DannyaFoster;928498 wrote: What kind of additives and chemicals do i need or would be highly suggested when starting a new reef tank?
Ringo®;928507 wrote: When starting? I wouldn't recommend anything other than water changes.
On the contrary, there are a couple of additives and chemicals that I highly recommend to anyone starting out a new tank.
1st would be a bottle of Seachem prime. You won't need to use it right away, but it is good to have on hand.
2nd would be a bottle of Seachem Stability. This is a great product that will help establish a tank with the needed bacteria. You don't have to use it, but I definitely recommend it. Follow the instructions on the bottle. You can start dosing this as soon as the tank is set up.
a note about the stability- I do not believe that you should start adding fish right away. It claims to eliminate "New tank syndrome". while I do believe that this is a great product, I think you still need to be sure that your tank is fully cycled before adding livestock.
What you really need is decent test kits. No API kits. Seachem kits are good.
And finally, do not dose anything that you are not testing for.
Ringo is correct about your tank not needing to be dosed with supplements as far as magnesium, calcium, iodine, alkalinity, strontium and molybdenum, etc. These should be at the correct level from your salt mix. You only dose them once you figure out how fast your tank uses them by testing to correct the desired levels in between water changes. Water changes are sufficient for keeping these levels in check for now.
