Adding Suppliments/testing water

[ConanTheLibraia]

I hear a lot about people adding calcium, and suppliments and stuff like that in their tanks. Seems costly and confusing, I am wondering what is necessary, what is good, and what is not needed in suppliments and such. In what conditions would you need certian suppliments? For a 55 gallon with live rock with fish such as clowns, (nothing advanced) what would you need? Also, what are the water parameters you need to worry about in a saltwater tank? This would all be just for a standard, 55 gallon, nothing really special or advanced in it.

[BillyZ]

for you basic SW tank, LR and fish if you buy a good quality salt for your water it will already have PH balancers and Calcium in it and should be all you need to worry about.

For the kind of tank you describe, here are the things you should always keep an eye on:

Temperature: 81/82f
Salinity: 1.023
PH: 8.1/8.2
Amonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: as close to 0 as you can get

you really only need a minimum of calcium in your water for LR, as I stated above, if your using a good brand of salt it will already have calcium and PH buffers in it for you.

[ConanTheLibraia]

Any ideas on what would be the best kind of salt to buy? Also, what are methods to keep nitrates down? In all my freshwater tanks they have always been at a lower level but never have been a problem because saltwater fish are much more sensitive to nitrates than freshwater, am I right?

[BillyZ]

I use "Reef Crystals" myself. I also hear that "Instant Ocean" is a good brand. Hopefully another member or two will chime in here with their opinions on a good salt brand as I'm still somewhat new myself and have only used the one brand so far myself.

As far as keeping nitrates down, most importantly is adiquate filtration. A good DSB and plenty of LR will do that for you. Secondly is regular water changes will help keep them down.

[BrianH]

I use IO.

Brian

[d9hp]

IO here

[Hara]

Reef Crystals is supposedly designed more for reef systems, the Instant
Ocean for all around use...at least that is what I was told.
I use IO.

[stresco]

IO...but i also use 15Ml B-Ionic every 3 to 4 days to keep the Ca and Dkh up.

[ConanTheLibraia]

So when you perform a saltwater water change, do you just fill up the tank with pre-mixed and conditioned saltwater?

[HoopsGuru]

Yep, I have identical bucket with different gallon amounts marked. I remove a certain amount and replace with premixed water that has been aerated overnight.

[ConanTheLibraia]

Sweet, I assume since it is very hard to get the right amount of salinity, you just get it as close possible?

[loganj]

Alkalinity is another water parameter you'll want to watch. It needs to be at least 3.5 meq/L. I also use IO salt.

[BillyZ]

when pre-mixing your water for a water change it is best to use a heater and powerhead in the BUCKET of the new water to bring the bucket of water up to the SAME temperature as the water in your tank. Then use a hydrometer to measure the tank water and the new water as you add the salt. be sure to let the salt disolve completely before checking the salinity (the powerhead in the bucket will help with this). once the bucket water and the tank water are the same temperature and salinity you can go ahead and change your water.


Seems like everyone is using Instant Ocean. Does anyone know where to get more information than "contains vitamins and trace elements" for both reef crystals and instant ocean? I want specifics!