most important supplement for coral?

squishifishi · 04/27/2013, 09:56 PM

I wasn't planning on dosing any supplements, but now, I am beginning to understand that this is an improtant part of reef keeping. My tiny reef is mostly softies, with lps corals too. So, hypothetically, if I could only dose ONE supplement...which should it be? what is most important to the general health of corals?
what would you reccomend I really use in my pico reef? thanks!

accordsirh22 · 04/29/2013, 07:25 PM

seachems aquavitro fuel is wonderful in my book. its an amino acid and vitamin supplement

Gary Majchrzak · 04/29/2013, 07:32 PM

There are major and minor constituents of seawater that get depleted by corals and need to be supplemented and then there are other things (for lack of a better word!)
Calcifying organisms (ie: growing corals) deplete calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. These are major elements of saltwater and you MUST maintain their proper levels if you are to be successful with living corals.

<----For my reef aquarium I concern myself with levels of calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phophates, nitrates.

"Vitamins" and such are a waste of money and you can spend hundreds of dollars on useless "snake oils".
A good rule is : if you don't test for it don't dose it.

Gary Majchrzak · 04/29/2013, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squishifishi

what is most important to the general health of corals? what would you reccomend I really use in my pico reef? thanks!

feed good quality foods and PROPERLY perform regular partial water changes. Monitor SG, Ca, alkalinty, Mg and temp.

squishifishi · 04/29/2013, 07:45 PM

I'm not actually quite sure what that means! but ya know when you look at liveaquaria corals, in the quick stats it says SUPPLEMENTS:
yeah...those things I guess, or some sort of all-in-one to promote coral health and growth.
I just feed my corals mysis shrimp...do they want something more?
thanks!

Sk8r · 04/29/2013, 08:02 PM

There are 3. If you keep softie coral, it will be easy to keep them in balance with water changes and weekly tests for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. If you are keeping stony, you need dkh buffer (alkalinity), with test, calcium, with test, and magnesium, with test; and there are shortcuts to supplement same via your regular topoff, because stony coral eats calcium at a very fast rate.

Most corals eat light. Softies and some stonies eat food that fish might eat. More stonies eat fine particulate. SPS stonies mostly eat light. Their 'skin' contains bacteria (zooxanthellae) that convert light to sugars.

Gary Majchrzak · 04/29/2013, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squishifishi

, or some sort of all-in-one to promote coral health and growth

there is no "all in one supplement". A water change would be the closest thing to an "all in one supplement".

klwheat · 04/30/2013, 08:18 AM

I guess the closest thing I've used to an all-in-one supplement is Kalk. Helps maintain alk and calcium. If I could only add one thing, it would be kalk in my ATO

Sk8r · 04/30/2013, 08:47 AM

Absolutely. I get great lps growth, but all I do is test periodically, supplement magnesium when it needs it, add fresh water every week or so and add more kalk every few months (32 g reservoir)---food is just crushed dried krill with some treats for fish.

billsreef · 05/01/2013, 05:17 AM

Listen to Gary and Sk8tr. Also remember, when reading about "supplements" on a site selling said "supplements", they are trying to sell you those "supplements"

jdhuyvetter · 05/01/2013, 05:20 AM

How often do you do water changes? If you do enough, theoretically, you would never need supplements.

mikecc67548 · 05/01/2013, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Majchrzak

A good rule is : if you don't test for it don't dose it.

3rd post in thread. No need to read further (but I yam)

GreshamH · 05/06/2013, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Their 'skin' contains bacteria (zooxanthellae) that convert light to sugars.

Zooxanthellae is not bacteria but rather a dinoflagellate (phytoplankton).

Dmorty217 · 05/07/2013, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Majchrzak

There are major and minor constituents of seawater that get depleted by corals and need to be supplemented and then there are other things (for lack of a better word!)
Calcifying organisms (ie: growing corals) deplete calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. These are major elements of saltwater and you MUST maintain their proper levels if you are to be successful with living corals.

<----For my reef aquarium I concern myself with levels of calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phophates, nitrates.

"Vitamins" and such are a waste of money and you can spend hundreds of dollars on useless "snake oils".
A good rule is : if you don't test for it don't dose it.

+1 these are the most important and everything else will be resupplied with regular water changes

SpartaReef · 05/07/2013, 09:06 PM

How do you test for magnesium?

AYGurgies · 05/07/2013, 09:38 PM

With a test kit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpartaReef

How do you test for magnesium?

SpartaReef · 05/08/2013, 08:35 AM

Well duh, but which one? My LFS doesn't carry it

Kyle918 · 05/08/2013, 11:05 AM

Ok, we should start at step 1. Do you test your water for the 3 big ones, calcium, alk, and magnesium?? IF you don't, how do you even know if you need to dose anything?? Which brings me to another important point...don't even dose what you aren't testing for...else, how do you know you aren't dosing too little (wasting your time) or dosing too much (wasting your money and possibly causing more harm).

Also, do you make your own salt water?? If you do, read the package. They list all the suppliments and trace elements that are present in the salt and at what concentrations at what salinity. Those should be all the suppliments your 2.5 gallon pico should ever need. I would start there before even asking what should I dose...you mostlikely do not.

Kyle918 · 05/08/2013, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpartaReef

Well duh, but which one? My LFS doesn't carry it

Check drsfostersmith.com and bulkreefsupply.com

Everyone has their own preference but if you just search the forum, you can find all the information you could ever want to know about test kits..and it will probably cause you headaches reading everyones' opinion on each...it really comes down to what is accurate first of all and what is easier for you to conduct as a test...also different test kits have different color scales..some are easier to read than others...that really sways most people...how easy the test is to conduct and how easy the results are to read...and most of all, if it is even accurate. Hanna checkers tend to be the preferred method to test mag though.

SpartaReef · 05/08/2013, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyle918

Check drsfostersmith.com and bulkreefsupply.com

Everyone has their own preference but if you just search the forum, you can find all the information you could ever want to know about test kits..and it will probably cause you headaches reading everyones' opinion on each...it really comes down to what is accurate first of all and what is easier for you to conduct as a test...also different test kits have different color scales..some are easier to read than others...that really sways most people...how easy the test is to conduct and how easy the results are to read...and most of all, if it is even accurate. Hanna checkers tend to be the preferred method to test mag though.

Thank you for that very well thought out answer. I will look into it. So far I've been using a swing arm hydrometer and api test kits for everything... Corals are growing like crazy and inverts seem happy.... Been struggling to add anything right now though so waiting till next month to try again.

Dmorty217 · 05/08/2013, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpartaReef

Well duh, but which one? My LFS doesn't carry it

Salifert, seachem, and elos are three makers off the top of my head. Many of the .com fish supply sites out there will sell them, I'm sure most if not all can be found on eBay but not sure about the price comparison compared to the .com fish supply stores

SpartaReef · 05/09/2013, 10:29 AM

Thanks.

heathlindner25 · 05/14/2013, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmorty217

Salifert, seachem, and elos are three makers off the top of my head. Many of the .com fish supply sites out there will sell them, I'm sure most if not all can be found on eBay but not sure about the price comparison compared to the .com fish supply stores

Red sea pro! is as close to lab grade your as you're going to get.

gabe145 · 05/14/2013, 07:11 PM

I have a 55 gallon tank and am planning on making it a lps soft like your nano, in the past I had a 55 and never really dosed but did a 10-20% water change every 2 weeks and my levels were always good.

Swip · 05/15/2013, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squishifishi

I wasn't planning on dosing any supplements, but now, I am beginning to understand that this is an improtant part of reef keeping. My tiny reef is mostly softies, with lps corals too. So, hypothetically, if I could only dose ONE supplement...which should it be? what is most important to the general health of corals?
what would you reccomend I really use in my pico reef? thanks!

I would not dose anything in a pico with only 2.5 gallons of water in it. Water changes are more than enough.

04/27/2013, 09:56 PM	#1
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	most important supplement for coral? I wasn't planning on dosing any supplements, but now, I am beginning to understand that this is an improtant part of reef keeping. My tiny reef is mostly softies, with lps corals too. So, hypothetically, if I could only dose ONE supplement...which should it be? what is most important to the general health of corals? what would you reccomend I really use in my pico reef? thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

04/29/2013, 07:32 PM	#3
Gary Majchrzak Team RC Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 41,560	it's very important to define what you mean by "supplement" There are major and minor constituents of seawater that get depleted by corals and need to be supplemented and then there are other things (for lack of a better word!) Calcifying organisms (ie: growing corals) deplete calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. These are major elements of saltwater and you MUST maintain their proper levels if you are to be successful with living corals. <----For my reef aquarium I concern myself with levels of calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phophates, nitrates. "Vitamins" and such are a waste of money and you can spend hundreds of dollars on useless "snake oils". A good rule is : if you don't test for it don't dose it. __________________ over 24 years experience with multiple types of marine aquarium systems see Upstate Reef Society Forum on RC and FB GOOGLE JUNIOR'S REEF Current Tank Info: 84x24x30 265g reef past TOTM honors

04/29/2013, 07:45 PM	#5
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	I'm not actually quite sure what that means! but ya know when you look at liveaquaria corals, in the quick stats it says SUPPLEMENTS: yeah...those things I guess, or some sort of all-in-one to promote coral health and growth. I just feed my corals mysis shrimp...do they want something more? thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

04/29/2013, 08:02 PM	#6
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	There are 3. If you keep softie coral, it will be easy to keep them in balance with water changes and weekly tests for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. If you are keeping stony, you need dkh buffer (alkalinity), with test, calcium, with test, and magnesium, with test; and there are shortcuts to supplement same via your regular topoff, because stony coral eats calcium at a very fast rate. Most corals eat light. Softies and some stonies eat food that fish might eat. More stonies eat fine particulate. SPS stonies mostly eat light. Their 'skin' contains bacteria (zooxanthellae) that convert light to sugars. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

04/30/2013, 08:18 AM	#8
klwheat Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 676	I guess the closest thing I've used to an all-in-one supplement is Kalk. Helps maintain alk and calcium. If I could only add one thing, it would be kalk in my ATO __________________ 180 Gallon Mixed reef President/Co-founder Running4Trisomy A Butterfly's Touch

04/29/2013, 07:25 PM	#2
accordsirh22 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 817	seachems aquavitro fuel is wonderful in my book. its an amino acid and vitamin supplement

04/30/2013, 08:47 AM	#9
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Absolutely. I get great lps growth, but all I do is test periodically, supplement magnesium when it needs it, add fresh water every week or so and add more kalk every few months (32 g reservoir)---food is just crushed dried krill with some treats for fish. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

05/01/2013, 05:17 AM	#10
billsreef Moderator 10 & Over Club Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Long Island, NY/North Miami Posts: 36,538	Listen to Gary and Sk8tr. Also remember, when reading about "supplements" on a site selling said "supplements", they are trying to sell you those "supplements" __________________ Bill "LOL, well I have no brain apparently. " - dc (Debi) Current Tank Info: Far too many tanks according to my wife, LOL.

05/01/2013, 05:20 AM	#11
jdhuyvetter SWFMAS Event Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Lehigh Acres, Florida Posts: 2,179	How often do you do water changes? If you do enough, theoretically, you would never need supplements. __________________ Be kind to animals.....kiss a shark! "Great things happen when you start to add more light. The heavens open, angels sing and there is Peace on Earth" RockDoc Current Tank Info: 300 gallon stony reef, 300 gallon softie tank, 120 gallon FW/Orchid tank

05/07/2013, 09:06 PM	#15
SpartaReef Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Sparta, Wisconsin Posts: 783	How do you test for magnesium?

05/08/2013, 08:35 AM	#17
SpartaReef Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Sparta, Wisconsin Posts: 783	Well duh, but which one? My LFS doesn't carry it

05/08/2013, 11:05 AM	#18
Kyle918 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 642	Ok, we should start at step 1. Do you test your water for the 3 big ones, calcium, alk, and magnesium?? IF you don't, how do you even know if you need to dose anything?? Which brings me to another important point...don't even dose what you aren't testing for...else, how do you know you aren't dosing too little (wasting your time) or dosing too much (wasting your money and possibly causing more harm). Also, do you make your own salt water?? If you do, read the package. They list all the suppliments and trace elements that are present in the salt and at what concentrations at what salinity. Those should be all the suppliments your 2.5 gallon pico should ever need. I would start there before even asking what should I dose...you mostlikely do not. __________________ Work in Progress: 75g Rimless DT \| 20g sump \| Aquamaxx ConeS-1 \| Two Tunze Turbelle 6025 Tank established 02/16/14

05/09/2013, 10:29 AM	#22
SpartaReef Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Sparta, Wisconsin Posts: 783	Thanks.

05/14/2013, 07:11 PM	#24
gabe145 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Key Largo, FL Posts: 50	I have a 55 gallon tank and am planning on making it a lps soft like your nano, in the past I had a 55 and never really dosed but did a 10-20% water change every 2 weeks and my levels were always good.