Live Rock Supplements

[Andrew Pastore]

Hi Everyone. I am new to the site and first, I just want to say I love it. I currently have a 45 gallon FOWLR setup becuse the fish I like tend to eat corals My question is, What supplements should I add to my tank to make coraline algae grow and look beautiful. I have understood by reading that I should keep Ca around 450, but what else if anything. I have read that strontium shoud be added too. Thanks

Andy

 

[Anonymous]

I have found dosing kalkwasser to do a wonderful job at getting nice coraline algae growth. In a 45 g fish only tank, it will be all you need to take care of calcium and alkalinity. I add a little kalkwasser to my FOWLR, because it does such a good job promoting nice coraline algae.

Or, the two part additives work well also, such as B Ionic. They are more expensive to use, but easier as you do not have to mix them up. If you do not have corals, you could get by with using not very much.

 

[Rikko]

I agree with Laura - calcium and alkalinity are the only two factors that everyone agrees on. They sell products like "Purple Up" which are supposed to accelerate coralline growth, but as far as I can tell it's just an alk booster.

Another option is to make your own two-part additive. It'll behave just like the B Ionic but will be cheaper - you just have to figure out the dosing yourself the first time around.

Calcium chloride will raise your calcium - it's the same stuff as in Kent's Turbo Calcium and some other products. You can get it as Dowflake and some other brands of salt-free ice melter (check packaging and phone the company to confirm exact chemical makeup if it's not Dowflake) - I managed to find it as "Spa Cal Calcium Hardness Increaser" at a pool store. They sell it to raise the hardness in hot tubs. It was 4 bucks and I still have half of it after a year.

For your alk you can use baking soda (warning: it'll drop your pH somewhat) or washing soda (warning: it'll raise your pH somewhat). Ideally, you mix the two (baking soda will buffer your water to around 7.9, washing soda will raise it to, I think, 12) and you can supplement your alkalinity without affecting your pH.