Additives

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mdl91881

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Nov 21, 2002
Messages
67
what kind of additives does everyone add to there tank.

as far as
disese prevention (i.e stress coat,ect..)

as far as upgrading to a reef system(FOWLR NOW) what do i need to add?

anyone had any experience with the GARF bullet proof reef system? (www.garf.com)

I just go to the LFS and look at the chemical shelf and it all seems so confusing. i just need a little help getting pointed in the right direction.
 
Forget the chemical shelf. It's there to bump up the bottom line ($$). You need calcium and something to maintain alkalinity. 2 part Ca additives like B-Ionic work well. Others dose kalkwasser to replace evaporated water to maintain Ca/alk. Some folks dose Iodide to a level of .006 ppm but the jury is out on that one. Some dose magnesium and strontium, but I never have. The only absolute is Ca/alk and regular water changes to replenish trace elements.

Mark
 
I use B-Ionic and I does sparingly on iodide. Iodide is good for my soft corals and helps aid my shrimp when molting. Iodide is touchy though,thats why I dose sparingly. Never go over the recommended dose on B-ionic either, I did this once and my PH went up to 8.6, causing one of my leathers to desinagrate.
 
I dose kalk and add trace elements and strontium once a week.
 
i was going to start dripping kalk this weekend and had a few questions.

In a 55 gallon system what should be the drip rate?
should i drip it 24/7?
i really don't get that much evaporation maybe a 1/2 -1 gallon per week is that going to be a problem with dripping?

also insted of kalk i was thinking about using kent CB part A and B.
is this almost the same thing as kalk?

what would be betterto use?
 
I dose 295 ml/hr..... seems to keep up with my evaporation pretty well but I am in an arid climate. You will want to start lower and watch for overflow problems. The way I understand it is that all of your replenishing water can be kalk if dosed slowly and your evaporation rates are low.... I use a lower ph mix of kalk because my evaporation rate is so high..... My rate is so high that I add 1/2 gallon of fresh water every 2 days as well as dosing at 295ml/hr of kalk.
 
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