Which additives and which dosing pump?

[pomme]

Which additives and which dosing pump?

I am thinking of using these additives in my reef tank for coral food and water quality. They will be dosed by a dosing pump from a small resevoir in the stand, but from reading the kent marine catalogue i will have to have four resevoirs.

1- Coral vite, from 5 to 20 ml a week.

2- Coral accel, from 35 to 140 ml a week.
Chroma plex, from 5 to 20 ml a week.
Phyto plex, from 50 to 20 ml a week.

3- Micro vert, from 5 to 15 ml a week.

4- Zoo plex, from 5 to 20 ml a week.

I will also add Tech m too kepp the magnesium up around 1440.
And also will be using talk as a top-up so this should keep calcium and alkalinity in the right place.

I have also seen and been using the kent marine, iodine, iron, strontium and molfbdenum. I was thinking of stopping using these as i would of thought the levels would have stayed up with water changes? Or should i keep dosing in these?

Are there any other additives i should add?

I have been thinking of starting to add live phyto, which i will start doing in small amounts after christmas.

Whth food for the fish is it alright to thaw out a frozen block and leave it in a sealed container with the live phyto and add it using a dosing pump to the tank? Like what andrew caine and mark howarth did in marine world issue 13?

also what pump would be good for these jobs as i have heard the stm ones are good as they do small doses which i would be looking for, or maybe one of the iks ones?

as in 3 of the four to five resevoirs i will only be dosing 5 to 20 ml a week! so only 1 ml a day.So could you guys recomend any good pumps for the job?

Thanx andrew

 

[steve-s]

For most additives like these you will find that dosing pumps will not be a benefit since most cannot be mixed.

1- Coral vite, from 5 to 20 ml a week.
2- Coral accel, from 35 to 140 ml a week.
Chroma plex, from 5 to 20 ml a week.
Phyto plex, from 50 to 20 ml a week.

I would not recommend using either of these products. I have found personally that they do litttle for growth and often increase the nutrient level leading to algae issues.

3- Micro vert, from 5 to 15 ml a week.
4- Zoo plex, from 5 to 20 ml a week.

With these two it will moreso depend on what you are feeding and will the food size be of any benefit. I am a firm believer in the use of phytoplankton but personally I prefer the live or frozen cultured cells not the shelf stable. Phyto does not just benefit soft corals and bi valves. It will also indirectly benefit the carnivorous corals by bolstering the pod populations in which they can feed from. DT's live phytoplankton or LiquidLife Bioplankton are good choices. For meat eaters, you might have better success with blender mush. You can control what is in the food and also ensure it is properly fortified without unneccessary additives that will increase pollutants.

I will also add Tech m too kepp the magnesium up around 1440.
And also will be using talk as a top-up so this should keep calcium and alkalinity in the right place.

This is fine but be sure you test before you add. Often the saltmix will replace some and you just need to make up for the shortfall many saltmixes seem to have.

I have also seen and been using the kent marine, iodine, iron, strontium and molfbdenum. I was thinking of stopping using these as i would of thought the levels would have stayed up with water changes? Or should i keep dosing in these?

I would not suggest using any of these if you are doing regular water changes. The only way to be sure is to test these items and that can get pretty $$. It has also been proven that they can be much more harmful than beneficial if the levels go beyond the NSW levels. Strontium in particular will actually interfere with getting an accurate reading on Mg if elevated beyond 250ppm.

Are there any other additives i should add?

You will find for the most part aside from the feedings, water changes and necessary alk/Ca additions to maintain the chem; nothing else is really needed.

Whth food for the fish is it alright to thaw out a frozen block and leave it in a sealed container with the live phyto and add it using a dosing pump to the tank? Like what andrew caine and mark howarth did in marine world issue 13?

Both of these items are highly perishable and unless you can keep them at a constant cold temp, I would not suggest this. If the time frame for feeding is under an hour, you should be fine but I would not suggest mixing the two until you are ready to feed or at least leave them in the fridge to keep the proper temp until nearing feeding time. I would not suggest keeping them pre-mixed in the fridge as a ready to use item. Only mix in preparation to feeding.

also what pump would be good for these jobs as i have heard the stm ones are good as they do small doses which i would be looking for, or maybe one of the iks ones?
as in 3 of the four to five resevoirs i will only be dosing 5 to 20 ml a week! so only 1 ml a day.So could you guys recomend any good pumps for the job?

If you do a google search for dosing pumps there are maany options. I have never used them so cannot properly recommend one...

Cheers
Steve

 

[pomme]

cool yeah thanx for the advice steve,
i put the aditives in blocks of one to four. As the ones in ech block can be added together, so this only applies to block two.

yeah decided not to add the other additvies except the ones in my blocks one to four.

and also tech m which i am keeping an eye on with a test kit?

thanx andrew

 

[steve-s]

and also tech m which i am keeping an eye on with a test kit?

You should monitor the magnesium levels when using the Tech M. Maintained between 1300-1500ppm will help insure you do not have issues with the alk/Ca balance. Even though using kalkwasser to maintain the chem you may still need seperate forms of buffer and/or CaCl, so be sure that you have the proper test for those as well as keeping the extra additives on hand. Kent Turbo Ca and Superbuffer are great when needing to tweek the levels. You may have your own preference, that is just a suggestion.

Cheers
Steve

 

[pomme]

yeah i have kent dkh buffer and tech m and liquid calcium which i use if i need to tweek the test results.