Supplements???

[Aquariumfreak101]

Hey guys I'm wondering what supplements to use, I'm using purple up trying to maintain my calcium ,I also use the white bottle that's called fuel for trace Elements. I was gonna buy reef plus to cover nutrients
Amino acids and trace elements.i also saw fluval sea the 3 ions that maintains calcium, magnesium and strontium
And another that was for maintaining alkalinity and buffers the ph as well are these a good idea cuz I've heard that all this could be fixed by doing water changed often? I do a 25% change every month should I switch to 10% a week? I dunno give me some suggestions please

 

[Flreefer]

I would suggest just going with the frequent water change route. Just doing a 10% change weekly, with a good reef salt mix, would eliminate the need for all these supplements. You could possibly need to buffer once in a while, but that's about it. It's near impossible to supplement all these different levels correctly. All these levels are balanced in a salt mix, and this is the most effective, simplest way to maintain them.
Supplementing becomes confusing and expensive, and doesn't work nearly as well as a simple water change.
My tank is heavily stocked with coral and the only things I supplement are Ca, Alk, Mag. ( with a 2-part supplement) and a Ph buffer.
I've tried it both ways and trying to supplement everything, ends up feeling like your always chasing your own tail. It's much easier to just do water changes.

 

[Aquariumfreak101]

What do the nutrients, Amino acids and trace elements do in the reef plus for the aquarium? Or does the water changes cover that too?

 

[Aquariumfreak101]

What are the supplements you use for you cal,alk and mag

 

[Flreefer]

I'm not sure what you mean by nutrients. You would still need to feed your corals occasionally. They will also feed on some of the left over fish food and the undigested food passed through the fish.
For amino acids and other trace elements, a quality salt mix will have what is necessary.

 

[Aquariumfreak101]

I was using the regular instant ocean but I just started using instant ocean crystal reef is that any good?

 

[Flreefer]

Yeah, reef crystals is a decent salt mix. I usually alternate between that and Red Sea Coral Pro salt. I feel mixing up the salt mixes helps overall.
Some salts are higher or lower in certain things than others. I feel alternating helps the tank not get overwhelmed or too low in different parameters. Kind of the same principle as mixing up the foods that you feed your corals or fish.

 

[Aquariumfreak101]

cool thanks!

 

[Flreefer]

No problem, Best of luck!