If you have a reef RSM, do you add Calcium and Alkalinity? If so, can you tell me how often, how much & what brand name supplement you are using?
I know the "correct" answer is I dose in accordance with my testing, but what I am wanting to know from those that have establish a pattern/fixed ratio over time, with a reef RSM, what is that?
How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Small extraction from above link & a good read.
Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity: What Method?
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The best way to supplement calcium and alkalinity is with some sort of additive system that provides them in the exact ratio at which they are depleted by corals. Many beginning aquarists don’t believe this opinion, or at least have started down the road of independent calcium and alkalinity additives because that is what the local store sold them, and are hesitant to believe the importance of changing. After all, they argue, I can closely monitor calcium and alkalinity with test kits, so why does it matter if I add them in a fixed ratio? Wouldn’t it be better to add exactly what I need when I need it?
That sounds good, but in practice many real world factors get in the way. For example:
1. Test kits do not always provide accurate results (through kit or human error).
2. Aquarists quickly tire of measuring water parameters, and slack off.
3. Accidental over- or under dosing is much more common than might be thought.
After answering many tens of thousands of reef aquarium chemistry questions for hobbyists over the past decade, it is clear that calcium and alkalinity problems dominate their chemistry concerns (with pH a close second).
This whole article by Randy Holmes-Farley (Author) is very good ! I think I am going to follow his suggestions as I start out with my coral & see how that goes... any opinions related to this train of thought?
Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping Online Magazine
Randy Holmes-Farley has a BA in chemistry and biology from Cornell University (1982) and a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University (1986). He has 57 patents, numerous publications and several awards in a variety of chemical fields. In 1992 he helped start a pharmaceutical company (GelTex Pharmaceuticals). It was eventually bought by Genzyme where he now has the title of Vice President, Chemical Research. Randy is also the co-inventor of two commercial pharmaceuticals (Renagel and WelChol).
Randy has been keeping reef aquaria for just over 10 years. He has been active on a variety of reef internet forums for that same period, and has been especially involved in chemistry-related discussions. For the past four years he has moderated The Reef Chemistry Forum at Reef Central. He has authored many reefkeeping articles with a chemistry emphasis for Fishnet, Aquarium Frontiers, Advanced Aquarists Online Magazine, and this one (Reefkeeping).
I know the "correct" answer is I dose in accordance with my testing, but what I am wanting to know from those that have establish a pattern/fixed ratio over time, with a reef RSM, what is that?
How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Small extraction from above link & a good read.
Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity: What Method?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The best way to supplement calcium and alkalinity is with some sort of additive system that provides them in the exact ratio at which they are depleted by corals. Many beginning aquarists don’t believe this opinion, or at least have started down the road of independent calcium and alkalinity additives because that is what the local store sold them, and are hesitant to believe the importance of changing. After all, they argue, I can closely monitor calcium and alkalinity with test kits, so why does it matter if I add them in a fixed ratio? Wouldn’t it be better to add exactly what I need when I need it?
That sounds good, but in practice many real world factors get in the way. For example:
1. Test kits do not always provide accurate results (through kit or human error).
2. Aquarists quickly tire of measuring water parameters, and slack off.
3. Accidental over- or under dosing is much more common than might be thought.
After answering many tens of thousands of reef aquarium chemistry questions for hobbyists over the past decade, it is clear that calcium and alkalinity problems dominate their chemistry concerns (with pH a close second).
This whole article by Randy Holmes-Farley (Author) is very good ! I think I am going to follow his suggestions as I start out with my coral & see how that goes... any opinions related to this train of thought?
Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping Online Magazine
Randy Holmes-Farley has a BA in chemistry and biology from Cornell University (1982) and a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University (1986). He has 57 patents, numerous publications and several awards in a variety of chemical fields. In 1992 he helped start a pharmaceutical company (GelTex Pharmaceuticals). It was eventually bought by Genzyme where he now has the title of Vice President, Chemical Research. Randy is also the co-inventor of two commercial pharmaceuticals (Renagel and WelChol).
Randy has been keeping reef aquaria for just over 10 years. He has been active on a variety of reef internet forums for that same period, and has been especially involved in chemistry-related discussions. For the past four years he has moderated The Reef Chemistry Forum at Reef Central. He has authored many reefkeeping articles with a chemistry emphasis for Fishnet, Aquarium Frontiers, Advanced Aquarists Online Magazine, and this one (Reefkeeping).
