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Old April 7th, 2009, 11:16 AM   #1
Sasha
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I was at a local fish store and there were all these bottles with chemicals for my reef tank. The only thing I use now is my iodine, but there were calcium, magenesium, strontium etc. Do I need all this stuff to get my tank going? Boy this hobby is going to be expensive if I have to buy all these extra bottles.
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Old April 9th, 2009, 08:41 PM   #2
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By doing your water changes you should keep most of your levels just fine.
I too use to use all those chemicals, but have got away from most of them.
I still use iodine too. I also use a 2 part calcium and alkalinity mix.
Most of your salt mixes contain most off the other chemicals, but if you don't do water changes regularly you might have to add some chemicals.
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Old May 4th, 2009, 11:16 AM   #3
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I use Iodine and strontium occassionaly about a cap of each once a month. I tend not to need the other stuff anymore as water parameters are very stable. At the begining I had to use a lot of alkalinity because my pH was going down and I had somewhat big swings.
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Old May 4th, 2009, 11:38 AM   #4
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I also use Iodine, but be carefull no to overdose. I've heard that leather corals like somewhat higher lever of iodine but don't know exactly the required level.
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Old May 4th, 2009, 06:56 PM   #5
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I use less then the manufacturer suggest, keep in mind they tend to over due it.
The more you use the more they make.
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Old September 13th, 2009, 07:22 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sasha View Post
I was at a local fish store and there were all these bottles with chemicals for my reef tank. The only thing I use now is my iodine, but there were calcium, magenesium, strontium etc. Do I need all this stuff to get my tank going? Boy this hobby is going to be expensive if I have to buy all these extra bottles.
It really depends on what you want to keep, this is going to determine which elements get depleted quicker and what you need to add.
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Old September 13th, 2009, 07:25 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bderen View Post
I also use Iodine, but be carefull no to overdose. I've heard that leather corals like somewhat higher lever of iodine but don't know exactly the required level.
Iodine is something I wont dose because the test kits that are available don't give actual Iodine specific readings.
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Old September 13th, 2009, 10:58 PM   #8
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what you keep make a world of diffference, Hard corals and softies need different things.
for example sps corals are going to need more calcium more light and usually more flow.
In general I feel most manufacturs will tell you to use more then you have to.
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Old September 25th, 2009, 01:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sasha View Post
I was at a local fish store and there were all these bottles with chemicals for my reef tank. The only thing I use now is my iodine, but there were calcium, magenesium, strontium etc. Do I need all this stuff to get my tank going? Boy this hobby is going to be expensive if I have to buy all these extra bottles.

Sasha,

You need all you stated above for a reef tank, with out those chemicals your tank will deminsh over a period of time... Certain salt mix's have most of them in there so you can by Reef Crystals for exaple and do a 20% water change every 1 to 2 weeks and be ok... Depending on the amount of corals you add to your tank you will need more CALCIUM which is key for their growth and colors...

Thanks, Eddie
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Old September 25th, 2009, 09:38 PM   #10
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most of the name brands do have the element in them you need, but in less you do regular water changes they will do no good in the box.
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Old August 21st, 2016, 01:08 AM   #11
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I also use Iodine with limited dosage.
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