This may be the most laughable ? I've asked but...

[Jackson919]

the mechanical filter I have set on the bulkhead to my external return pump trap all my additives (Kalk, Iodine, coral builder, etc.) because I would like to add these to the sump instead of directly to the tank. And then let the pump draw it up to the tank.

My skimmer draws and returns water on the other section of my sump so I don't have to worry about my additives being consumed by the skimmer.

I'm fairly new to reef keeping so be gentle............Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Just add whatever you are going to add down stream of the skimmer and you will be fine.

 

[Anonymous]

If the skimmer is doing such a good job, either it is a miracle device, or your additive is junk... am I gentle enough?

Welcome to RDO, if no one says it yet

 

[Jackson919]

Well I just want to make sure I can put my additives in the sump and not have to worry about the pump pre-filter trapping them....My skimmer is in the previous section of my sump where the water first enters the sump.

I've heard that the skimmer will remove all things from the water, not just bad things so I want to make sure I'm not wasting the additives, that is why I don't want the skimmer in the same chamber as my return pump. I also want to make sure the mechanical prefilter doesn't impact my supplementation as well.

Thaks.

 

[Ben1]

I've heard that the skimmer will remove all things from the water, not just bad things so I want to make sure I'm not wasting the additives, that is why I don't want the skimmer in the same chamber as my return pump. I also want to make sure the mechanical prefilter doesn't impact my supplementation as well.

Running a skimmer very wet may take out a small bit of trace elements witht he wet skimmate. Dont even think twice about it. The only think the keep out of the skimmers input is kalk. If you consantly were ripping kalk near the input of the skimmer pump you may end up frequently soaking the pump in vinager.

What additives are you using? The only needed additives would be CA/ALK.

I like kalk for both but if you need an additional boost on a larger tank a calcium reactor works well. If its a small/medium tank saliferts coral calcium is a good product. As is tropic marins bio-calcium. If additional buffer is needed baking soda will do the trick. All other trace elements should be replaced with your water changes. Iodine is found in a lot of frozen foods and is added with water changes so usually doesnt need to be used.

 

[Rikko]

Don't fret about mechanical filters pulling anything like that out - pretty much anything you add will be dissolved anyways and can't be trapped by a sponge. If you're feeding any kind of planktonic foods, they're still sufficiently fine that the finest sponge won't pull it out anyways - if it could, then you'd have a pretty abysmal flow rate through that filter material.

 

[Jackson919]

Thanks Everyone,
I have a 55 gallon tank with about 16 gallons in the sump. I have a PanWorld pump pushing 800 gph so the flow rate is very good.

I currently add some Kent marine reef builder, iodine, and SeaBalance A&B (until I set up my Kalk reactor). I bought test kits for Iodine so I may stop adding that becuase I do regular water changes and swap out about 1 gallon a day anyway.

Is that Kent marine coral reef builder any good?....I have a suspicion it's junk.

Thanks.