Strontium

[nate_mcnasty]

what is it and do i need it? what dose it improve?

[cbrownfish]

It is one of many elements in sea water. Hard to test for accurately, so most stay away. As I understand it, there is no real evidence that corals or a marine tank benefit from dosing. Some indicate that dosing seems to get coralline algae to grow quicker/better. Strontium falls under the advanced-reefer-master-tinkerer category.

[prow]

you will get enough strontium with normal water changes no need to worry about it, IMO. its important for shells and molluscs development. its a bit of an enigma in that it has direct and indirect effects on Ca+. it helps with regulation of Ca+ flux, used to regulate what goes through the epithelia. it also has anabolic activity that also is used to regulate Ca+. so its used for both intake and out put of Ca+ but not directly in all cases. this usually results in a self balancing act. is it necessary to dose, in most cases no. its more of a back up "provides extra adaptability, kinda" in one aspect. ok before i confuse you read this, much better explainations and no need to go too deep into all the mechanisms involved.
Chemistry and the Aquarium

[Frankie]

I really like this picture The Salifert kit I have found to be fairly accurate for testing strontium~

[nate_mcnasty]

thanks guys i got mag cal and alk is there anything else i need? like coral foods and such?

[Frankie]

Nate, with a small amount of coral as you have I would advise focusing on just your basic water parameters for right now. Ones you start to get more of a heavy stock of corals you can start thinking about adding some type of food for them.
Take my tank for instance. I only add two drops per day of Pohl's coral vitalizer. Everything else is water quality.

[nate_mcnasty]

just seeing if there is any thing else i need to keep my tank good

[prow]

i agree, just try to maintain things for awhile. once everything starts maturing i only test or monitor;
Ca+
Mg+
Alk
ph
salinity
temp

i spot check
NO3, PO4

rarely check
silicates, NO2, NH3/NH4

foods, my corals get whatever the fish and CC dont. i do feed cyclopeez once a week aswell.

[jnohs]

i agree with frankie and prow.

[l3fty999]

I started adding a little strontium, and now I have a visible difference in coral growth... but I do not do regular water changes, I use the algae filter method of removing the "bad stuff" from the water... check this link out Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything

[prow]

i know that thread and said my piece there.

you should do water changes. there are lots of mineral and electrolytes your corals need. things like Mg+, iodine and host of others. your corals will reward you

[yvr]

I check strontium occasionally and try to keep it around 10-15 ppm (natural seawater is around 8ppm). I have noticed that my SPS corals tend to do better at those levels. Regular water changes usually keep strontium levels in check, however I have had to dose with TM Bio Strontium on occasion when my levels fall below the 10ppm threshold I like to have in my tank.

[SneakyOwner]

I have added kent strontium and molybdenum for 4 years twice a week. I have every kind of coral and they all do well. My coralline algae growth is also amazing and that is the only kind of algae that grows.

[mshur]

I have start adding SI this week, so i hope so see some possitive results

[reefmasta]

what about no water changes? and regular doses of calcium carbonate mag stront potas iodine. along with essential elements when doing RO top offs. and the essentials has all the other elements that are not major elements like calcium strontium ect.