What to throw away

[jeep9783]

Ok i am sure that every one does this a little different, my question is every thing that is on the market for calcium, mag, ph, alk, iodine, etc....
what are the nessary chemicals to keep in the drawer for min clutter meaning what do i need to have to keep my reef running (clam, zoas, bubble coral, mushrooms, and some sps) i have been the sucker and ran and bought every thing on the market, just tell me what brand and what to have and the easiest dosing for my setup 33cube with 10 gal sump 1800gph and 400watts

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[glxtrix]

personally I have my calcium and alk mix, epsom salts for Mg, pickeling lime for kalk and my salt. I occ. add Strontium and Iodide, but its not that I keep that as a fill time use product. many people will make their own chemicles, and many wont, i guess it all depends on how dedicated you are or how easy you want the whole process to be. To say whats the best is a debate I dont feel like getting into, there are many products out there that work for specific needs.

 

[jeep9783]

so what do i need to be concerned about when it comes to biweekly dosing? every time i say what i do to another person it is well dont use that or u need to use this and it just makes no sense, what do u have to have and for what purpose? Example: Iodine, i was told to add 2 drops a week, then i have been told that is the reason that my frogspawn kicked the buckett, then i was told that u have to have it followed by u should never dose that b/c u don't have anything that needs it

 

[jeep9783]

sps meaning heavy demand or what, from all this stuff out there and people looking way to deep into it what do i need to have a good grow out for something to trade and to sit back and enjoy the hobby and not have to have a doctors degree to decifer what i need to do

 

[glxtrix]

in my current reef tank, a 15g, I dose daily tho the kalk helps with this and I have a heavy SPS dom tank. I use to have 3 clams in there as well and I'ld go thu calcium and alk like crazy! I depleate about 40ppm of calcium in 1 day, but thats not really relative to anything, its all based on your tank, whats inside and if you have corals that demand calcium and alk. I guess thats why I love my anemone tank so much, I dont dose anything in that tank. When you get into iodine/iodide, strontium and all those other chemicles other than CA and ALK, youre gonna have people sayin different things, again its very dependant on your tank and how your tank goes thu those specific chemicles. Generally you dont need to add them because most salt mixes will have enough in the mix to maintain those levels, but like I said it all depends on what you have. Heavier SPS tanks will obviously go thu CA and ALK faster than an low SPS tank. If you have softies, your tank wont have a high CA demand, it really all depends on what you want to keep and how you go upon setting up your tank to accomodate those needs. If you dont want to go thu the dosing deals, get a kalk reactor or a calcium reactor if you plan on having a tank that will go thu CA and ALk. If you plan to have mainly softies, just dose as you need. jsut test and test often and add chemicles slowly, you dont get anywhere in reef keeping by doing things too fast.

 

[jeep9783]

what are u using for the alk and what brand and size kalk would u recommend?

 

[FutureInterest]

For alk, I use baking soda... or rather I used to use baking soda. Now I just dose my top off with kalkwasser for both calcium and alk. The best brand to get is Mrs. Wages pickling lime from your local grocer... It's cheap food grade kalkwasser.

Since I don't do a lot of water changes I do need to supplement on occassion. The only things I really pay attention to these days though is iron and magnesium which I dose when needed.

 

[glxtrix]

Personally I make my own 2 part addatives, which can be found here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm</a>

As far as Kalk goes I use Mrs Wadges Pickling Lime, looks like this:

[IMG]http://reefshow.com/html/mrswages_1857_1957670.gif">http://reefshow.com/html/mrswages_1857_1957670.gif</a>

can be found at Kroger in the fresh fruit area and other various stores. I'ld highly suggest you read all you can find on dosing kalk, it has a very high Ph and there always the chance of too much getting in your tank and very bad things will happen, ask around on the forums and there are a few people who will tell you their stories. Read, read and when you think you understand it, read it again. Alright maybe I'm making it out to be a lil scarier than what it actually is, but it can crash your tank so please be careful. As far as a system for it, I'll reccommend making one, there is a very simple DIY one that many people make and have had great success with it, Sammy posted a great lil thread on one:

[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1989">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1989</a>

If you have any more questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[jeep9783]

where excatly can i get a mag test and iron and all that stuff like that, well everything thing except the basics, so kalkwasser replaces calcm and alk? so no more buying expensive purple up?

 

[FutureInterest]

Personally I think purple up is junk... It's just a CaCO3 supplement with added trace minerals. You'll get the same coraline growth results from adding kalk to your tank. Also a lot of people have reported that purple up contains phosphates which is one thing you want to limit in your tank. Try following its directions for a 5 gallon bucket of RO/DI water and test phosphates to see if your bottle has the same issue.

As for test kits, try any decent local or online vendor. I get most of my drygoods from premiuim aquatics, and a few things from the LFS.

 

[glxtrix]

Ive never used an iron test kit so I cant help you there, mag you can get at some LFS's if not you can get all the ones you want online, I'ld suggest salifert kits, they are the most precise, but I'm sure there are arguments there as well, yes they will run you a lil more but rest assure you'll have very close on point measurments. One thing to remember kalk doesnt as much add CA and ALk as much as it maintains it, so I guess to a degree it kinda adds it, but keep in mind you will have to get your CA and ALK levels correct befor dosing with kalk. Its always good to have some sort of CA and ALK supps around so you can adjust accordingly. I'ld reccommend making those 2 part addatives, extremely easy to make and its a whole lot cheaper than buying them. As far as purple up goes, I personally think its a great product, I've never heard of the phosphate issues but I supose it could be true. You shouldnt need to add it anymore besause the when maintaing your levels will help promote coraline to grow, you could always add a lil here and there, but just make sure you monitor your CA values.

 

[ouling]

Chris you can get the Magnesium test kit from most saltwater fish stores. It's a bit expensive, like 1$2-$15 but it does help from time to time (i use it alot) Iron test kit and additives you don't really need for your tank, i never use it.

 

[cameron]

Currently, I use pickling lime (kalkwasser), RC salt, SeaChem ReefComplete and SeaChem ReefPlus. ReefPlus isn't necessary, but I have seen better growth in my corals with it. I stopped dosing Iodide after doing some research from Randy which basically showed it doesn't really do anything in aquaria... at least provable. ReefPlus contains a little as does my salt so hopefully I am getting some anyway. ReefComplete is on my short list for things to go as I have been lazy about installing my calcium reactor.

 

[jeep9783]

so all kalkwasser does is maintain cal levels and alk levels or does it add it, and in what amount to i need to add the kalk?

 

[FutureInterest]

It is better used for maintenence than to actually raise levels. It can be used to raise levels though as I've done it many a time.

Anyways its a complicated topic to some degree and you should do some research on it to make sure you do it right instead of asking us noobs what to do . Here is an article that I found especially helpful:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php</a>

If Randy writes it, its typically worth reading.

G'luck.

 

[jeep9783]

thank u very much...rep left all

 

[glxtrix]

that is a very good read. I use kalk to help maintin the levels of CA and ALK, I dont trust it to raise them, I have mine setup thu my auto top off, some people drip kalk all day long, some drip it only at night. There is no right or wrong way to use it, well unless you dump it in your tank then i guess that would be wrong. Just remember if you dont have a sump or fuge for this to drip into, make sure its going into your tank at a place with a high flow area and drips slow! Mine drips directly into my 15g with above the PH for my skimmer, that way it can get sucked in thu there and hopefully get dispursed a bit in the skimmer. In the past I use to ahve it drip right above a PH and had no issues, just make sure you add an RO valve on it so you can control the flow. IMO make sure you have the valve befor the kalk solution, sometimes kalk can build up and clog the lines and if you have that plastic valve after the kalk bottle you can clog up the line very easily.

 

[jeep9783]

so ounce i get 450ppm on cal then use kalk to keep it there or do i still need to dose cal, and one more thing what is an easy way to rid phosphates?

 

[glxtrix]

kalk will help reduce phosphates, its not going to be 100% effective, but it'll help. As far as CA goes, thats kinda high and you'll be close to precipitating CA, I usually aim for 440 or lower.

 

[jeep9783]

Thank u very much