Reef Supplements

[Konrade]

What are the most important supplements I should add to a 10 gallon nano? Also what are the MOST important things that I should test for? TIA

 

[Dr.Nate]

well, as others on here will tell you......you should not dose anything you cannot test for.

As far as test kits go, iniitially you will need ammonia and nitrite, but I would not buy these. Simply take a water sample to your LFS for those and they'll test for free. The kits I would definately buy are nitrate and calcium (if you plan on having any corals)

BTW, others will tell you this also, but a 10 gallon tank is really tough to maintain because of the small volume and one small change could be catastrophic. If there's any way to go 15 or 20 gal, that would be better.

hth

 

[Konrade]

Not trying to sound rude but I am not a newb an I know what I am doing I have done plenty of research and already have a 29 gallon sw.....probably shoulda pointed this out.But what I am mainly asking is what do you reefers test for and what do you think is the most important? Do you think I could get by without any calcium reactors or dosers? Do I really need supplements? I only plan on having low light corals like zoos and shrooms and softies......maybe some acropora when I get a job and some halides

 

[Dr.Nate]

I wouldn't think you would need supplements, then. As you know, most trace elements come from your salt mix. Personally, I test for calcium and nitrates weekly. (and I dose kalk when needed, about once a month)

 

[lando]

Regular water changes should be all you need to keep depleted trace elements replenished. Can you post Ph, CA, ALK?

 

[Konrade]

Well I just set it up yesterday. I'm cycling it right now with some cc and rock from my other aquarium. I'll post my levels once I get my test kits.
I wanna keep my alk around 9.5 to 10 and my calcium around 450...
Ph 8.3
salinity1.024
gotta get my other things tested

 

[Salttanker]

You will want to keep an eye on the Nitrate level down the road since you are using CC. Other than that, water changes as lando pointed out will replenish the trace elements that are being used up.

Mike

 

[Konrade]

Oh no I"m using a 3" sand bed but my other tank has cc so I put some cc and rock from my other tank into it to cycle it..

 

[steve-s]

I wanna keep my.......and my calcium around 450...

Why

Cheers
Steve

 

[seaham358]

Why not 450?
I have read lots and lots of articles that say a Calcium level of 380-450 is the level to shot for in a reef tank.

 

[steve-s]

380-415 ppm is the goal and should be based on the salinity.

If your up to it.....

http://globalcoral.org/corals_and_coral_reefs.htm
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3746/is_199902/ai_n8850134
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/media.htm
http://my.fit.edu/~rvw/Taxonomy/Taxonomy Introduction.pdf
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/apr2002/chem.htm

And there's more....
<<Photosynthesis and calcification>>

Cheers
Steve

 

[Konrade]

Thanks guys, probably not going to need all that calcium now that I think about it. I'm going to have mainly softies shrooms and zoo' and it's going to be lightly stocked. Oh yeah maybe a bta if I get bored of wat I have.












JK

 

[HoopsGuru]

Keeping a proper calcium range also goes a long way in growing and maintaining attractive coralline algae.