Addatives?

[Anonymous]

Ok so the last thing I have to figure out is if I want/need to put any addatives in my first reef. It's not set up yet, and I'm gonna go slow and do it bit by bit as recommended, working my way up to the more difficult stuff. Many of the species I'm putting together (mostly the corals and some of the inverts) have been recommended to get a supplement. For the time being, I need to stick with what I can buy off the shelf, no crazy homebrew stuff or weird reactors. Eventually, maybe.

Anyway, Calcium, of course was recommended.
And Iodine, Trace elements and something called 'strontium'

Sound good, whatchu think?

(Eventually: clown/BTA, glove polyp, button, devils hand, toadstool mushroom coral, colony polyp ... etc plus various crusties)

 

[Pamela]

If you use a two part calcium/buffer such as B IONIC, you can keep it simple because you won't need any other additives. Except maybe iodine, but that is a subject of much debate.

If you have a large system, you might want to consider a calcium reactor in the future. They are expensive to set up, but will pay for itself when you consider the cost of adding 2-part long term. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I think the only thing you need to add is Kalk, or get a Ca reactor. This along with water changes and feeding, should provide all the traces your tank needs.
I used to add all kinds of stuff. It cost money, and didn't seem to actually do anything. Now I add nothing but kalk (and a ca reactor will be online soon) and my tank is doing better than ever.

When a tank is new, it is easy to want to fix it by adding something we feel might be needed. However, new tanks simply have a shake down break in period and nothing you add will help more than time.

Remember, additives are pushed by the compainies making them, so they want you to buy them. A great rule of thumb is, if you don't test for it, don't add it.

IMO after salinity and temp, the most important things to test for on a regular basis are Alk and Ca.

A simple Kalk reactor is easy to make, cheap, and can be set up as an auto top off unit. All good things. A Ca reactor is great too, but more expensive, and you may not need depending on what you are keeping.
There is a lot on RDO about such devices, but I am sure people would be happy to answer questions!

 

[Anonymous]

B-ionic works great for calcium and alk. Its the easiest thing to start with, and some people use it on very large systems. I know of at least 2 stores that use it exclusively on all their systems.
As mentioned above, you don't need anything else, other than fishfood.

 

[Anonymous]

k thanks. I'll start with B-Ionic until I can get a reactor rolling.

 

[Anonymous]

Sir!

How big is your tank? If it is small, b ionic is fine for the long term. It just gets spendy on larger tanks.

 

[tazdevil]

Hwarang, watch it, the LFS's around here are pretty good at getting you to by potentially unnecessary additives. Iodine is hotly debated as many salt formulas already have it, and additional may not help your corals, only help the nuisance algae. Also, watch out for any cure for slime algae, or ich etc. that claims to be reef-safe. Several instances of coral deaths after adding "reef-safe" treatments.

 

[Anonymous]

I started with B Ionic and it was a great way for me to begin a calcium /alkanity regimen because it is easy to use, but boy the price sure does add up. I have used nothing but kalkwasser (actually pickling lime)for years and believe that it provides everything my reef needs.

 

[LauraH]

Count my as another that only uses calcium additives. I used to add Strontium, Potassium iodide and Lugols. They never seemed to make a difference one way or another.

 

[Anonymous]

looks like i stick to just the b-ionic.

my aquarium is going to be 30 gallons

 

[D]

Stick with B-Ionic it is a great product. I use it on my 44 and have never had a problem. I got mine at www.captivereefs.com on sale for $24.06

 

[Anonymous]

Hwarang:

fwiw, and my own $0.02

if you're going to go the additive route for a 30 gal tank, and don't want to, or don't feel comfortable using, kalkvasser(it can be dangerous if administered incorrectly), b-ionic is, imo, the way to go-it ensures that for every unit of Ca you replace, you also add the correct correspondingly proportionate amount of the various alk components.

think of it this way:

a coral is a mason trying to build a brick wall.for every brick he uses, he needs a certain and specific amount of mortar to ensure that the brick he adds will get a good strong and secure grab to the brick preceding it

the Ca is the brick, and the alk is the mortar :wink:

with a 2 part additive like b-ionic-you're always adding matching amounts of both-and w/a 30 gal system, it's not that costly to use

i'd also recommend, and cannot stress enough, (though some will disagree), the importance of water changes

w/c's are the simplest and easiest way to both remove bad things, and replace good things, to your system.

bad things are organic compounds we know are building up in a closed system, good things are trace elements that get depleted in a closed system

a general rule regarding all of the various 'snake oil' additives that populate 90% of all lfs's shelf space is 'if you can't/don't test for it-then don't add it-you have no way of knowing if you're adding too much

i would stromgly recommend that you do get a digital pH monitor, like the pinpoint probe-it's a very useful, relatively cheap, in the long run, tool, and can be quite the eye-opener as to how one of the most important processes of your system behaves(the pH swing from day to nite)

remember-less is more

also-try to use the most perfect water (rodi) as your source for making up your replacement water for fresh top off for evaporation/ & w/c's-that eliminates most of the battles right there

hth

 

[Anonymous]

vitz - thanks for the extended reply.

I have decided to only add b-ionic. I'm with you on the water changes. In fact, I'm somewhat of a water change freak with my freshwater planted tanks. It makes a big difference in how often the plants bloom, what/how much algae develops, etc. I use only RO water that I made myself, I purchased a nice RO unit about a year and a half ago. As far as snake oils, I also agree with you. Again, in my freshwater tanks, I add ***nothing*** especially not fertilize (i have a nice rich substrate for my rooted plants instead).

Thanks again for the detailed reply.

 

[kusanagiz]

i hear about smaller tanks 30-40 gallon. for a 60 gallon tank what's recommended? still going w/ the b-ionic route or w/ the kalk route? and if kalk route do you need to buy additional alkaline supplements?

 

[Anonymous]

i hear about smaller tanks 30-40 gallon. for a 60 gallon tank what's recommended? still going w/ the b-ionic route or w/ the kalk route? and if kalk route do you need to buy additional alkaline supplements?

up to about 75 gal tanks should be ok w/a 2 part additive

however...

it really depends more on the rate of uptake by the system

a 75 w/20 corals may suck up the Ca/alk too quickly for a 2 part additive to be cost effective, while a 100 gal tank w/one coral won't

i'd suggest starting out using the 2part (b-ionic), testing regularly, of course, and if and when you reach the stage where the uptake passes the rate you can dose for, then switch to a reactor

 

[kusanagiz]

i hear about smaller tanks 30-40 gallon. for a 60 gallon tank what's recommended? still going w/ the b-ionic route or w/ the kalk route? and if kalk route do you need to buy additional alkaline supplements?

up to about 75 gal tanks should be ok w/a 2 part additive

however...

it really depends more on the rate of uptake by the system

a 75 w/20 corals may suck up the Ca/alk too quickly for a 2 part additive to be cost effective, while a 100 gal tank w/one coral won't

i'd suggest starting out using the 2part (b-ionic), testing regularly, of course, and if and when you reach the stage where the uptake passes the rate you can dose for, then switch to a reactor

what are you using to test your Calcium/Alkaline levels?

as well any suggestionson reactors?

 

[Anonymous]

i use(d) and recommend lamotte kits, and i've never had a tank big enough, or with enough demand, to warrant a reactor

 

[Anonymous]

I would recommend you not use additives of any kind even calcium unless you first test for the need to add those additives.

 

[Juck]

:?