?

[nanoman10]

and what supplements should i get for my reef, i mean like buffer,calcium, abd also how and what do u feed reef?

[chufa]

I use aragamilk and Seachem's reef iodide. That's it. Over here, other people use B-Ionic, kalkwasser (for alk/calcium), etc. Do a search for these and you will find more information.

[reiple]

nanos are too small for many supplementation. lots of nano reefers depend on frequent water changes and that is good. keeping stock of mixed synthetic water would be a better strategy for a nano reefer. chufa's iodide approach might be the most supplementation you would need.

[tinyreef]

it depends on what you're going to raise in the tank. stonys will require calcium and buffers (carbonate sources). softies will tend to respond nicely to iodine (ime).

 

two part calcium supplements like b-ionic or kent are good imo. they take some of the guess work out. you could supplement stuff from everyday things (epsom salt, lugol's, baking soda, etc) but i find it more work to strike the desired balance.

 

i disagree that nanos don't need supplements, that's just mo tho. wc's are good but there's a diminishing ratio as you wc-only. 25% weekly replenishments (assuming arbitrary 5% weekly loss) still results in about 90% levels after only 4 weeks (those are TOTALLY arbitrary numbers plucked from the air btw).

 

i'm not knocking wc's but only using wc's is more difficult imo as you're addressing problems thru gradual dilution (good for nitrates but bad for calcium, for instance). it (wc-only) can be done as evidenced by many successful reefers but so can supplements.

 

don't get me wrong, target supplementation can also be a PITA. X) learn your livestock requirements and system usages and that should lead you to what supplements are needed.

[FCLymond]

Out of curiosity, are people that are dosing with B-Ionic doing so every day without fail, or just periodically? I have just started using it for my eclipse 6gal, and am wondering if i should just use it until i get my calcium test results up, or beyond that as well.

[tinyreef]

i dose until part 1 doesn't dissolve as easy (hi alk). i dose around 1 ml per gallon per day max.

 

i usually dose calcium separately as well as in part 2 (CaCl) because carbonate can still generated thru CO2 interaction. b-ionic is good for maintenance and slow calcium buildup ime. that's why i also supplement calcium besides part 2.

 

keep an eye on your tank walls. carbonate/scaling and/or coralline can buildup very quick and scraping acrylic tanks requires patience and a deft hand. (foreknowledge of basic curse words are a plus! X) )

[FCLymond]

Tiny --

 

1 ml/gal? Don't the instructions say 1ml/4gal? I've just been adding 1ml of each for my 6gal eclipse, just to be conservative with the dosing? Is this way too little?

[tinyreef]

no, that's not too conservative at all imo. that's why i noted my maximum. that's what i tend to use but you should find your optimal usage. the part 1 should guide you on what the system needs by how easily it dissolves when added (e.g. it disappears like smoke-still absorbing or it precipitates like snow-saturated).

 

for example, for my 20g hospital i only dose 1 ml per 2-gallon once a week. display tank gets 1 ml/gal, pico gets 4-drops per 48 oz.

[reiple]

you can maintain a supplemented nano reef. I do. But these small tanks are so delicate (even called a work of artist who put too much on them) a slight mistake would be disastrous. Safer just to do frequent wc's.

 

I, lazy as I be, supplement because I wc only ONCE a month. It's a small nano reef tank but it's setup like big tanks. With sump, remote plenum, skimmer, act carbon and supplementation.

 

BTW the 2 part calcium (using calcium chloride and carbonate) are notorious in increasing salinity so check salinity daily.