Aquarium Chemistry Advice

[ipsomatic9]

Hi all.

I've recently undertaken a 2.5 gallon pico reef project. So far, so good. But I was wondering... how does one determine whether or not essential elements should be added. I've been dosing with Essential Elements and Coral-Vite semi-randomly. Because of the size I have to change the water daily... sometimes twice daily. But I'm not sure is evaporation (something that is a constant occurance) and filtration are taking the beneficial elements out of the water and if so to what degree. My corals are opening up, and my fauna are doing pretty well too (1 blue leg hermit, 1 margaritta snail, and one yellow watchman goby).

Any advice as to how to gauge when I should be added supplements and what kind would be very appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[ben1987]

If your doing dailty water changes there should be no need to add anything as this new water will be replacing whats been used up. I cant see why you need to do daily water changes though. You shouldnt add anything to your tank you cant test for.
What are your water stats?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

As Ben said the only way to know what you need to dose and how much is by testing the water for it. Dosing without testing is not a good idea (espeically in such a small tank) as it will be very easy to overdose things.

So yeah for example magnisium, you test for magnisium levels first, if its a bit low you use small amounts of magnisium suppliments and gradually increase the levels over the course of a few days.

If you are doing regular water changes with a decent brand of salt you probably wont need to add anything.

 

[BigC]

Why are you resorting to additives.
Before you do anything you need to track down an Aquarium chemical calculator for specific areas and not just dose willy nilly.
Although a mature tank that size will manage quite happily with weekly waterchanges I would have thought.

This is how I manage my tank.
I have 4 compounds in my arsenal to keep my tank stable or to boost when one specific area becomes low.
I mainly keep an eye on Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium.

First I check my Magnesium and if it low I lift it up by using two chemicals Magnesium Sulphate and Magnesium Chloride
(Use an online calculator to determine your weights and dosage) I mix the chemicals with 1 ltr RO and drip this into the tank over a period of time so as not to shock the system.

After I have lifted the Mg I move on to the Alkalinity, If this is low I can raise this using Sodium Bicarbonate
(Again use an online calculator to determine the frequency and the dosage) go slowly with this as it effects the pH

Lastly we come to the Calcium, If my Calc is running a little on the low side I use Calcium Chloride to get it where its ment to be.

All the above additives cannot be taken lightly and sometimes need to be administered slowly over a period of days and sometimes weeks so as not to shock the system. An online calculator will help in this aspect as it can work out your total net litreage and give you the dosage readout. Buying chemicals in this fashion works out cheaper than off the shelf brands.
Regards
BigC

 

[ben1987]

i found that interesting BigC, cheers. Any chance of a linky to that calculator?

 

[BigC]

PM sent

 

[ipsomatic9]

The daily water changes that I do are mostly due to the readings that I get from testing. I use a 6 in one test (alkalinity, nitrates, nitrite, pH, and then two that only work for freshwater). Checking the water daily I find that my nitrates are near 40 which is the HIGH end of the ok range. I can't seem to lower this any other way than by doing water changes. The other thing that is out of whack is my pH which it seems hangs right around 7.8 rather than the 8.3 that I'd prefer.

My concern about dosing elements is mostly due to evaporation, carbon filtration (which I hear can remove some elements and in such a small system it would seem this effect could be more severe), and my star polyps that, in the store, were metallic green and are now barely green, much shorter, and more maroon than anything else.

Also if anyone has a brilliant way to accurately control water temp in such a small tank... I'm all ears.

Also, BigC I'd love the link to that calculator.