its almost 6 months old now. I see a small spec on one of the rocks. But nothing like what people have. So thought Kalkwasser would help in increasing the rate..... I have close to 15 ppm nitrate as I use well water. My RO unit is at home where I will be shifting in 6 months time. Until then, I will have to go with the well water. Check my LR.

Great looking tank. I wouldn't worry about the coralline it will come in time. If you must try to get it going though they actually sell coralline algae in a bottle you can add to your tank. Its the purple up ynot mentioned. Here's a link.


http://www.saltwateraquarium.com/purple-up-coraline-algae-starter-kit.html

 

[Wopadobop]

bah purple up! what's in it? calciumcarbonate dust with mag added so it doesnt clump.

you know what else has that and doesnt make your ca reading go all crazy..?

waterchanges!

your tank looks great btw. is that a maze coral? dont see those very often. good stuff.

 

[CDKT]

I agree about not adding stuff I just gave you the link so you could check it out.