SMALL REEF AQUARIUM BASICS

Water Additives, Salt :

Introduction

It is important, as we have seen, to use the right type of water to start the aquarium, top-off to compensate for evaporation, and make water changes. It is also very important that after the tank is up and running, that the additives that are needed are added, and that the right kind of salt is used to prepare the water for the Reef tank.

If we are going to dispense with fancy equipment, and we are, then let's at least make sure that we cover all other required steps, to improve the water quality, and do so with the best products we can get. Don't economize in the wrong areas ! If you try to, you will be making the wrong decisions, and your aquarium and your animals will suffer.

Reef Aquarium Salt:

You will be using salt for as long as you keep your tank, and salt can make up a large portion of the money you will need to spend on the aquarium. This leads many Hobbyists to buy the cheapest salt available. That is, in my opinion, a real big mistake.

Scuba divers amongst you will easily understand the following analogy : when you refill your air tanks, you want the best and cleanest "air" you can get . Your life depends on it, doesn't it ? Your corals and fish feel the same about the water and the salt you use. Their life depends on it. So use the best quality you can get; your tank will look better, and you will have far less problems. It would cost you much more to replace fish and invertebrates, than what you can save on salt and additives.

Fish-only tank salt is of excellent quality, but may contain impurities that you do not want in your "Reef" tank. I am especially talking about nitrates and phosphates . I cannot give evaluations of individual salts in a book, as I am sure you realize. I can, however, give you a test that you can use to determine whether or not the salt you are now using, or are planning to use, fits the quality picture I just indicated :

  1. mix up a batch of water with that salt,
  2. let the mixture stand for a few hours,
  3. stir once in a while, or run an airstone in the mixture,
  4. test for nitrates and phosphates,
  5. if you find any of either, try a different salt.

If you find that the salt you are now using, or plan to use, contains impurities such as nitrate and phosphate, my recommendation is that you try another salt. Why add compounds that you will have to go to great length to remove ? I ask you, why ? Especially since removing them can be quite difficult and an expensive proposition on top of it.

For obvious reasons we use Tech-Reef-Salt, an ultra pure mixture of all the elements needed, and trace elements required. You may wish to alternate its use with another less expensive salt. I personally like Hawaiian Marine Mix a lot, but there are other fine salts that fit the picture as well.

Alternatively, use a mixture that you make up yourself, of Tech Salt and another salt, in a certain proportion. For example, a mix of 25 (resp. 33) per cent of one and 75 (resp. 67) percent of another one, is an excellent solution, will improve the overall quality, and will not cost a lot more than what you are doing now.

Mix the salt and the water several hours before you plan to use it. This will allow the mixture to stabilize itself, and all the components of the salt to dissolve properly. In this fashion your redox potential will also not be affected as much when you change water. Indeed, raw water (just prepared) can alter your redox potential easily by more than 100 millivolt. I have seen it happen many times. If you prepare the new water beforehand, and let the solution sit for a few hours, while aerating it, the effect will not be as drastic.

If you would like to try Tech-Reef-Salt, send us a check for fifteen dollars, including freight and handling, before Sep. 30, 1990 and a note asking for a small sample, enough for a 10 gallon water preparation, and we will gladly send it to you. This is genuinely special salt, made to the highest specifications I can expect a manufacturer to hold himself to in making a product for us. No phone orders please. No cash on delivery either. Only by mail. Valid only in Continental United States.

Trace Elements :

There are many theories about adding trace elements. Some say that the amount contained in the salts you use is plenty, and that you therefore do not need to supplement. That does not make much sense to me. Skimmers, ozonizers, and the lifeforms in the tank, continuously remove trace elements, especially the algae, both micro and macro.

Moreover, trace elements are removed in unequal amounts. Some disappear faster from the water than others. Which ones are depleted more, depends on many factors, including what type of macro-algae you grow, and what type of invertebrates you keep. Peter Wilkens, the well known German author has written extensively about this, even to the point where his experimental findings totally contradict what some avant garde German manufacturers say.

It makes a lot of sense, therefore, to use an additive to replenish such trace elements from time to time. More frequently if you skim heavily, e.g. when using the newer Venturi valve operated foam fractionators, or efficient columnar ones, operated with ozone.

How much of an additive you should use depends on the type of additive you have bought. Follow the directions of the manufacturer in this respect. Be aware, too, that most of their recommendations are on the conservative side.

Because there are no "tests" available for trace elements, no one can actually check their levels. The recommendations made are, therefore, based on personal experiences and the experience of other well known Hobbyists and researchers.

Moe (1989) expounds on the subject in The Marine Aquarium Reference, his new book, referred to several times already. Wilkens, known to most of you, is pretty clear about having to add elements to his tanks, to maintain invertebrate s and corals alive and in vibrant condition. Many others before me have said so too. This is not something new, it has been around for a long time, just not highlighted often enough.

All the recommendations made in this book, and others I have written, are not meant to make you spend more money yet, but are truly meant to allow you to keep a Reef tank that will give you pleasure, and where your investment in animal life remains alive for long periods of time. Much longer than what many of you have been accustomed to, especially since we are running a basic system.

The cost of a few good additives, this one and others mentioned later, is far less, than continuously having to buy new anemones, elegance corals, sunflower corals, etc. Replacing animals and fish can get very very expensive. Do a little preventative investing, and you will fare a lot better in the long run. And besides, you will do a little too to preserve the reefs, and reduce collecting of the animals you like to keep.

Vitamins :

If you were able to duplicate the food chain that exists around the Reef, you would obviously not need any additives whatsoever, including vitamins. You and I know that we cannot do that, yet, anyway.

Vitamins are an important constituent of the foods that corals and invertebrates live off around real reefs. Different lifeforms have different requirements, not all of them well known in fact. Many have been identified, many are still not documented, or only partially so.

Mixtures of vitamins, amino acids, micro-nutrients, pigments, organic elements, and other compounds that are part of a normal food chain, are marketed. I suggest that you use them. Add them directly to the tank, or better perhaps, mix them with the food before you actually add the food to the reef aquarium. This is especially so if you use a good foam fractionator and an ozonizer. And many of you are.

There are several brands that are widely available nationwide and in Canada. Vita-Trace, Coralife and Vita-Chem are but the better known ones.

Be careful not to add too many vitamins at once if you use a protein skimmer. Some brands make the protein foam fractionator skim more strongly. As with any additive, add it regularly, in small amounts. Best is to add it by means of a drip system, in diluted form, or by means of a dosing pump. Thiel (1989) describes this in detail in Advanced Reef Keeping Made Simple (I), and also in The Marine Fish and Invert Reef Aquarium, his other book, all published by Aardvark Press.

Many foods already contain additional vitamins. Such is the case of, for example, the Coralife line of foods, Reef Smack Melange, my own company's dry food, and others as well. Does this allow you not to use vitamin supplements? That is a very hard question to answer, indeed. My suggestion is that you use both food and vitamins made by the same manufacturer, and then follow the directions they provide. Again, and I know I am repeating myself, protein skimmers and ozone remove many elements from the water, including vitamins.

Does it pay to change vitamin brand from time to time ? No conclusive data on such switches are available as far as I can tell, and I have, personally, not been able to notice any difference in my own tanks when doing so. Get a good brand and stick with it. Use it regularly, and increase the recommended dosage somewhat if you are strongly ozonizing. You can not overdose any way. Look for brands that contain a wide range of all known vitamins. Buy only products that look fresh when you get them, and smell like vitamins. Stick with established brands, since they have been around for a few years, they obviously must be doing something right !

Special Additives :

A number of specialty additives are available. These include : Iodine, KSM, and Liquid Gold, all from my own company, and a number of nutrient formulas from Coralife, e.g. Appetite stimulant, Micro nutrients and Calcium supplement. I know of no other two companies offering such a wide assortment of specialized supplements, other than trace elements and bio-elements.

Are they necessary? Well, if they were not, I would not have developed them, and I would not have spent money on the research necessary to do so. Additionally selling merchandise that is not "necessary" does not reflect well on a company's image, and products that are of no value to the Hobbyist would not be around for long, as no one would buy them for any length of time. Hopefully that answers your questions.

The same reasoning applies to products from companies such as, for example, Coralife. Why would they stake their reputation and money to bring you products that are of no value ? Obviously they would not. It would be totally uneconomical to do so !

So yes, such additives are important, but not for every one. It all depends what kind of corals and invertebrates you keep, and whether or not you have a full-fledged reef tank. If you do, I strongly suggest that you consider using them. Again, the cost of adding a few drops of a supplement from time to time, may save you lots of dollars in the long run, not to speak of having a healthier and better looking tank, and keeping the lifeforms you have now in your aquarium alive for much longer, and growing.

A Reef tank is an aquarium where the orientation is towards corals, anemones, polyps of many kinds, mushrooms, and such type of lifeforms, supplemented, of course, with fish. The main thrust is invertebrates. A tank with many fish and 2 or 3 anemones will obviously not have the same requirements.

Iodine is a compound that is required by many higher algae, and by many invertebrates. Foam fractionation removes Iodine quickly from the water, and it needs to be replaced as a result. P. Wilkens, G. Hueckstedt, and others pointed this out years ago. Moe (1989) recently reintroduced the concept in his new book. Use Iodine supplements with care. Iodine is a strongly redox potential increasing compound. Follow the directions carefully. But use it, it is a very beneficial additive.

KSM is an additive I developed for my own use in keeping hard corals, especially Elegance. Often these corals literally come out of their hard skeleton. Hueckstedt, many years ago, hinted at a lack of certain trace elements, and P. Wilkens tested until he had evidence that the missing elements were strontium and molybdenum. KSM provides both in an easy to use mixture.

Use it if you keep _Catalaphylia plicata_ (jardinei), better known as Elegance Corals, _Gonoporia_ species corals, also known under names such as Sunflower, Moon, Flower Pot corals (and others still), _Euphyllia_ corals or plate corals, and other types of hard skeleton corals. If you only keep anemones, tube worms, mushroom corals (_Actinodiscus_ sp.), and corals without a hard skeleton, you do not need KSM. If you fall in the other category, do yourself a favor, and invest in a few ounces every month or so. Don't buy large quantities, you only need ounces.

Micro-Nutrients are a definite requirement in every Reef. Since they are the ones present in the smallest quantities, they are also the first ones to be depleted. Will you see your Corals perk up when you use them ? Probably not, but you will find that in the long run your Reef will do much better if you do use them. I do. The product is hard to manufacture, and the only company at the time of this writing who had it available was Coralife, which of course also markets many,other Reef specific products.

Liquid Gold : this is a very special additive, and one that is very close to me. I developed it over the last 5 years, and finalised its formula about 1 year ago. I use it every day, and would not do without it. I call it by that catchy name because I really believe that it does special things for the animals in my Reef set-ups.

"Liquid Gold" contains not only nutrients, and can therefore be considered a food, but it also contains selective amounts of trace elements, small amounts of 4 vitamins that I consider very important for corals and invertebrates, free amino acids, fatty acids, pigments, a selected number of organic compounds necessary to filter feeders and corals of amongst other the _Actinodiscus_ types, iodine, strontium, molybdenum, carbodydrate, saccharides, polysaccharides, organic forms of metals such as gold, iron and silver, and many many others yet. It is truly a super-mixture of "all" the elements and compounds, organic and inorganic, that available literature has demonstrated to be both necessary and beneficial for corals, invertebrates and other lifeforms kept in Reef Aquariums. I unequivocally, and without hesitation, highly recommend it to you too.

You do not need much of it, so don't be alarmed by its price. I could, of course, sell it in diluted form, make you use more of it, and charge less per container. You would then go through more containers. The end result, cost-wise, would still be the same. It is, therefore, sold in 2 oz dropper bottles that are easy to use, and in 4 oz refills.

Appetite Stimulant from Coralife is another additive that is "special", insomuch as they are the only ones making such a product. Use it according to their instructions and you will be impressed with the results you obtain. Feeding is triggered by certain stimuli, and that is exactly what this product does. It promotes feeding.

Ridalgex : a water additive by Thiel-Aqua-Tech for those Hobbyists who have difficulty with their water chemistry, and who, as a result, experience high amounts of micro-algae and slime algae growth in their tanks. Although better water chemistry would take care of the problem, when such is not practical or not possible, Ridalgex will rid the tank of undesirable slime, hair and other micro-algae. It increases the time between cleaning the glass (or acrylic) as well. Safe for reef tanks, and effective. Sold in 1 ounce dropper bottles. This is a product to be used when needed, e.g. when normal procedures do not rid the aquarium of red, slime, brownish and other type of algae.

Micro-Algae Control : a product similar to the one just mentioned above, to control the growth of all forms of micro-algae, including slime, hair, and others, on rocks, glass, and in the aquarium. This is one is by Coralife, a very reputable company that brings you many other Reef and Salt water tank products. Safe for reef tanks, and very effective. Sold in Coralife's usual large bottles with dropper top. This product, based on the instructions, is geared towards maintenance and prevention.

KH Generator Fluid : any tank containing hard corals needs to be run at a relatively high carbonate hardness. Thiel (1989) explains the reasons for this in detail in both his books on Reef Tanks: The Marine Fish and Invert Reef, and Advanced Reef Keeping Made Simple (I). Many other authors concur.

Suggested levels are between 12 and 18 dKH, or between 4.28 and 6.43 meq /liter. This is much higher than the carbonate hardness one gets from using aquarium salts, obviating the need for a supplement. Peter Wilkens (1973) suggest levels that are even higher: dKH 15 to 20. Wilkens (1973) and Thiel (1989) both suggest the addition of "kalkwasser" or limewater, over and above the use of carbonate and bicarbonate additives. More references on how to do this exactly, can be found in "Marine Reef" the newsletter.

Tablets, and powders, are available from several manufacturers, e.g. Instant Ocean (Aquarium Systems). Fluids are available from Thiel-Aqua-Tech and from Coralife as well. You can even make your own buffers if you take the time to do so, and can get the chemicals needed. Moe (1989) gives a suggested, and totally safe, formula based on the use of sodium ash and sodium bicarbonate, a two component mixture.

The reason I recommend liquids, and have been doing so for years, rather than tablets, is that the latter may make your skimmer foam excessively, resulting in floods. Liquids do not need to contain binders, and can therefore be added safely, without having to worry about your protein skimmer.

Be aware, too, that some manufacturers try to sell you straight baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for a hefty price. Although that is obviously one of the necessary constituents of a good KH generator, it is only one of at least 4 compounds that should be present. Don't pay premium prices for a product that is not complete, even if it comes in a nice container, has an appealing color, and may come from abroad. You can buy pure baking soda for pennies at your local supermarket, and it will not even contain binders that make your skimmer foam excessively, as some of the products referred to above do.

As a general remark : Colored products are not necessarily "better", indeed, color is often a harmless dye that is added, and that dye does not enhance the efficiency of the product, it just makes it look better. Granted, the dyes used that we looked at, are safe.

A good KH generator should not only raise your carbonate hardness, but it should keep it there for quite some time. How long, is hard to state because it depends on the biological load of the tank. The higher that biological load, the more organic and other acidity will be present, and the faster the carbonate hardness will drop. Carbonate hardness is also a factor of how many algae, both micro and macro, are growing in the tank. Algae require carbon dioxide because of the carbon present in it.

If they cannot find free carbon dioxide, or if they cannot find enough free CO2, they remove the carbon from the the bi-carbonates and carbonates present in the water. At the extreme, biogenic decalcification takes place, and a white powdery dust covers the rocks and the glass. This, of course, reduces the carbonate hardness greatly. Even without biogenic decalcification, carbonate hardness is reduced and needs to be adjusted by the addition of an additive. Adding CO2 to the tank, does not do away with the need to adjust the KH, to the contrary, it may increase it (Thiel, 1988). This is described in detail in "The Marine Fish and Invert Reef Aquarium" and also in some issues of Marine Reef, Aardvark Press' newsletter, of which bound issues are available as well.

KMnO4 : Hobbyists who do not use ozone, and some who do, but have a need for more oxidative power in the water, use a strongly diluted solution of Potassium permanganate, and add it drop-wise to the tank or filter sump (best).

The use of oxidizers on a more generalized basis, is a rather recent occurance, and needs careful watching. Several German sources I deal with find it very helpful, providing the user has the maturity necessary to deal with a chemical where the difference between the right dose, and too much, is not all that large.

KMnO4 is a strong oxidizer and not a chemical you want to play around with, unless you know exactly what you are doing. It can, as far as I have been able to determine, be added safely to an aquarium, for brief periods of time, and intermittently. If you are new to this type of a chemical compound, best is to use the liquid form.

What is important, is that you buy the product from a company that you can rely on to have tested the strength of the solution they sell. It should never in my opinion, exceed 550 millivolt of ORP (redox), and should be added to your tank only in the slow drip method fashion. If the product is too strong, after you test it with your own redox meter, further dilutions are necessary, and must be done by using distilled (U.S.P. purified) water only. In fact, water purer than USP purified would be even better. Unless you are really familiar with how this works, do not use KMnO4 until someone who does has carefully explained to you how to go about adding it.

Hydrogen Peroxide : an absolute no for reef tanks. It can quickly raise the oxygen content of the water, but it can also do so much damage so quickly, that we ask you to not use it at all. Wilkens and Hueckstedt have both described methods of adding it safely. Experience shows, however, that hobbyists usually overdose, and that all corals and invertebrates greatly suffer, to the point where they will be lost.

If you must use hydrogen peroxide, you should do so only after you have consulted with someone who has done so before you, and has experience with strengths and dosages. I know of no product in the hobby using hydrogen peroxide safely as an additive.

Sodium perborate : same remarks as for hydrogen peroxide. Please do not use this chemical either. It works fine in fish-only tanks, just as peroxide does, but in Reef aquariums too many disastrous situations have been reported by hobbyists who did not really heed the instructions. One can even find mixtures of the above two chemicals. Stay away from those too. The latter are usually sold as products that will quickly increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Kalkwasser: touched upon briefly early in this chapter, kalkwasser is a mixture that is used to increase not the "carbonate" hardness of the water, but the "calcium" hardness.

It is a very important additive for every hobbyist who maintains hard corals, as the latter use the elements in the kalkwasser to grow and multiply. The type of corals referred to include, for example, Meat coral, Sunflower coral, Elegance coral, Bubble coral, and similar ones. All coralline algae benefit from the addition of kalkwasser as well, of course.

Kalkwasser, or Limewater, has been advocated for invertebrate and coral aquariums since the days of Guido Hueckstedt and Peter Wilkens, in the 60's and 70's, in Germany, but nobody seems to have given it the importance it deserves, when the Reef Aquarium became a fact in the United States and Canada.

George Smit's constant reference to the need for having layers of "calcite" in the water, under the trickle filter, may have been the closest to suggesting that calcium carbonate, and calcium as such, are important in a Reef Aquarium. He did not go as far, however, as to suggest the addition of some form of calcium compound in a dissolved manner.

Adding Kalkwasser is, in my opinion, just as important as adding salt, or maintaining the right pH, temperature, etc. It is certainly as important as adding the right kind of supplements, e.g. Iodine, KSM, and others described in this chapter.

At Thiel-Aqua-Tech we add it every day, and have done so for years, with very positive results for all the corals we keep, and we keep many types. My company, therefore, also sells it to the discerning Hobbyist. We use USP grade calcium hydroxide and triple distilled water in its preparation, and run lab grade carbon dioxide through it, to adjust the pH. Marine Reef, our newsletter, recently carried an article describing how you can prepare it yourself. It is not easy, but it can be done, as long as you have a source for the chemicals, and already use carbon dioxide on your system.

X-Nitrate : a granular compound sold in several sizes that is placed somewhere in the water flow to remove nitrates, and some phosphates, in an aerobic manner. Aerobically means that this product does so in the presence of oxygen. It is, therefore, much easier to use than the so-called "denitrators" that are available, and that work on the semi anaerobic principle (facultatively aerobic-anaerobic bacteria), with the addition of a carbon source (the nutrient).

X-nitrate is a natural compound, must be rinsed well before it is used, and cannot be regenerated once it has exhausted its absorption ability. It is not a zeolite. For Hobbyists whose tanks contain high amounts of nitrate, for what ever reason, this product is a very welcome addition to the reef product array. You can, for instance, test for nitrates with the Route 4 Marine Technology low range nitrate test. This will give you a good indication as to when you should replace the product. Incidentally, that same company markets a full range of Reef water tests.

Nitrate-Phosphate Control : Coralife also markets a product that removes nitrate and phosphate from the water. Again the compound must be placed in the water flow. As the water contacts the product, the latter removes nitrates and phosphates.

Low nitrates and low phosphates are important in reef aquariums, because their levels affect the appearance of the invertebrates that you keep, and also affect the amount and type of micro-algae that will grow in the aquarium. Levels that are too high make the tank look dull and not appealling at all.

Conclusion :

We reviewed most of the additives that you should use on your reef aquarium. There are probably still others, and newer ones may have appeared by the time your read this book.

Refer to an authoritative source of information to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest developments in Reef Aquarium keeping, the most challenging part of the marine hobby, but also the one where water quality is the most important, in terms of the type of success that you can expect.

Moreover, because the Hobby is still so "young" in this country, a lot of misinformation is unfortunately circulated, not willingly, of course, but because many shops and hobbyists have little experience that can be backed up with notes, time, empyric evidence, etc.

There are several excellent magazines dedicated to the hobby. Some are more orientated to marine environments than others. We highly recommend Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, better known to some as FAMA, and, of course, there is our own newsletter : Marine Reef, that deals with nothing but reef aquarium technology and the animals that you can, or may already be, keeping in your tank.

It is now in its second year of publication, and all issues of the first year, numbered 1 through 17, are available in soft bound form. Call Aardvark Press for details if you are interested. Signed, numbered, hardbound editions are available as well.



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