Help with Suplements in the Tank

[monacoplc]

Hi everyone,

I have a few questions about suplementing my reef tank. I recently started my reef tank and so far I have a few gorgonians, sun corals, a few clams and some LPS and softies. I will be adding lots of SPS in the future and I'm wondering about supplementing the tank.

I am not a big fan of additives and I have been trying to read as much as I could but I'm still very undecided. My tank is 130g with about 250lbs of live rock, a G2 skimmer and an UV (which I'll remove once the tank is older and a bit more mature). The tank has been running for about 5 months. I do a 20g water change weekly, sometimes doing 10g twice a week. I added the Solaris 20k lights and have purchased a 30g refugium with downdraft design but I haven't set it up yet (will do it after holiday).

I am trying not to use a calcium reactor since I like dosing the tank myself but my question is will I be able to pull it off keeping my calcium levels regular after I stock my tank with SPS corals? I'm dosing Ionic A and B 3 times a week right now and my calcium levels have been stable at 410-420ppm. I test for calcium everyday and before and after dosing and all levels habe been remaining constant.

Also, is there any need to add strontium, iodine and trace elements supplementation to the tank? I have not done it yet and I would like to keep it that way but for a heavy stocked tank will it be needed in the future? I do not test for Iodine so should I start doing it? Will the refugium alone be able to suplement the water with the vital elements needed (I'm planning on using black mud on my refugium)?

Also, does anyone also have a tank around my size and does not use a Calcium reactor and if so how do you manage your dosing with SPS corals? I'm just trying to figure out a way to maintain my tank without a Calcium reactor and mantain a healthy water composition for great coral growth and I'm not sure how achieve that :-)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The main thing you need to focus on is calcium and alkalinity, and there are several good ways to supplement them for a tank like yours (CaCO3/CO2 reactors, limewater, two part systems, etc).

Magnesium may need to be monitored, but don't dose unless you determine that you need it.

You likely need no other additives (I do not dose or recommend dosing or monitoring of iodine or strontium, for example), although I add iron for macroalgae and silicate for sponges/snails/etc.

This article has more on what to worry about and what not:

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters (a summary general article)
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm.

I describe the pros and cons of each in this article, and subsequent ones give more details on DIY two parts and limewater:

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[monacoplc]

Randy,

Thanks a bunch. I'll be going through the articles you mentioned and will be back with a few more questions :)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Good luck. :)