additives

[RandyG]

I have a 54 gal. corner reef tank and is about 7 months old, I currently add calcium, iodine, and stronium, is there anything else I should be adding for my corals?

 

[Woodstock]

Usually, regular water changes will replace all needed requirements. If you have a high ca demand from yoru corals, then using either kalkwasser or a 2 part ca/alk will take care of that. Be careful adding any supplement to your tank without testing...overdosing is very dangerous.

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary!

Randy - what types of corals are you keeping? SPS, LPS, softies, mixture? What are your water parameters? Is your alkalinity balanced with your calcium? Have you tested magnesium? I think it is important for any dosing, to monitor your levels and how the additives effect those levels. But testing, IMO, is very important when adding supplements - monitor overdosing, & to make sure you are adding the appropriate amounts.

 

[cheeks69]

Yes I agree with Doni ! Iodine can be very toxic if overdosed and the testing is difficult.

RHF:

Iodine dosing is much more complicated than dosing other ions due to its substantial number of different naturally existing forms, the number of different forms that aquarists actually dose, the fact that all of these forms can interconvert in reef aquaria, and the fact that the available test kits detect only a subset of the total forms present. This complexity, coupled with the fact that no commonly kept reef aquarium species are known to require significant iodine, suggests that dosing is unnecessary and problematic.....

I do not recommend that aquarists supplement strontium unless they have measured strontium and found it to be depleted to below 5 ppm. Measuring and supplementing strontium is not a critical activity for most aquarists, and is not a trivial exercise since the available test kits can be difficult to use (see below).

In some recent tests, I found that in my reef aquarium, without any recent strontium additions, strontium was already elevated above natural levels (to 15 ppm due to elevated strontium in the Instant Ocean salt mix that I was using). I would not like to see it get any higher. Consequently, adding a supplement without knowing the aquarium's current strontium level is not advisable. Scientific evidence indicates that some organisms need strontium, albeit not the organisms that most reef keepers maintain. Certain gastropods, cephalopods, and radiolaria, for example, require strontium.18-34 It is, however, clearly toxic at elevated concentrations. In one reported case, 38 ppm was enough strontium to kill a particular species of crab (Carcinus maenas).34 No evidence indicates that 5-15 ppm strontium is harmful to any marine organism, although it is not known what strontium levels are optimal. Finally, anecdotal evidence from a number of advanced aquarists suggests that strontium that is substantially below natural levels is detrimental to the growth of corals that many aquarists maintain, but this effect has not been proven.Overall, water changes with a salt mix containing a suitable level of strontium may be the best way to keep strontium at appropriate levels.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

 

[SZHTTM]

Some information about RandyG's tank in the link below...

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7370