Hi folks, one thing I don't see much in this forum for newbies is how to actually add chemicals like calcium, mag, etc. to your tank, what to look for when you test, how much to add at a time. Just general guidelines.

I mainly have soft corals in my tank, but I know moving to the next step of Acro's and clams, you need the calcium, etc to be right, so how about some good beginner info in this subject.

Thanks in advance

Kev.

Yea would be good to know, i have a few corals and i dont feed/dose them with anything so would like to know what i would need. Im on the same boat as you helifax, I am going for mainly softys, but i do have some LPS and even an SPS i was given...

Good idea!!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

sweet thanks was after that link

Doh... was in the reference links :oops:

i use a ca reactor to control Ca and Kh now, but in the begining i was dosein with seachem calcuim and seachem reef builder (Kh) as the demand began to rise i switched to the ca reactor. both methods are good, i was adding Ca one day and Kh the next.

also po4 remover is an excellent addition to a tank.

i use mg powder to rase mg when needed but my source of nsw has mg of 1300 which is spot on for me, so its very rare that i will need to rase the mg.

strontium is somthing im playing with at the moment, my coraline has gone nuts in the last month and this is due to the addition of strontium, but be careful with it as it can be dangerous if the level gets too high.

so in summary i add: Ca and Kh via Ca reactor, strontium at 1/4 the reccomended doseage.Mg as needed. thats it.

I never thought of looking in there, but yes some excellent links.

Still would like some comments from people's experience in this forum.

Cheers.

I dose randy's 2 part for alk and cal, use mag powder from medchem, I dose strontium and iodine maybe monthly if I remember

Is there an online calculator or formula to workout how much you need to dose for each chemical to reach the desired level?

Is there an online calculator or formula to workout how much you need to dose for each chemical to reach the desired level?

http://reef.diesyst.com/

This will tell you how much Ca kh and Mg to add at a time.

You really only need to add these, and the big trick is to keep them really stable.

Once you have done this you can play round with adding other things to the tank, there are heaps out there, take your pick

Thanks TM, that's a great site.

tip them into my skimmer/ when I take the cup off to clean once a week.

mixes stuff real will... go deltec

Hey Raeh1, wouldn't that clog the pump after a while?