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View Full Version : What to Dose??


dellrio
12/15/2003, 08:33 PM
we need to add calcium and iodine and such for the corals in the schools tank. what is inexpensive and lasts a really long time..? and where can i get it? any suggestions would really help out.. thanks

HOC
12/15/2003, 08:51 PM
There are a lot of opinions on this, but if you want cheap, don't add anything but calcium. Then whatever you decide to maintain alkalinity and PH. I add nothing else to my systems. If you don't have corals in there that require a lot of calcium, you may be able to get by with water changes. What is their budget??

dellrio
12/15/2003, 10:15 PM
well.. currently there budget on food and additives is down to $6. but i said i would pay for some out of my pocket when i have money.. of which i have none right now..

pwfirst
12/16/2003, 10:23 AM
dellrio, do you use pickling lime for the calcium? My wife just bought 2 extra pounds of the stuff. I'll donate it to your calcium fund, I'll bring it to the meeting. I hate to hear about starving corals. See you two in January. pwf

dknape
12/16/2003, 10:26 AM
I believe Lindsay is looking for something that can be dosed more infrequently then daily due to the location of the system.

Does anyone know of any good calcium additives that can be dosed less than daily going towards weekly?

My suggestion of AragaMilk was quickly thrown out due to it needing to be dosed daily.

Any suggestions there?

dellrio
12/16/2003, 10:41 AM
currently we only have 3 lps corals, a couple small feather dusters and a large hawaiian duster, as well as a couple small starfish and crabs.. but we will be getting in snails, shrimp, and maybe more lps in the future. so not a lot of skeletons....

what about balance blocks??

thank u so much for offering the pickling lime.. very thoughtful of you, however we are looking for soemthing easier to do. something anyone in the club can do really quick before they need to get to their class. soemthing to just put drips in... the tank is fed 3 times a week so whatver we choose can be added up to 3 times a week.

thanks for your thoughts guys!

dknape
12/16/2003, 10:51 AM
You may be able to do the AragaMilk three days a week since you do not have alot of hard corals. More often would deffinately be a much better idea. Like 4 days a week. You can't get much easier then this stuff and still provided the same benefits.

My offer still stands if you want to try it out. Do it for a couple of weeks and see how the coraline is doing. You can't really overdose the stuff since it is buffered.

Let me know.

dellrio
12/16/2003, 12:17 PM
well.. there not so much aimed at lots of coral growth.. just maintnance... ya know? keeping things healthy and alive.... not necesarily thriving and growing like crazy... maybe thats not the best way to go about things... but i think thats what they can afford untill next year when they recieve funds.

Atticus
12/16/2003, 03:34 PM
My suggestions are #1 B-Ionic and #2 balance blocks. The blocks are super easy and cheap, but make sure they are in low flow. The B-ionic is cheap in the 2 gallon jugs, but you need to test the tank once in awhile to get the amount right.

dellrio
12/16/2003, 04:14 PM
do both of those things contain calcium????? and iodine??

Atticus
12/16/2003, 10:28 PM
Oooopps forgot about the iodine.... I personally would not suggest iodine additions in this tank. Iodine is a hard to measure and potentially very deadly additive. The balance blocks are a good choice because they are slowly dissolved and contain a ton of calcium along with a few trace minerals. Bi-Ionic is great since it is a 2 part buffer as it raises Ca it also raises Alk\DKh

dellrio
12/16/2003, 10:47 PM
thanks a bunch guys.. soooo useful!!!