What to supplement in new reef

[Edwardfish]

Hello I'm fairly new to saltwater tanks I was wondering what to supplement in a reef tank. I was wanting to keep soft corals and LPS, what do y'all think I should supplement if any. I was also wanting to keep the costs down. Thank you.

[WV Reefer]

17 minutes ago, Edwa said:

Hello I'm fairly new to saltwater tanks I was wondering what to supplement in a reef tank. I was wanting to keep soft corals and LPS, what do y'all think I should supplement if any. I was also wanting to keep the costs down. Thank you.

 

You should never supplement unless you know what you have and know what you need. 

[Edwardfish]

I was wanting to get a hammer coral, brain, zoanthis, a leather, candy canes, and leather. Also do you not recommend any of these?

[docshipwreck]

Each coral has different elemental needs as well as lighting. I would research each that you would like to keep and understand their requirements individually, and then if compatible together, then you can look at your tank's potential requirements as a whole.

 

Different corals will use different trace elements at different rates, based on that number ( will fluctuate as your collection grows) will then possibly dictate potential dosing needs. If you have a smaller tank, more frequent water changes with quality salt typically take care of replenishing these elements.

[Clown79]

Nothing. If you don't test for it, don't add it.

Your salt provides the essentials your tank needs. 

 

 

You only dose alk, ca, and mag when its being consumed by corals. So you need corals in the tank to determine what they are consuming daily.

 

When you get to the point of having enough corals that consume those elements, then testing is required before dosing.

[Edwardfish]

Ok what kind of supplements do you think I'll need once I get some corals

[1891Bro]

1 hour ago, Edwa said:

Ok what kind of supplements do you think I'll need once I get some corals

Off the top of my head...

youll need nice, wet, clean water, and salt mix.

 

Dont overthink it. I doubt you're throwing 300 lps/sps frags in a ten gallon in a day. No need to dose yet. And as said above, if you don't have a test kit for it don't dose it. To actually answer your question, you'll need to dose what ever elements get used up faster than waterchanges can replace. You'll need tests to figure that out though. No set schedule as all our tanks are different. 

[ew_fish]

1 hour ago, Edwa said:

Ok what kind of supplements do you think I'll need once I get some corals

You wont need anything unless your system is using more then you can replace by doing water changes. The supplement market is there for your money and experienced reefers. You don

't ever want to add anything unless you test for it. Just because you add corals dosn't mean you have to supplement. The corals you listed will be just fine with out anything. Feed your fish change your water give them light and they will be happy.

[bofo]

12 hours ago, Edwa said:

I was wanting to get a hammer coral, brain, zoanthis, a leather, candy canes, and leather. Also do you not recommend any of these?

I agree these guys will be fine with regular water changes only. It's a bit like a garden, I mean who but the most experience plant keepers add supplements for the perfect soil ph and nutrient levels or whatever? Most people just water! In this analogy it means water changes

 

edit: I'm actually in a similar situation and my plan is keep on testing (for now doing trace element testing at the LFS for free) until water changes happen to not cut it. I think picking up some salifert alkalinity testing would be a good starting point to monitoring those ~perfect parameters~ and will help get us in the swing of things.

Edited May 28, 2017 by bofo
Addition

[Edwardfish]

Ok thank you I'm new to reef tanks and was just not wanting to mess anything up.

[Nano sapiens]

1 hour ago, Edwa said:

Ok thank you I'm new to reef tanks and was just not wanting to mess anything up.

 

It is a good thing that you ask here from people who have real-world experience.  One of the most important aspects of being a good reef aquarist is to be skeptical about product claims, especially from those who stand to make money off you.

 

Remember these basics of what corals need to thrive:

 

1.  Sufficient, correct type of flow

2.  Correct light wavelengths, intensity and duration

3.  Nutrients (careful feeding of the fish and/or feeding coral directly)

4.  Correct temperature

5.  Clean, unpolluted water

6.  * Adequate and stable water chemistry (pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium)

 

* For a newly setup aquarium, regular water changes should be sufficient to maintain adequate levels.

[Weetabix7]

8 hours ago, bofo said:

I agree these guys will be fine with regular water changes only. It's a bit like a garden, I mean who but the most experience plant keepers add supplements for the perfect soil ph and nutrient levels or whatever? Most people just water! In this analogy it means water changes

 

This is a really great illustration!!!

[Amandaew]

On 5/28/2017 at 11:34 AM, Nano sapiens said:

 

It is a good thing that you ask here from people who have real-world experience.  One of the most important aspects of being a good reef aquarist is to be skeptical about product claims, especially from those who stand to make money off you.

 

Remember these basics of what corals need to thrive:

 

1.  Sufficient, correct type of flow

2.  Correct light wavelengths, intensity and duration

3.  Nutrients (careful feeding of the fish and/or feeding coral directly)

4.  Correct temperature

5.  Clean, unpolluted water

6.  * Adequate and stable water chemistry (pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium)

 

* For a newly setup aquarium, regular water changes should be sufficient to maintain adequate levels.

Hello, 

i am new to this as well. My calcium and magnisum are below what they should be and this was tested after a water change. If I add coral and those numbers are low, should I not be adding supplements? I have a 13.5 g tank. I have posted that question before and everyone said I don’t need supplements for such a small tank but if my calcium and magnisum are low then why not add supplements? 

[Clown79]

7 minutes ago, Amandaew said:

Hello, 

i am new to this as well. My calcium and magnisum are below what they should be and this was tested after a water change. If I add coral and those numbers are low, should I not be adding supplements? I have a 13.5 g tank. I have posted that question before and everyone said I don’t need supplements for such a small tank but if my calcium and magnisum are low then why not add supplements? 

The first step is testing newly mixed water.

If the salt mixes low, it's best to change salts 

 

Second step is

 

Testing after a waterchange

Testing every day to determine consumption

 

Then figure out if dosing is required. If consumption is low, dosing isn't a good option.

 

Constant testing is necessary as consumption changes regularly as corals go through growth spurts and use more.