Kent Addative Products

[Reefer07]

Now that my tank is pretty full, I want to settle down and have all my coral grow out. I was looking into some of the kent addative products but I am not sure what to get. I only have a 10 gallon nano so I probably don't need a lot. A friend of mine said I may be able to just get away with the coral-vite. If anyone can tell me anything about the coral-vite that would be great. I also found the "reef starter kit" which comes with Iodine, Strontium and molybendum, and Liquid Calcium. This didn't seem like a bad idea either. Any input or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Please also list if I am going to need any kind of testers or anything or is this stuff just dosable every day with no tests needed?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not look to a line of products, because all brands sell some good products (including Kent), some unnecessary products (including many Kent products), and even some undesirable ones (including Kent).

This article details what is worth supplementing, IMO:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

[Reefer07]

After reading most of that I have decided to just start out with a calcium and alkalinity addative. How does that sound?
I already have an alkalinity tester and I will pick up a calcium one. After that I will play around for a few weeks until I get my lvls right on target. Then I will maybe think about some of the other stuff but for now, calcium and alkalinity seem like the two most important things I need to worry about.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, calcium and alkalinity are the two biggies.

I do not recommend Kent Superbuffer as an alkalinity supplement for a reef aquarium. It contains an unknown amount of borate, something which is not needed or significantly depleted by coral calcification. Baking soda is a better option.

[Reefer07]

I actually just tested my alkalinity and it was 2.5 meq/L which seems good.
As far as calcium addative what do you recommend? Kent?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Alkalinity will need supplementation sooner than calcium, unless you started with a low calcium salt mix.

These articles should help. The second one is especially focussed on dosing:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

[oct2274]

you should also monitor magnesium if you are going to be doing the calcium and alk. I think for the most part if you do calcium, alk, magnesium, and water changes from time to time you'll be fine.

[Reefer07]

Would one option be to make a alk./calcium reactor as shown here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...l2004/chem.htm

[Billybeau1]

You probably don't need a reactor but yes, that 2-part additive is easy to make, inexpensive and many reefers use it.

With a 10 gal nano though, you could probably get away with many of the commercial 2-parts they sell online.