Which additives to use

[tankguy]

Back when I had a full scale reef I used the Aqua Vitro line. Now that Im getting back in Ive seen that this line is quite expensive for the amount I would need. Im not ruling it out as I liked the results but Im curious what people are using now as I may change direction and with a different line

 

[Enderturtle]

Depends on what youre looking for:

Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing?

Amino acid dosing for Acropora?

Trace minerals?

Not everyone doses trace elements or amino acids but lots of people do and like the results.

Most people who keep a lot of stony corals, consider dosing alkalinity and calcium a requirement either through additives, kalkwasser, or calcium reactors. Some people just do water changes.

 

[sfsuphysics]

for the standard calc/alk/mag you have either 2(3)-part solution (Randy's formula, look at BRS), or calcium reactor, any pre-made bottled stuff is going to end up being prohibitively expensive on a large tank.

If you're talking about the other stuff like amino acids,etc, then yeah... it's going to get pricey with a large tank period since there is no cheap alternatives... other than not doing them.

I personally have never used anything other than C/A/M on a tank, and relied on water changes for those "trace elements", however after watching 40 weeks of BRS's "52 weeks for a reef tank series" their dosing episode did get me intrigued with the KZ line of products... although that seems like a major commitment

 

[Flagg37]

The HW salt mix has amino acids already in it. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hw-marinemix-reefer-salt-mix.html

 

[tankguy]

yeah I was referring to the Cal / Auk / Mag line. I knew it wasn't going to be cheap but was curious what everyone else is doing. Im with you though Mike. In the past I only worried about those 3 in general and water changes

 

[ifarmer]

Salt: instant ocean
Cal/Alk: bionic 2 parts
Active Carbon: BulkReefSupply active carbon
GFO: BulkReefSupply gfo.

I have tried a few salt brand but I found that the basic instant ocean salt works best for corals in my tank than most other salts. That is my testimony