adding additives for corals

[joesfiddy]

im pretty new to keeping corals.i just jumped into it and bought a bunch of corals 5 different kinds of zoos some xenia and some colt coral and i have the kent marine iodine calcium ph buffer strogtium.should i just add it how it says on the bottle or do you guys have a ezier way of adding stuff.everything looks ok and i want to make sure im doing everything right cause i dont want to lose anything

[a2fire2i]

i wouldnt add anything that you cannot test for. Which brand of salt are you using? Really the only thing you should have to add will be CA, ALK, and MG. Do you have a test kit for any of those?

[joesfiddy]

instant ocean salt or sometimes of buy the 5 gallon real ocean water and no i dont have any test kits for a reef system i will go out and get one tonite

[a2fire2i]

how big is the tank, and what will your watch change schedule be like? Most of the trace elements will be made up with water chances. Id worry more about the CA, ALK, and MG. Are you planning on trying any SPS or LPS? Also, be careful of which test kits you buy. Take a look through the reef chemisty forum for a list of the better ones..

[joesfiddy]

55 gallon 260 power compact. are the sps one that need the metal halides or is the lps . would you give me some examples of coral that are sps or lps i also forgot to say i have a frogspawn frag too and this other thing i dont even know what it its it looks like a bunch of flowers its awesoem looking

[bertoni]

This article should help:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The basics are calcium and alkalinity. Some tanks need some magnesium, as well.