what additives are needed to have corals

[motorzrcook]

i am going to be ordering corals tonight and i want to know what additives i need to put in my water in order for the corals to grow and thrive, i will mostly be having zoos, sps, frags, thank you.

 

[ivan_dalmatia]

Go with Marc wise, " coral vital" and at the same time purple up by caribsea

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Nothing, water changes will supply your elements. Don't add anything that you don't test for. As for coral food nothing, when you get going and do some research then maybe. I add nothing but heard good things about aquavito.

 

[bill302]

water test kits are needed to check salinity, ph, ammonia, nitrate, phosphates, alkalinity and calcium most of these can be done at your lfs for free they need to be kept in range. a 10 percent water change approx. every 10 days with a good salt mix will keep them in spec....also proper lighting is needed as well.

 

[Mebbid]

The only additives you need to keep most corals are h2o, a salt mix, and light.

They really are rather undemanding.

Go with Marc wise, " coral vital" and at the same time purple up by caribsea

Avoid purple up like the plague. I've seen dozens of people on these forums have major problems because of it. It does absolutely nothing that a good water change wont do better.

As for coral vital, I would like to +1 the post about never adding anything thaat you don't test for. A good water change has every element that your corals need.

 

[Holygral]

Nothing but water changes and good husbandry, and only what your tank and equipment will support and NOT what you want

 

[Sniperhank]

i am going to be ordering corals tonight and i want to know what additives i need to put in my water in order for the corals to grow and thrive, i will mostly be having zoos, sps, frags, thank you.

Just water changes. You would need a heavily stocked tank of SPS to even need to consider additives. All they do is overload the levels in the tank and can lead to deaths and even tank crash without even knowing. Never add anything without testing for it is a great rule of thumb.

Besides avoiding additives, how is your lighting? If you are aiming at SPS you need pretty intense lighting and that would be the biggest hump you'd be looking to get over.

 

[Nosaj81]

lol with a lot of lps, sps you will need calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity, and water changes with that said you would have to test the water to see what is being depleted and add from there

 

[melosu58]

I agree with just pwc's. The only one you might need is calcium if you use instant ocean.

 

[bskerrichard27]

I use calcium alkalinity and magnesium from bulk reef I have a mildly stocked mixed 55 gallon sps lps reef.