Introduction
What are we really looking for?
What should such an additive include
What should you do?
Other types of needed additives
ConclusionOther Additives used on Reef Aquariums
A number of additional supplements or additives ar necessary to maintain a healthy environment for corals and other animals alike. Let us take a look at these one by one and give you just a little input, based on my personal experience with them.
Kalkwasser or Limewater
We all know, or should, be aware of the fact that stony corals require calcium for growth and survival and to remain attached to their exoskeletons. The only safe way (at least this seems to be the consensus among hobbyists and experts alike) is to provide this added calcium amount by adding so-called Kalkwasser or Limewater.
Kalkwasser is basically and very simply a liquid mixture made up of calcium hydroxide and water. To prepare this mixture you should, preferably, use treated water (e.g. reverse osmosis, deionized or distilled). The powder should be added to that mixture to the point where the mixture is saturated. Saturation is achieved by adding sufficient amounts of calcium hydroxide and stirring the mixture gently to minimize the introduction of carbon dioxide which poses a problem.
Indeed, when carbon dioxide is introduced, calcium carbonate is formed and the pH of the saturated Kalkwasser mixture (which should normally be around 12.4 to 12.5) will go down. Additionally calcium carbonate does not dissolve and does not contribute to an increase in available calcium for the corals. Stir the mixture gently. Powder will settle to the bottom and the clear liquid at the Top is your actual Kalkwasser.
We recommend that you add 2 to 3 tsp of calcium hydroxide to each gallon of treated water you use to make Kalkwasser. Not all of this powder will dissolve because water gets saturated with calcium hydroxide and any excess powder will not dissolve. Note that cold water absorbs more calcium hydroxide than warm water does.
When you have prepared the mixture you are ready to use it on your aquarium and add it to its water. This is done in a particular manner. The liquid, which now is Kalkwasser, is not added to the tank "all at once". This is the wrong way t o use Limewater. Indeed, it needs to be added slowly. The drip method is therefore preferred as opposed to adding large amounts of KW (Kalkwasser) to your tank at once. In fact, adding too much at once may create problems and may lead to a calcium fall out.
The drip method is easy to implement and is explained in other documents in the Library. We will not go into it in further detail here. Check other Kalkwasser related documents please to find out more details on how to set such a drip system up. Let me just point out that "all" evaporated water should be replaced with Kalkwasser, and that such should be done using the drip method. Not using the drip method will lead to pH variation problems that can become quite difficult to deal with. It can al so lead to alkalinity (dKH) problems can are not easily solved either. Stick with the drip method only. You will not regret it.
If you need more information on the need for Kalkwasser you can find other documents on this WEB site in the Library and in the Product Guide section that you may wish to consult.
Strontium
The need for strontium has not been scientifically very well established. Strangely enough though, adding small amounts of strontium seems to benefit stony corals. Empirical evidence is there to support adding this supplement. Scientific evidence does no t seem to have caught up with the experiences of hobbyists.
This is not "unique" as hobbyists have discovered many techniques for propagating corals for instance. In fact, Steve Tyree, who is active on CompuServe's Fishnet forum sells small fragments of various corals with instructions on how to propagate them. These kind of experiments are unique in our hobby and you can certainly participate in them by sending Steve a message on CIS.
Tell him you read about it in the Thiel Aqua Tech WEB site and explain that you would like to participate in the experiments. He will get back to you with more information.
Strontium is present in both complete additives mentioned earlier. If your aquarium is really heavily populated with stony corals, I personally recommend that you add additional strontium chloride to the aquarium. The complete additives we mentioned contain supplements for the "average" load tank. If yours is populated more than average, additional supplementation is certainly worthwhile and will benefit your corals.
Iodine
An aquarium that contains many soft corals requires a great deal of iodine supplementation. This is, usually, added in the form of diluted potassium iodide. The more soft corals you have, the more iodine you will need to add. The addition of extra iodine is thus recommended, especially if you use Liquid Gold Pro as your complete additive as this product does not contain iodine at all as explained earlier.
Some hobbyists add "Lugol's solution" to their tanks to increase iodine. This is a practice that, in my opinion, is to be discouraged as it is much too easy to overdose if you do so.
Some additives contain chelated iodine. My opinion about chelated products is that we know so little about chelators that I do not like using them. We do not really know what kind of chelators are used in these products, or what happens to the chelators when they release the chemicals they are attached to. Until we know more about the chemical reactions that take place, and what the various chelators' effect is on the animal life, then I will feel safe about recommending their use. Hopefully some research will be done in this areas an articles will be published. because as of this time very little is known about them.
Buffers
It is highly likely that you will need to add some buffering compounds from time to time. Indeed organic acids, decay, metabolism and catabolism will all lead to a gradual depletion of the buffer. Some of the compounds in the tank may help buffer the system (especially if you run live sand Jaubert Type tanks), but this may not be sufficient.
Check your dKH from time to time and if the level goes below 7 dKH buffer your system with a complete buffer that contains: carbonates, borates and bicarbonates. Only a complete buffer containing all these elements will do the trick for you. Using lesser quality products will not. Adding baking soda alone (sodium bicarbonate) will certainly not do it. Do not even attempt to use baking soda just by itself. The pH of your tank will only go down.
Complete buffers are available commercially from several excellent companies. Just make sure that they are complete.
Trace Elements
Trace elements are included in the complete additives we mentioned earlier. You can add trace elements separately but there is no need to do so since the complete additives that we recommended.
If you do run an older type system and do not use the type of complete additives mentioned, then you may wish to add trace elements separately.
Vitamins
The same remarks apply here as the ones listed for Trace Elements in the previous section. The only additional remark I would like to make is that any vitamin mix you use should be fresh. Vitamins deteriorate quickly under heat and light conditions and many that are in the manufacturer to distributor to store circuit may, in fact, have lost a lot of their potency already. Keep this in mind when buying vitamins.
Borate Supplement
At times it may become necessary to buffer your tank's water (as we have seen under the heading Buffers). Borate is one of the elements that may need to be added to achieve a proper buffer balance and a stable pH.
In the Library there is an article on Raising the pH which you may wish to read. It explains the entire buffering process in great detail. Borate is added in small amounts only and needs to be diluted in hot water. It will not or hardly dissolve in cold water.
Instead of using the borate compound (sodium tetra borate hexahydrate) you may wish to use boric acid. The latter is more difficult to use though. The former is a lot simpler to add by the drip method and is a more stable form in terms of its buffering capacity.
Sodium Carbonate
Sodium carbonate is yet another additive that can be used to influence the pH and the buffer in your aquarium. If used, it needs to be added in very small quantities at a time only. It will indeed raise your pH very rapidly.
Sodium Carbonate is discussed more in detail in another article in the Library, the one on Raising your pH. You may wish to refer to that article.
Several additives may be necessary to make your reef tank move towards a water chemistry that is conducive to the keeping of both soft and hard stony corals. The same, of course, applies to the keeping of crustaceans and any other animal life you put in the tank.
This document has given you an overview of the most important steps you should undertake and which of the additives are really important.
At times other elements or chemicals may need to be added to deal with special conditions in your aquarium. These are not part of the matter discussed here and are thus not covered. We have dealt only the major additives, the ones needed in all aquariums to ensure success and healthy animals.
Should you have any questions regarding any of these additives, or methods advocated, you are welcome to send us a message.
To contact Albert J. Thiel About Albert J. Thiel
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