Need advice on setting up a reef tank.

[LabTest57]

Regular marine tanks are a peace of cake for me, however, keeping and maintaining corals,etc. is something new that I want to do.

I want to convert a 120 gallon marine tank into a reef tank.

So far, I have these products on my check-list:

-Reef Salt
-Reef Carbonate
-Reef Plus
-De*Nitrate
-Seachem Stability
-Purigen
-Matrix



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I need to know how often I should test for water parameters (I can't test every day though)?

What are the major nutrients (2-3 most common at least) that corals exhaust the most and what I should use as a broad spectrum + safe (easy w/o any problems) mineral-restoration product?

Also, for colonizing the Matrix and De*Nitrate with anaerobic/aerobic bacteria by soaking with Seachem Stability (for "x" amount of days), what kind of water can I use (e.g. salt or freshwater) as the bacterial strains in Stability are able to adapt to both environments? Can the bacteria tolerate drastic changes in salinity (e.g. fresh to saltwater immediately)?

[Tech Support DD]

Congrats on your venture into reef tanks :-) The products you have listed are a good starting point; the one I would recommend adding is Reef Complete (as your calcium additive). When first setting up a reef tank, it is very important to test as often as possible (twice a week is great, but this is ultimately your choice). Once your levels are steady and everything is stable (i.e., dosing, maintenance, etc.), then it is still a good idea to test once a week, if possible. For example, I test the following parameters in our reef tanks at least once a week: pH, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. The major nutrients that corals exhaust the most would be calcium and carbonates (if you are keeping soft corals, iodide is also important). To supplement those nutrients, I would recommend Reef Complete and Reef Carbonate (or your could use our new two-part system, Reef Fusion). What products you will need to add will vary depending upon the needs of your tank; there is not really a "blanket" answer to this question. To colonize the de*nitrate and Matrix you will be using in your tank, I would recommend putting the media in the filter of your tank and adding Stability as instructed on the label; that should establish your biological filter fairly quickly. Good luck!

[LabTest57]

Thanks for the great advice. I think Reef Fusion is something I would definately use as supplement, however, should I replace it for total kH and gH maintenance?

How would you compare the difference in ionic calcium concentration between Reef Fusion (the one that raises calcium) and Reef complete? In other words, does 160,000 mg/l (from reef complete) make any difference in calcium absorption as opposed to a 100,000 mg/l concentration (from the reef fusion product)?

Also, I thought corals use up magnesium as well? If not, Reef Complete, Carbonate, and Plus should be enough ( Reef Fusion contains magnesium, and I won't use it just for that but only if it's cheaper than the other products mentioned above).

[Tech Support LK]

GH is not really a term that is of value in Reef Keeping. GH refers to mineral content, which won't be of a measurable value (using a standard hobbyist test kit) in a saltwater aquarium. When referring to mineral content, we use the term salinity or specific gravity in dealing with a saltwater environment. For this, I highly recommend purchasing a refractometer or hydrometer.

Reef Fusion 1 and Reef Fusion 2 can be used as your calcium and alkalinity raising/maintaining products. You will need nothing else for alkalinity or calcium besides these 2 products. The concentration of the calcium supplement you use has no impact on how quickly calcium will be taken in by the organisms. The two part supplement dosing is simply an easier method of supplementation.

Corals take in calcium and magnesium at a 100:5 ratio, so supplementing magnesium will be much less frequent, but will still need to be done (especially depending upon what the levels in your salt mix are. For this I highly recommend our ions product from the aquavitro line (one of my favorites).

[LabTest57]

I use both standard hobbyist test-strip kits and drop test kits (Lamotte). They seem to both give accurate results on kH and gH, however, I haven't really thought that the specific gravity or salt concentration had anything to do with gH. I always view gH as calcium hardness with lesser amounts of other important minerals (e.g. magnesium). I know for fact that specific gravity is basically the salt concentration in the water.

Very high calcium (and/or other minerals) levels won't make any big differences in the specific gravity of the solution, however, salt can easily change the density of water.

I would need a hydrometer, but I can use complex calculations (stored in some archives at my home office) to regulate the proper specific gravity levels in the reef tank as I have in my marine tank. To prove the complex function as being correct, I usually take a sampe of the water once a week to my LFS or LPS to test the specific gravity. In most cases, it averages out in the recommended range for the type of fish I have (forgot the values though, I'll mention it later in another question another day). =)

[Tech Support LK]

Whatever works best for you :)

[LabTest57]

Seems like to me you don't believe that what I'm saying is true or agreeable.

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Is it not true that the four major ions found in seawater are: Sodium, Magnesium, Chlorides, and Sulfates? And, that a change in calcium (ionic calcium) concentration would not cause much of a change on specific gravity?

I do understand that gH or general hardness is "generally" a conentration of calcium and magnesium cations. However, sodium chloride or the sodium and chloride ions in the solution are what makes the most significant impact on specific gravity (35 ppt of sodium chloride solution has the same specific gravity as S = 35 seawater).

So, every other ion does only minor changes.....


I do have long/huge math formulas that give me an estimation and a step by step process for reaching a certain specific garvity value based on temeprature, water volume, salt mix,etc.

I would only get to that point once I get my reef tank up and running, however, my marine tank at the moment is maintained with precise measurements of salt mixes, pure water (RO), and carbonate, bicarbonate, calcium, and magnesium salts. Though, I have already experimented countless of times to figure how much water is evaporated and how much of "X" minerals/salts are depeleted every month,etc (just a bunch of variables in one huge function). =)

[LabTest57]

[QUOTE=Tech Support LK;7593]GH is not really a term that is of value in Reef Keeping. GH refers to mineral content, which won't be of a measurable value (using a standard hobbyist test kit) in a saltwater aquarium. When referring to mineral content, we use the term salinity or specific gravity in dealing with a saltwater environment. For this, I highly recommend purchasing a refractometer or hydrometer.[/QUOTE]

A rise in specific gravity is useful to gauge how much salt is in the water, however, it cannot tell you what is in the water, but if you are using an appropriate salt mix, it can tell you how much is there and whether it approximates natural seawater or not.

[Tech Support LK]

Yes; you are correct that salinity or specific gravity will not tell you how much of each element is present. A kit that measures these things individually would be the only way to determine if your parameters are appropriate.

[Tech Support LK]

[QUOTE=LabTest57;7599]Seems like to me you don't believe that what I'm saying is true or agreeable.

I was only responding to your desire to use "complex calculations" to determine specific gravity rather than a hydrometer. As you know, this hobby is very circumstantial in that what works best for one person, is certainly not always the case for others.