What supplements do I need?

[patm]

I'd like to buy a couple corals in the near future, and was wondering if someone could help me out by letting me know what supplements I need to add to keep them healthy. I'm looking to add the following;
Mushrooms
Pearl coral
Bubble coral
various polyps(yellow, moon, etc.)
After some research, I found out I would need the following supplements; Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements, and Iodine. I am already using phytoplankton for my feather dusters. Are there any other additives I need, or are any of these not needed? Also, is there any particular brand that is recommended over others? I know on top of the supplements these corals must be fed, so thats not a problem.
Thanks for your help,
Pat

 

[naesco]

Nothing more is needed. Some reefers do not even use strontium or iodine but a little will not hurt.

 

[lawndoctor]

There have been lots of posts on this topic. You may want to try a search. As for supplements, personally after much experimentation and research I decided to add only those things I can reliably test for, i.e., calcium and iodine, to avoid overdosing. I understand it is difficult to test for strontium even with a Salifert kit, although I haven't tried. I do bi-weekly 15% water changes to maintain the levels of everything else. I dose Kalkwasser and Kent Iodine with a peristaltic dosing pump on a timer, add Lugol's weekly, and use Tropic Marin salt. I have a variety of corals, other invertebrates, and fish. All are doing well - much better since I stopped adding a long list of supplements. As for feeding corals, the only corals I feed are my non-photosynthetic gorgonians. In addition to phytoplankton, they get flake food passed through the pump, where it gets ground up, and shot right at them in the current. Some people say to stay away from liquid coral foods, although I have no experience either way with them. Good luck.

 

[Mouse]

Your plans sound great, as above i wouldn't worry too much about the strontium as your not really going for many reef building corals. The only other element worth a mention is magneseum but i have never used it and cannot comment on its affectiveness. On another note i would stay away from Spectra Vital and Black Powder as these can have derogatory affects on PH. Any other of the marc weiss products i have used and found produced some interesting results are Reef DNA and Live sand & Live rock booster. Once i started adding these i found many types of calcious worms started to appear and the range of corroline algie was increased. I think you guys feel Marc Weiss is a bit of a joke though, i beg to differ in the light of these two additives. If on the other hand your considering adding an Algal refugeum then Iron would be the one to dose. Good luck and hppy reefing.

 

[fusion]

Before you start spending any more money than you need to you might just want to stick with water changes for a while just to see how your tank/corals will react. Once things settle in and become stable such as ph, alkalinity, nitrates and perhaps calcium than you can worry about tweaking the levels a little....

Have fun.

 

[patm]

Thanks everyone for the help. It looks like after I get my corals I'll stay away from the Strontium for now. I think I'll start off with the calcium and trace elements and possibly use the iodine later.
Thanks again,
Pat

 

[Jenemone]

I tried Marc Weiss' Coral Vital and I can't see any difference. At $ 8 for a small bottle, I will not be purchasing it again.

I do use Coral Vite by Kent, and my mushrooms open much larger since I have been using it. They have also began multiplying faster.