Additives??

I just started a saltwater tank, but I got my water tested at the fish store today when I went with my friend. They told him that his nitrates are to high and his ph is low.

1. They told him that he needs cc in his tank and not sand because sand doesn't keep the ph stable. I have sand in my tank, should I put cc in my sump under the sand that I am going to put in there? What does everyone else do that has sand?


2. He needs to add some kind of enzymes in a bottle to his tank everytime he changes the water. Does anybody else do this?


I was wondering what some people put in there tank every week, every water change, every month, or how ever often to keep the fish and everthing else health. I mean like additives. ex: purple up, enzymes, nutrients, ect.

 

1.) That is a false statement. You do NOT need crushed coral. Your PH is mostly determined by the type of salt you add to your tank. (mostly sure of this not 100 % positive)
2.)Enzymes in a bottle huh? The LFS must want to make lots of money off of your friend (not required)
3.) Read this thread we discussed this about 2 months ago. Some of the posts are interesting. (the short and sweet of it is) A little more than half of the people dose supplements occasionally or not at all.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/3reef-site-polls/do-you-dose-supplements-34189.html
Always test before you add. There are common ingredients you can use to adjust your parameters if needed. Most of the time they are not. If you do regular water changes the salt you add to your water contains most of what you will need. If you have an high demand for calcium. Then there are calcium reactors, kalswasser (limewater) and other stuff you can do. But, that doesn't usually happen until you have a mature tank with LOTS of sps corals.
My 2 cc's of aquarium water

Jim

 

Is it a reef or fowlr? In a reef IMHO I would avoid CC. CC Adds to the care and cleaning of a tank

 

Some salt mix is a little low on calcium

 

1) I agree that you should stay away from crushed coral. It serves little purpose other than something to look at and a place to trap detritus and nasties. Ultimately, this becomes a nitrate factory..which is a bad thing, especially in a reef tank. As for buffering capability, I wouldn't count on either sand or crushed coral for this task. If your system gets to a pH level low enough that the substate would start to dissolve and act as a buffer, your livestock would be history anyway.

2) I've never heard of the enzymes in a bottle. I would be curious to see what they are trying to sell on this one. A good synthetic sea salt mix should contain just about everything you need to add during a water change.

I personally change about 15% of my system's water every 2 weeks and drip kalkwasser (saturated limewater..great source of Ca and Alk) 24x7. I also add Salifert Amino Acid once a week for the health, coloration and growth of my SPS corals. Other than that, I might add some ESV Mg suppliment should my magnesium start to slide below 1250, and a touch of iron every now and then when the macro algae in my refugium seems to be slowing it's growth.

Of course, almost every person in this hobby does things a bit differently. Take your time and find what works for you! Avoid spending tons of money on additives..we all make this mistake early on and learn that most of them aren't needed in the long run.

Happy reefing!

 

My tank is a fowlr tank.

 

Sorry, happy fowlr-ing?

 

Do you check your calcium, alkalinity, hardness and buffering capacity? These all relate to pH. I would check these parameters before adding anything to your tank. If your calcium is low and you don't want to use Kalk. then there are plenty calcium supplements with buffers that will help maintain a pH of 8.3 or so. Kent marine and Seachem make some of these products. You might also want to make up a fresh batch of SW and check the pH and calcium levels. If they are low I would switch brands although the chemistry of each batch of salt can vary widely as some studies on this subject have shown.

 

Your tank is a FOWLR? If so, you dont really need to dose anything. The corals require different chemicals to be able to thrive and come out more. Reef tanks require far more attention and more investment than FOWLR's. FOWLR's would require good filtration and protection against ammonia spikes and nitrate spikes.

I have read a lot, the things to check constantly in an FOWLR is pH, amm, nitrite and nitrates. A basic test kit for FO is available everywhere.

As for the enzymes to "add" each water change, there is a product available to "expedite" the cycling process. It's NitroMax made by Tropical Science, it's pretty good for young tanks. I still use it every water change until my tank grows a little older. But, you really dont need it if you purchase LS, LR and use Catalina water to jump start the tank.

 

You mean, SuperBuffer dKH to stabilize pH? ;D