Nathan Explosion Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 This is what I have so far: My Tank set up: 29 gallon tank Current 130W light with SunPaq Dual Daylight (6700°K/10000°K) and Dual Actinic (420 nm and 460 nm) bulbs Emporer 280 filter (carbon filter) and (kent marine phosphate sponge also) Seaclone 100 skimmer 200 watt heater 20-30 lbs of live rock 30 lbs of live sand (crushed coral) Livestock: 1 flame angle 1 blue damsel (blue devil ) 1 (frag) mushroom coral (about 6-8 mushrooms on it, type? will be posting a pic soon) Adding to the water: iodine (kent) 1/2 cap full a week coral-vite (kent) 6 drops a week calcium (kent) 6 drops a week strontium & molybdenum 4-6 drops every 3-5 days Maintainance I will do weekly water changes of 5 gallons almost every week My light is on about 6 hours a day I have owned a saltwater FOWLR tank for about 4 years and now decided to get into reef keeping Let me know what I should or should not be doing with my tank to prepare for more coarls, ANY advice will help, money is not a real big issue, time wont be an issue, espically when winter rolls around and it freaking -50F outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ACampbell Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Don't dose anything you're not testing for. If you're doing 5 gal weekly water changes, you shouldn't need to add any of that. You might need to dose calcium if you have a lot of calcium demanding corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Don't dose anything you're not testing for. If you're doing 5 gal weekly water changes, you shouldn't need to add any of that. You might need to dose calcium if you have a lot of calcium demanding corals. REALLY!?!?!?!? glad to know, i have a small problem with amonia in my tap water, had it tested and its like .25 to .50, so i am thinking about getting RO/DI water now, would I still not dose? sorry for all the questions. thanks a million! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Yes get an RO/DI! Will save you headaches and money in the long run. Like Andrew said if you are doing weekly water changes I would not add any of that stuff either except maybe the calcium. Just test it to see if it needs extra calcium. Should be around 400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Yes get an RO/DI! Will save you headaches and money in the long run. Like Andrew said if you are doing weekly water changes I would not add any of that stuff either except maybe the calcium. Just test it to see if it needs extra calcium. Should be around 400. What kind of test do you do (sorry i am a beginner ) are they like strips or drops or is it like hydrometer (spell?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Any decent Fish store should have test kits. It is usually a per drop method in a test tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bananags Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 (edited) >iodine (kent) 1/2 cap full a week >coral-vite (kent) 6 drops a week >strontium & molybdenum 4-6 drops every 3-5 days should not need them. I use Salifer brand test kits, only test: Ammonia, Nitrate, Calcium, Alkalinity That is it, I used the ammonia and nitrate test a few times to see if tank is cycled correctly, but after that I never use them anymore , I just figured out a water change schedule and stick with it. Water change will fix anything =) I used the Calcium and Alkalinity test much more now as the tank established to keep up with calcium demand This is just my personal preference, I have got some other test kits also, but just waste of money not sure you have a sump, but that would be your best option for long term I changed water every 2 weeks when i have a 29gal+sump, it gets old quick if you have to change water all the time hee hee Good water source and all don't feed the fish more than they can eat in a few min to keep that water clean => even they eat the food, their waste also pollute water, I only feed mine fish once every OTHER day, for many months already, they seems fine. Edited September 18, 2008 by bananags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Magnesium is a good test to do on a regular basis once the tank is established. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismunn Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 i actually started dosing calcium, alkalinity and magnesium in the form of dt's 3 part when i started up my tank. i didnt do this because it needed it, but i did it to get a feel for how much product would affect the quantity of product in the water. i wanted to see how much of each product it would take to raise the amount of ca, alk or mg in the tanks water. it took a lot of testing as well. not only did that help me get a feeling for how much i wanted to dose daily, but the side benefit was great coralline coverage . i agree with the others about not needing the iodine, coral-vite and strontium\molybdenum. there's nothing in the tank that uses them right now, and your not testing for them. and if and when you do decide to use them, i would only use a fraction of what the bottles directions suggests. if you accidentally use too much of that stuff you could easily create huge problems and head aches! i also agree with the others about either getting yourself an RO\DI unit, or buying RO water from somewhere. it makes a huge difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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