Supplements

Hellow guys now today my question is what are the magor supplements you need to maintain a reeftank i know you need calcium,magnesium and alkanity is there anything else you need?

 

Thats it. The others are all contained in a good salt mix and are taken care of with normal water changes. Even the big three are not needed unless you have a huge SPS and/or LPS quantity and regular testing shows you have a demand for them. Never ever, and I cannot stress this enough, never add anything you first do not test for on a regular basis and second know it is in fact depelted and necessary for the health of your system. Most supplements are very close to snake oil and a huge profit item for the LFS and manufacturers. Keep it simple.

 

Agreed, I used to use a whole bunch of additives that I did not need what so ever.
Snake Oil is the phrase I'd also use to describe most additives and supplements out there.

 

If you run alot of macro's or a algae scrubber you may have to think about iron. Mine tends to need a dose about once a week.

 

Thanks for the heads up

 

I only dose Alk (in top off water) and if I miss a water change magnesium and calcium. Other than that a good water change schedule will do the deed

 

I dose Ca and Alk with BRS dosers. I do Mg weekly or bi-weekly by hand, as needed. I top-off with a weak kalkwasser mixture to help maintain the Ca and Alk levels, and keep my pH up since my tank is in the basement with not a lot of fresh air. The last thing I use is Brightwell's Coral Amino. I dose about 15 drops twice a week. In my opinion, it helps the color of the corals. Who knows, it could be snake oil, but I use it.