By multi tester, I think you mean the little dip sticks.. Those are a bunch of crap. Save your money and get a good "drip" test kit. I use http://www.seraessentials.com/product.cfm?id=4004">this one </a>and have for years with no problems. It is easy to store, last a long time and has been reliable. You really will not use the copper in it or the iron but I like the carry case because I go to people's homes a lot. Anyways... You NEED a Ammonia test, NO2 and NO3 test, a Calcium test, A PH test, and an Alk test. It is always nice to have a Mag test down the road too. For PH, I really recommend looking into getting some sort of digital PH meter. You can find one fairly "cheap" on e-bay like [IMG]http://cgi.ebay.com/Hanna-pHep4-Digital-pH-temp-Waterproof-Meter-Tester_W0QQitemZ180233887851QQihZ008QQcategoryZ26230QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem">this</a> or you can really save your pennies and go with some sort of aquarium controller for about $300 that controls everything and watches your PH. Other then that, You really should be looking at a [IMG]http://cgi.ebay.com/Salinity-Salt-Refractometer-Aquarium-Hydrometer-ATC_W0QQitemZ120248794363QQihZ002QQcategoryZ11876QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem">Refractometer</a> to monitor your salt level in your tank.
Ok so what all does this stuff do?!?
Well, you want you salt lever (SG) to be around 1.023-1.025. This will make for happy crabs, shrimp and soft corals. Following the directions on the package is fine for a fish only tank but not for a reef. It will put your salt level at 1.020-1.021 which is a little low for crustations and corals.
You want your PH to be between 7.8 and 8.4 but anything in that range is really ok.
You want your Ammonia to read 0, you want your NO2 to read about 0, and you want your NO3 to read about 10. That is right, I said about 5-10 (NOT 0)! You are keeping a softie tank and they need some NO3 to eat, that is the food you are going to feed them. Anything above 20 though is too much.
You want you Calcium to be about 360 for a soft coral tank and you want your Alk to be about 10-12 dKh. You want you Mag to be about 1200-1300.
Now if all this sounds like Greek to you, let me know and I can start pointing you to a few places you are going to want to read up on. You should not really be adding anything that you can not test for. So by adding purple up, you need to be able to test for Calcium/Alk/Mag. Those three go together.
Now, Your tank really has no need for strontium and molybdenum. None, Zip, Zilch. Save your money because it is not doing soft corals any good. You really have no need for iodine either. Writing the reason why would take me about three pages so lets just agree that you do not need it. Your water changes will add most, if not all, the iodine that you will need. So save your money, pluse, you could not test for it (you can but the test is expensive) so you should not be adding it! ;) They Phytoplex is ok, but there are better, cheaper solutions out there and your soft corals really do not need phyto. The purple up is really not needed. So basically, we just threw most all your stuff out the window. The calcium and the purple us can stay till you run out of it but do not buy any more. I would switch to Seachem products, they are easier to dose, work well together and are a biut cheaper.
Here is what you should be dosing:
[B][I][IMG]http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ReefPlus.html">Reef Plus</a></em> [/B]- Has a full spectrum supplement of trace components and beneficial amino acids. It may be used as a food supplement.
[B][I][IMG]http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ReefComplete.html">Reef Complete</a></em> [/B]- Designed to restore and maintain calcium to levels found in natural seawater without affecting pH
[B][I][IMG]http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ReefCalcium.html">Reef Calcium</a></em> [/B]- Intended to maintain calcium in the reef aquarium without altering pH
[B][I][IMG]http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ReefAdvCalcium.html">Reef Advantage Calcium</a></em> -[/B] Designed to restore and maintain calcium levels found in natural seawater. Calcium and carbonates are essential to all coral growth. (Powdered form of Reef Calcium)
[B][IMG]http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ReefBuilder.html">Reef Bulider </a>-[/B] Raises carbonate alkalinity without immediately impacting on pH. With long term use, it maintains pH at 8.3
Qty Description 2 Tbl [I]Reef Plus</em> twice a week 2 Tbl [I]Reef Complete</em> twice a week 2 Tbl [I]Reef Calcium</em> twice a week 1 Tbl [I]Reef Advantage Calcium</em> added to each gallon of makeup water during the 2nd and 4th weeks of the month. 1 Tbl [I]Reef Builder</em> added to each gallon of makeup water during the 3rd week of each month.
Follow that above for two months and I gaurentee results. Now if you do not have the lights, it might be hard for the purple to grow and you might need to introduce some purple rock in there to "seed" the tank, but it will come on its own if the system is balanced.
From the sounds of things you have PC lights. There are 5 main types:
Normal Output lights (NO)- These look like standard florescent lights like you see in an office building or that you get from Petsmart. They are not good for ANYTHING in saltwater and if that is what you have, that is the reason you can not get that purple color on your rocks.
Very High Output (VHO) lights- A bit better then Normal Output lights but far from what is going to get you a reef tank. You would be able to keep some soft coral but mostly only good for fish only systems.
Power Compact lights (PC)- About the same as VHO lights but in a more compact package and bulb. You can keep most soft corals under PC lights and some LPS corals.. Purple will appear on rocks but it will be a slow process...
T-5 lights- These look like little florescent tubes and are VERY bright. They work well for all types of reef tanks depending on how many bulbs you have.
Halide lights- Look like a light bulb (sometimes might look like just a 2" double ended bulb). VERY high output and very hot. You can keep most anything you want with these.
Most people use either T-5 or Halide lighting or a combo of both.
Hope all this helps...
