Supplements...why?

[Russ1]

I have never added any supplements to my reef. I do a monthly water change of about 5%. My fish are healthy and my corals are thriving. I have had to frag my stony corals numerous times. My question is, why are supplements so popular and what benefit do you guys get from them. Seems like most posts say stop adding supplements if there is a problem. Any thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

There are many reasons to add supplements to a reef tank. Skimmers remove trace elements along with the other DOCs. Many people put many corals in their tank. At a certain point there are more corals then there are trace compounds. Now,you need to add supplements for the corals. In a lightly stocked tank water changes may be enough. However,most of us overstock,not understock.

 

[Anonymous]

So, are you saying that there is no need to supplement anything until you have a fair number of corals?

 

[Anonymous]

Ditto. If you don't test and add supplements you could cause more harm than good.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

...there is no need to supplement anything unless you can test for it.

hi.
I see a missing adverb... "there is no need to supplement anything unless you can test for it accurately."

Benefit of supplements is to keep the aquaria industry going... think of it like donation

Seriously, if you are keeping certain livestock, you do need to supplement with DT and stuffs. They are more like feeding than supplement.

[ April 29, 2002: Message edited by: Seven Ephors ]</p>

 

[Bucktronix]

the only thing i add is kalk and some iodine in the ro bucket.

 

[cyberpanther]

same here iodine and ca. I am getting a test kit for the other supplements right now and am going to start, but only because I am trying my hand at sps and acros in the next few weeks.

 

[Anonymous]

What is the difference between sps and acros? I am aware of many people, me included, that don't add supplements other than Ca and alk, whether it be by kalk or reactor. If you feed properly, the animals get all the supplements needed from food and Ca/alk addition.

 

[SPC]

IMO there is no need to supplement anything unless you can test for it.
Steve

 

[Russ1]

Calcium reactor is all that I have. I have many types of SPS corals. I agree with this industry thing and don't think that it is necessary. Just my honest opinion though.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

What is the difference between sps and acros?

hi.
Acropora is a type of SPS. Just names, don't read too much into it.

 

[Anonymous]

One correct name and one incorrect. Many don't use the correct names/terminology, and if someone doesn't point out an error, it can continue. If I were never told i was doing something incorrectly, I would continue to do it.