Additives For Reef Tanks

[waterwatereverywhere]

I'm planning a return to the reef world, having spent a couple of years back with FW. I just wanted to canvas people's opinions on what supplements if any they add to their reefs.

The tank is 47 UK gallons including the sump, and my normal schedule is to change 5 gallons a week. I've got my own RO unit. Do you think dosing is necessary, whether it's calcium, iodide, magnesium, whatever?

Thanks in advance

 

[SkiFletch]

With a low to moderate coral load, dosing on a tank of that size won't be necessary. If you pack the thing full of corals, you might want to look into a two part additive like B-ionic. The tank is almoast too small to warrant the use of a kalkwasser or calcium reactor. Dosing should ONLY be done on those parameters you can test for. Just blindly adding calc, alk, or mg suppliments without knowing levels and pH WILL bring a disastrous tank crash given enough time. Calc, Alk, and Mg are a delicate balance so you'll need to learn how to dose for them as you add corals.

BTW, to the salty side of things, hope you enjoy your stay

If you really want to understand more about chemistry and reasons behind dosing, this article on basic reef chemistry should be a good read

 

[pleder]

I dose with Ecosystems Reef Solution and with Seachem's Calcium.