dosing/suplimenting my new pimped pico

[jmorris]

here's a link to my thank thread2.5 gallon sps dream

 

I am unsure of just how high the Ca and Alk (not to mention Mg, I, and other trace and macro mineral/nutrient) requirments wil be in this system, but I have a feeling that once there is more than a couple frags of sps in there, it will be HIGH! So that brings me to my question:

 

I need to keep the Ca and Alk levels fairly high, (~400-450, and ~10dKH, respectively), but also keep them, as well as pH, constant. On my 7 gallon nano I had before, I used B-ionic every couple of days in the morning and only a little pH swing, but kept my Ca andalk levels in the ok range and reasonably constant... but that tank just had some macro, a few softies, and a couple easy lps in it... this system is all about healthy sps, so I'm gonna need to be a bit more consistant and careful. Will dosing a dilute vinegar/kalk solution as topoff work? I'm still unsure how much evap I will have on a daily basis, but I assume it will be significant. Here's what I was thinking of doing: I have a high quallity float switch, and an Aqualifter pump. I would mix up 1/4 tsp kalk, with 10 mL vinegar, and 1quart of water, and use this as my topoff via the floatswitch and aqualifter. Mind you, the Aqualifter moves water pretty slowly, and the float switch is setup to respond to only ~1/8" of water drop, so it will be slowly adding tiny amounts of the dilute vinegar/kalkwasser over the course of a 24-48 hour period, afterwhich I will change out the mix to keep it fresh. Of course, I would adjust the kalk mix if I saw the Alk, Ca, or pH change too much.

 

I also have never dosed Mg on a sytem this small, but want to keep it high to keep coraline groth up and to help stabilize Ca levels. I wonder if the sulfur issue in using Magnesium sulfate will be more pronounced/detrimental on such a small scale? What are my Mg dosing alternatives? Maybe with the refugium's added nitrogen processing ability the Nitrate "contamination" often asociated with Magnesium Chloride would actually be benificial (I understand some people even dose NO3 to their marine planted tanks... not to mention all the hub-bub about how low levels of nitrate may be benificial to sps)? Maybe I'll skip the kalk in the topoff, and add a small amount of MgCl into the topoff instead, and dose a few drops of each component of B-ionic to the tanks three times a day t ocover Ca/Alk (my wife is home to do a middle-of-the-day dose, and I can do morning and night.)

 

As for iodine, I know there is a bit of controversy on it in sps tanks, but I am a firm beliver in the idea that: "a little I goes a long way." So, I was simply going to use salifert's Iodine supliment, since I like Salifert products, and it has a nice dilution level for my tank volume. Any thoughts?

 

Also, should I dose Kent's Marine Iron supliment to keep the macro healthy, growng, and and colorful, or will it stress the sps too much? Should I shut off the refugium flow one day a week and add the iron, and give it 24hrs before restarting the? Any other specific dosing for the macro I need to wory about?

 

Sorry for the ^^^novel^^^, just a lot on my mind, as I'll soon be adding corals, and I'd like them to do well!

 

Thanks,

Jared