new to Hard corals, info needed on supplementation

Hey guys,
I came across this link of GARF: COMPLETE BULLET PROOF REEF INSTRUCTIONS

im settingup a 80gal. Mixed reef tank. iv always had softies, had tried once with monticap, but dint make it. I have also come across threads where people use purpleup for growing hard corals and people just using kalk in topoff and doing weekly water change and growing hard corals.
Here are my plans, need advice if im wrong.
1) dose purpleup everyday and Seachem Reef plus twice a week and bi-weekly 10% water change. OR
2)Do whats in the link above. OR
3) Use a Two part (b-ionic or C-balance) with kalk (alternate days or week). iv heard that kalk. reduces mag. levels.

im looking for cheaper and simpler as i stay in india and i have to import everything from usa or singapore and the custom duty and shipping makes my cost go up by 150% on every product.

 

Im intrested in the feedback you'll recieve on this. Bump

 

its very important with SPS coral on your lighting so what kind of lights do you have? Also flow is very important what kind of wave makers do you have? how often do you test your water and what are you params at right now how much do they change through the day or week?

Before you start dosing anything you should really test that is the golden rule. Purpleup is a Ca booster that is suppose to help you establish coralline in your tank. the other 2 are dosing supplements.

 

+1

There is no single measure of anything that is right for every tank. Furthermore, you do not want to dose anything for which you cannot/do not test, so don't bother with PurpleUp or other similar products. Cheap "shortcuts" with your chemistry will lead to disaster!

Get a good reef test kit and good chemicals. Test Mag, Cal, and Alk daily and dose only as needed. That's the only right way to maintain a healthy reef.

 

+1000 to this

 

Guys, the lighting will be led. flow will be 40-60 times. there will be two tanks connected. 1 will hold softies and one LPS. SPS will be introduced after a few months once i get the grip of LPS. When i had monticap and seafans, i had C-balance in stock. then i studied about Diy cal-alk and mag. i made it and my parameters were perfect (cal-450, alk-9 and mag 1400) still my monti and seafans gorg. died. it was just a 20gal tank and every thing thrived. but as soon as i stopped c-balance, monticap, gorg and also my xenia died. rest everything survived and is thriving still. this will be an 80gal and i want many LPS. and im gona keep only photosynthetic corals. will feed them once max twice a week plankton.

 

kalk is great for ATO but if you're dosing purple up or something else with Ca you MUST monitor your levels, I was doing this and my Ca went up to 515ppm so since then I have not used my Kalk nor have I been using Purple Up.

You do not NEED purple up, it just boosts Ca/Mag levels and adds some Strontium which you can just replace by using quality reef marine salt.

sounds like you know what you're doing -- can't wait to see pics!

 

tank is gona take time coz still researching on lps. and i need to get everything from singapore as you dont get 95% stuff in my country. what if i use kalk for cal-alk. and add reef plus, seachem strontium and mag.?? will tht be k?

 

Don't dose strontium. Regular partial water changes are more than enough. You should try to get a simple two part like BRS or B-ionic and follow those instructions. Don't add reef plus or strontium, most two parts are actually 3 parts with a mag part.

Never dose something you don't test for. Purple up is a waste of money. You will probably cause more problems than help with additives, keep it simple.

 

well but when you read the ingredients of purpleup, you will find that they have everything you require for hard corals. so what if i dose kalk and purpleup? here in india the only good salt you get is redsea coral pro. that is killing expensive. so i use cheap salt made my local manufacturers or chineese salts. i chance 10% water every week (just to keep my nitrates low) if i use redsea coral pro, it falls more expensive then dosing supplements. so was planning an alternative. supplements i can get from singapore in stock. not an issue. Sally Joe`s method is too much to remember and too much to do. well here all il have to do is kalk topup and purpleup(5ml/50gal) and trace twice a week. or if i buy Good brand two part, then kalk with two part. thats it. anyone thats keeping Hard corals and dosing DIY or supplement stuff? especially havin an 80-100gal system? please let me know.