Best Supplement for SPS/LPS

I just added a few frags last night that I really wasn't intending on having so soon. I have had nothing but softies so far, and suddenly have some birdsnest, orange monti cap, and a torch coral. I am wanting some advice and suggestions of what has worked best for you guys. Please keep in mind, I do not have a sump, and will be dosing directly into the tank. Any advice/experience with that would be appreciated as well. I am also on a budget

 

Bulk Reef Supply has about the best prices I have seen. Excellent product with a calculator on site so you can figure out how much to add.

 

dowtish

concentrate on the big 3 for now
Magnesium, Calcium and Alkalinity

if you are using a reasonable salt mix, with good starting levels on those 3 parameters
you may find that water changes alone are adequate to maintain those ions

testing is the most important aspect for you now, as if you start to increase the number of sps species and as those species start to grow, then the demand on calcium and carbonates will increase, and at that stage, water changes alone may not be adequate

dont worry about other additives - no need to use , Strontium, Molybedum, Iron, Iodide etc at this stage

trace elements should not be an issue, providing your doing routine water changes

once you do start noticing a drop in Magnesium, Calcium and DKH , thats when you will need to start supplementing those ions in 1 form or other

as 2 in 10 suggest , BRS bulk packs these additives and thus purchasing these rather than purchasing the small bottles of liquids or powder supplements , represents a financial saving



Steve

 

who makes an affordable, but precise calcium test kit?

 

I like to use Salifert at present- they are not cheap, but they are considered reasonably accurate and IMO represent value for money
using the kit in the normal way - provides 50 tests , so amortize the cost over 12 months and I percieve that as great value
it has an option to use half the amount of water, and half the reagents etc
which means 100 tests are possible - thus the cost is spread over 2 years if you choose to go that route

in fact I use Salifert for Calcium, Mag and DKH

Red Sea Calcium Pro and Magnesium Pro - are decent kits IMO and the results obtained using them compare well with the Salifert kits
the Red Sea Alk Pro - on the other hand is not a good kit, and the results it provides are questionable at best


Steve

 

Plus Salifert puts expiration dates on their boxes which is good.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

Steve, what about esential minerals? I have always used it- in very small doses 2 times per week, the reason- RO/DI water is "too clean". Minerals are important for all critters, not just coral. I feel it benifits the entire tank when used sparingly.

 

When you get those initial stoney coral frags, the first impulse is to dose, but it's not necessary, just do some water changes, and observe your corals. I would see how you do with those coral, and if you have success, and you see growth, and good color, then get another.

Have your test kits so you can test once a week, for practice. Get used to testing. No need to test everyday. When your water changes can't keep up, then use Kalk in your top off. When you get to this point, I think you will already have a good grasp of what your tank needs.

Whatever you do...don't start tossing additives in your tank....what you need to remember, is to make sure you have, if not identical, then similar parameters with your water change water. That would be Ca, Alk, Mg, Ph, sg, temp. I personally like Salinity, and D-D H2Ocean, because it normally is right at the levels, I want to keep. For me the added cost is made up, by not having to worry about buffering, etc..

 

I have the red sea master kit, and am not happy with it. The ammonia never reads right, and the DKH is obviously wrong. Everything else is pretty good, but I definitely don't trust the phosphate test. I'm planning on borrowing a Hanna Phos. checker from the local reef club. And I just checked out the 2 part starter kits on BRS. I'll pick up the new test kits when I can, but until then I am comfortable with my consistent water changes.

Once again, thanks!

 

Just read this, we were posting at the same time.

I fully agree with you, what I added to the tank IMO are not super hard corals to keep. I think they will be just fine. My parameters have been good and solid these past 2 months, no swings at all. And I have been doing steady waterchanges that are all consistent to what's in the tank. temp,ph,salinity. I have a magnesium test kit, but just havent used it yet. Will do that as soon as I get home from this damn hotel/work in Alabama! My LFS mixes their water with D-D H2Ocean, and they always have consistent salinity, and zero TDS. I'm really lucky to have them fairly close to me. So like i said in the previous post, I will continue my steady water changes until I can afford everything else.

Thanks BTowned.