WEEKLY DISCUSSION : Supplementing the Reef

[jman785]

In your opinion, what is the best brand of supplements you could add to your reef tank? (Including Ca, Strontium, Magnesium, Iodine, etc.)

Do you follow the directions, or do you improvise?

What are your current water parameters with the supplments your using now?

[tdevil]

good 1

my params, calcium= 480ppm, alk= 11dKH this rest are @ 0

well, the only thing i use is Kalk i dont add anything else to the system,
i dont bother with iodine, it is so easy to over dose a and regular w/c will usually take care of this for you

since i dont have a calc reactor yet, my dosing method is a bit different than most people use
i have a good demand on calcium, the regular drip style doesnt get-r-done, i use what is called the "slurry" method, this isnt recomended unless you have a pH meter, you mix the Kalk in ro/di water then dump it in the tank, kinda slow, and watch the pH if it starts to rise then you have to back off
with the top-off/drip method i couldnt keep it above 380ppm and the wife wont let me get a reactor yet so i have to do it this way

that is the only thing i dose and nothing else, if i get a small clam i dont add phyto to the tank, i remove the clam and feed it out of the tank then place it back into the tank

Jay

My water params are

Ca = 430-450
Ph = 8.4
Alk = 10dkh
A. = 0
Nitrites =0
Nitrates = 0

I drip about a gallon of Kalk a day due to large number of SPS corals and clams in the tank. Skipping more than 1 day of dripping Kalk and my Ca will drop below 380 more times than not. One day I will go hi-Tech and get a Calcium Reactor. Gotta grow some long arms and deep pockets first, LOL.

I also add 10 ml of SeaChems Trace Elements weekly to my 135. Also due to the large number of mangroves in the refugium I add Magnisium monthly dosesing as per the directions. I also add 10 ml weekly of SeaChems Reef Plus.

For supplements...I use SeaChem exclusively. Not sure if its any better than Kent or what every other brand is out there, but thats what GARF uses and after looking at their tanks...It sure cant be a bad thing!

Is this the way to go? I am not sure. But for the time being this routine has worked well for quiet sometime so I am sticking to it until someone gives me a better idea....

[FishinInTheDark]

Pat,

I have some Seachem Trace, which I ordered before I even had my system set up. The reason I don't use it is because it contains .032mg of copper per 1g. Reef Plus has .001mg per 1g. Now I know these are negligible amounts, but I've been lead to believe that it builds up in tissues over time. So, do you have an opinion on this?

Thanks for your input!

Conni

Yeah I saw that and contacted the company...they said no worries. Now were they on the up and up about that? Good question.

I also talked to GARF about this and they say that they have not seen any problems thus far.

So I dunno?

[Sugar Magnolia]

lazy reefer reporting in with test results.

You guys know I don't test. Well, hardly test might be a better way to put it. My last test was over a month ago and I'll post those readings but here's today's:

pH - 8.2
alk - 2.86
dKH - 8.3
CA - 390 (eek!)
MG - 1110 (boo!)

Okay, so here's from the last time I checked:

pH - 8.0
alk - 3.09
dKH - 8.6
CA - 460
MG - 1230

Notice the drop in the calcium and magnesium? MG was still a bit on the low side before but not too terribly low. I had been using kalk and vinegar in my top off water, but switched back over to b-ionic about a month ago. As I said, I am quite possibly the world's laziest reefer when it comes to testing and dosing. I dose with the b-ionic whenever I remember to. (read that as maybe once or twice a week) I think I'll switch back over to using the kalk and vinegar - seems I was able to maintain a better CA reading with that, and it's much easier to mix up a gallon of top-off water with the kalk and vinegar than it is to try and remember to dose every day.

As far as mg goes, that is a pretty considerable drop. I have some Seachem Reef Advantage Magnesium that I can dose the tank with to get that up to a more acceptable level.

[Condiman]

My parameters are:

Ca = 430-450
Ph = 8.1
Alk = 15.5dkh
Nitrates = .2

I only use pickling lime for my calcium and alk. I don't dose anything else because I believe that the best supplement anyone can use is a weekly water change. I know my nitrates are a bit high. But I believe that my nitrates are caused by using Mrs. Wages. I have currently stopped using it to see if that is the problem.

[MikeS]

I only drip kalkwasser....I use it for all my makeup water. I use no other regular supplimentation.

Ca 390ppm @1.025
Alk 1.8 meq/L @1.025
pH 8.2-8.4
MG 1220 ppm

I adjust Mg up from time to time as the kalk drives it down. I will also raise iodine up to 0.06 ppm just prior to adding new coral.

Mike

[icereefer]

well I'm a kent man myself, I use aragaMIGHT in my RO/DI top off water.
I dose tech-CB. A,B every other day. I add a 1/2 a tsp of Iodine a week.and 1/2 tsp of coral-vite a week. and if I need to I use, superbuffer-dkh. to help keep my balance if it drops on my alk and PH .
cal 400
Alk 9 dkh
PH 8.2 N. 8.3 or .4 D.
MG 1240ppm
Iodine around .04 to .06 ppm
and the others at 0
and my salt I use Reefcrystals.
and I would like to add this, since I added my refuge my levels have been a lot easier to keep stabile?.