Supplements

[newbie20]

New to the hobby with a 150 gal setup that's been running for about a month now, but first livestock was introduced about two weeks ago. Currently in the tank:
<ul>
<li>Large yellow tang</li>
<li>Pair of percula clowns</li>
<li>Pair of dottybacks</li>
<li>Green chromis</li>
<li>Pair of engineer gobies</li>
<li>Coral beauty</li>
<li>Oscellaris clown</li>
<li>Serpent star</li>
<li>Sand sifter star</li>
<li>Tiger tail cucumber</li>
<li>Fire shrimp</li>
<li>Cleaner shrimp</li>
<li>Various hermits/snails</li>
<li>About 10 heads of frogspawn</li>
<li>Frag of candycane</li>
<li>Frag of red monti</li>
<li>Frag of birds of paradise</li>
<li>5 red mushrooms</li>
<li>Some type of green zoas</li>
<li>Leather</li>
<li>Small anemone</li>
<li>150 lbs live rock</li>
<li>80 lbs aragonite reef grade sand</li>
</ul>Was given several bottles of supplements with the used setup I purchased. Most of them appear to be safe to add right now, and I was going to do them all as many are almost empty and I'm cleaning up. Here's what I have:
<ul>
<li>Kent Marine (KM) Essential Elements</li>
<li>KM Coral-Vite</li>
<li>KM Microvert</li>
<li>KM Chromaplex</li>
<li>KM Iodine</li>
<li>KM Stontium & Molybdenum</li>
<li>KM Tech M Magnesium Supplement</li>
<li>ProAquatics Water Conditioner</li>
<li>ProAquatics Bacteria Starter</li>
</ul>They're all recommended for new tanks or at water changes. My tank is new and I'm about to do my first water change. So, I thought that I'd add all of these after the water change unless there's something I'm missing.

Any feedback on these supplements would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[camellia]

I would hold off on everything except the water change.
That's a lot of livestock for a 4 week old set up. How are your water prams?
Sorry, I am not the right one to give advice on the supplements but I'm sure you will get some experienced reefers assistance soon.

 

[kilralpine]

Dont add what you cant test for, besides good water change habits will replenish most if not all of those.

Edit: That bacterial starter should have been added 4 weeks ago if you were going to add it I would think, if the tank is going right along its cycle just fine then I wouldn't worry about adding it.

 

[eagle9252]

Test your water. Way too much stuff at one time. Keep your ammonia down. Make sure you add stability as directed for a new tank setup to keep the bacteria growing . You might have to add prime to help with am. And you might have to do.water changes every 2 days to help control the am. Way too much bio load from the start.

 

[heathlindner25]

keep your eye on that anemone

 

[kf2008]

Do a good water change as that will replenish nutrients, and make sure % of water change is meaningful, ie, 10% to 20%.

As mentioned, you have a rather large bioload for a relatively new setup.....make sure your system setup is up to the task, particularly a skimmer.

 

[newbie20]

As I typed out the list, I realized how much there was for a "new" set up and felt that I'd probably hear something about it. I probably should have clarified that most of the setup was established in another tank that was being broken down. I simply "inherited" most of it and set it back up in my house. The only thing truly new is the sand.

Last tests for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite were at zero.

So, is it just better to trash this stuff and remain religious with water changes? Guess I felt adding it couldn't hurt, but maybe I was wrong.

Seems like a waste to discard everything, but maybe the products were a waste to begin with. Glad I didn't spend money on them if that's the consensus.

Thanks

 

[ripped tide]

Kent Marine (KM) Essential Elements- if you keep up with water changes, you likely won't need this, however if your tank has a high growth rate if stony corals(too soon to tell) it may help with coloration down the road.

KM Coral-Vite- more trace elements and what not. Water changes with a good salt should replace this product

KM Microvert - food source for corals, too soon to load the tank down with unnessrsary organic
KM Chromaplex- food source for corals, too soon to load the tank down with unnessrsary organic
KM Iodine- don't use unless you test for it an have a deficency. Water changes should keep iodine levels in check
KM Stontium & Molybdenum- probably un needed
KM Tech M Magnesium Supplement- good stuff. Test magnesium before you dose. 1350ppm is ideal
ProAquatics Water Conditioner- bah! If you use rodi water, this is un needed.
ProAquatics Bacteria Starter- never used it, but I assume it is beneficial bacterial strains. This is probably a good time to use this one.

 

[stickx911]

i use microvert when i feed. my corals do well from the increase in filter food available in the system, but it will dirty your water.
i dose iodine in small amounts if i notice my inverts molting in addition to a good waterchange.
so i wouldnt toss anything, just dont use unless needed. (you never know what needs may arise)

 

[newbie20]

Thanks so much for all the great advice. Definitely glad I posted. I'll hold off on doing anything until things are more established, but most importantly, when I'm a lot less dumb about this stuff.

 

[jef4y]

Wowzers.. Do yourself a favor now and start reading. You have a LOT to catch up on in understanding reef life. Not saying that you can't succeed here, but you're basically being dropped on the side of a 20k' mountain and told to "summit". It's gonna be tough.

Go through this sticky and the links in it as a starter:

 

[snowmansnow]

Slow it down.

 

[basscyn]

Newbie20;810417 wrote: Thanks so much for all the great advice. Definitely glad I posted. I'll hold off on doing anything until things are more established, but most importantly, when I'm a lot less dumb about this stuff.

Yep,
"too much too fast" is probably the first mistake we all make. In fact even going forward it is still hard to reign it in.

You have a lot going on there right out of the gate. I would not discard all the water conditioning supplements. Hang on to the in case you do need them. My focus now would be on basic husbandry, religous water changes and water testing.

but more importantly...where are the picks??:yes: