Feeding a Reef

What are your views on feeding a reef ? I use to put 1 teaspoon a week of marinvit in my 10 gallon tank & 1 teaspoon of calcium. ( I guess for the snails )

I do a weekly water change. One person said I was putting in too much. Another said I shouldn't be using it @ all.

I like the look of my little salt water aquarium, but I want it to be the best that it can be.

What would you recommed ?


Thanks.

 

I'm not exactly sure what "marinvit" is, but I really don't worry about my corals that much. I dose Ca, Alk and Mg, and trace elements, but I just feed regularly. My corals are growing fine. I have started to use Marc Weiss SPS grow, but that's not really a food. If what your doing is working for you, great, if you notice a lot of nuisance algae then you may want to back off a little.

 

On a 10 gallon with weekly water changes, I wouldn't dose anything. The fresh saltwater you are mixing up every week should add back in the nutrients your corals need. Dosing without testing what your dosing is a big risk.

 

I do have a bit of algae growing on the heater, the sides & the front of of the aquarium, but I feel my 2 or 3 astrea snails have to have something to eat. I do alot of cleaning when I do my weekly water change, but never the substrate. My LPS told me never to vaccuum the substrate. 2 nassarius snails surfaced this morning when I fed the occupants some shrimp. I bought @ least 5 of each, but, perhaps that is all my little tank can handle/needs
Thanks for the suggestions everyone !

 

+1

The water change should be good for taking care of all the tanks needs. By reading the above you've got snails to handle the algae, water changes will take care of the coral, all you need to do is worry about feeding the fish

 

Feeding a Reef ?

I have a 10 gallon salt water aquarium. I realize this is nothing compared to many of you out there. My tank is doing very well, but I often wonder, could it be even better ?

I do a weekly water change.

What are your feelings about feeding a reef ?

I have a product called marinvit. It is a strontium complex. I also have calcium. Should I be using these? How often ? Or should I just leave well enough alone ?

 

what all do you have in it salty? the can determine whether anything "needs" to be fed.

 

The weekly water changes are adding trace elements back in, so no need for those. As for calcium, alk and mag, you have to test for them. Then you'll know if you need to dose or not. Depends on how fast your coral are using it up. As for food, like divott said we need to know what type of corals.

 

I don't have alot of coral in my tank, but I do have frog spawn & button coral. Live inhabitants include a beautiful sea anenome, snails, a crab, a clown a conch & a shrimp. All seem to be doing well, the water tests perfect & is crystal clear, but you always wonder.......................................

 

because of the water volume , a smaller aquarium can be a bit more difficult in regards to water quality. as long as you keep on top of it, that should all be good. i do give my spawn some mysis every now and then. how old is your tank? just asking in regards to your nem.