Ok...First question.. What additives do I need to use? I don't think I need all of the additives I'm using. Second question... Should I put in a small REFUGIUM keeping my remora on the main tank? Third question... I have about 2" of crushed coral for a substrate. My LFS said to get rid of it. Should I change this to live sand, and more of it? This setup was running for about two years before I got it four months ago. This is my first experience with an aquarium. I've got the water crystal clear and I have no problems with anything dying. It's a 75 gal aquarium. There is about 100lbs of LR covered in coraline. I'm running a Remora pro, a Cascade 1500 filter W/O the filter media (for more circulation), three Aqua Clear powerheads and a PC with 260 watts total. With the setup I got a bunch of additives. Zoe (kent), Phtoplex (Kent), Coral-Accel (Kent), Strontium&Molybdenum (Kent), Trace Elements (Kent), Vitamin C (Kent), Garlic Xtreme (Kent), Lugols Ionine (Kent), BIonic 2 part, I think thats it. My Nitrates consistantly run at about 10 to 20 ppm everything else I test for is perfect. Calcium runs 450 to 500 with B ionic added 3 times a week. The list living things goes as follows...Fish...2 Percula Clownfish, 2 Clarkii clowns, 1 Fan Dance Goby (brackish), 1 large Yellow Tang, 1 Large Hippo Tang, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Firefish Goby, several large feater dusters, a Serpent Starfish, 1 Coral Banded Shrimp, 2 PEPPERMINT SHRIMP , 1GREEN CHROMIS, SPRINGER'S DAMSEL, ZEBRA HERMIT CRABS , RED LEG REEF HERMIT CRABS, 2 engineer gobys, 1 large carpet Anemone and a Rose Anemone....Corals GREEN HAIRY MUSHROOM Medium - 3.5" to 5", RICORDEA MUSHROOM Medium - 3.5" to 5", 1 CHILI CACTUS SOFT CORAL SMALL, 1 CHRISTMAS TREE SOFT CORAL SMALL, 1 CLUSTER GREEN MUSHROOM LARGE, 1 Bubble Coral, 2 LARGE Colony Polyp. 2 LARGE Star Polyp, 1 OPEN BRAIN, 1 TOADSTOOL CORAL, Rhodactis sp.(Elephant Ear Mushroom), 3 branches of frogspawn, large branch of alveopora. Ok... Lets let the experts take it from here.
HELP!!! All these additives!!! Need expert advice!!!
- Thread starter alanmarian
- Start date
Is that some sort of phytoplankton?
I've never fed that. My cleaner shrimp eats flake food and gazes off the live rock in my nano. My feather dusters don't seem to need additional feedings to stay alive and happy. I understand that some people do use these things, but IMO, it's better to add them as you need them. By the time you figure out weather or not you need to be feeding this stuff, you'll need to get a new bottle anyway.
J.
I've never fed that. My cleaner shrimp eats flake food and gazes off the live rock in my nano. My feather dusters don't seem to need additional feedings to stay alive and happy. I understand that some people do use these things, but IMO, it's better to add them as you need them. By the time you figure out weather or not you need to be feeding this stuff, you'll need to get a new bottle anyway.
J.
Yes you can keep the Kent Phyto and the Bi-onic 2 part. (it is both parts, right?) You can use it for cal/alk supplementation.
You could also keep the Lugols as it is said to be useful in treating ailing corals. I have never personally used it though.
The rest I think is safe to toss.
You could also keep the Lugols as it is said to be useful in treating ailing corals. I have never personally used it though.
The rest I think is safe to toss.
I would ditch the CC sunstrate also. Either go shallow sand bed, or BB. If you go BB be sure to have a very good skimmer working for you and good current in the tank to keep the detritus suspended as along as possible.
With a fine shallow sand bed you will just need to be sure that you don't set and forget it.
With a fine shallow sand bed you will just need to be sure that you don't set and forget it.
Research this before you ditch your substrate. I chose to ditch my crushed coral substrate in favor of a deep sandbed. Some are favoring shallow sandbeds and barebottom tanks these days. Currently, I'm having more problems with pest algae in my bb tank than I am in the one with the DSB. It's something to think about before you act on it. In the end you'll make the decision that is going to work best for you.
J.
J.
You should never dose anything you can't test for and all those botles of magic potion really have no benefit one way or another to the tank. As mentioned, regualr water changes will replenish the trace elemnts in your system. The B-Ionic will keep your alk and Ca in balance. If you do plan to dose kalk instead of the two part sometime down the road, chances are you'll end up needing to dose magnesium, as kalk tends to drive down the Mg level, and a severly depressed Mg level can affect pH and the ability to maintain proper calcium levels.
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