Reef Additives Question

[Titan Trigger]

Hi again,

I am kind of new to reef althought I had a nano reef before. There are so many different kinds of supplements for reef aquarium, can anyone give me a list of "bottles" that I need (brand suggestions if possible) for keeping corals in general and especially anemone?

Why do I need differnet kind of calcium supplements such as Kalkwasser mix and Kent Marine liquid calcium, for example?

I am a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks.
Titan Trigger

 

[Anonymous]

The general rule is that if you test the parameter and found that it is less than the requred level, you then get the bottle. Anemone is difficult to keep long-term even if you spend hundreds on additives. This is because they live in shallow area, and need lots of light. If you don't see any skeleton on the anemone, then it does not need very much calcium. In most incidence, you can keep the calcium at properly level by water change alone if there is no calcifiying coral and algae.

 

[Len]

To simplify it a bit, the only ones that I heartily endorse are the two part supplements such as B-ionic or C-balance. These''ll supply everything in natural "balance." Other additives can be used for corrective measures, but as ck said, should only be used if testing indicates they're neccessary. It's not a good idea to add additives blindly.