Graduating to reef

[wen tom]

Hello again. So I'd like to expand my corals a bit but have a couple questions. (I have fish too) I have some softies that are doing very well but have tried others that didn't survive. Where to start? Salt- use Instant Ocean. Will I need additives? And do I have to be a chemist to do this? All my parameters that I test for presently are good. I know I'd have to add mag. cal. and alk. Thanks

 

[bang guy]

You may not need to supplement Mg, Alk, and Ca. Probably, but the only way to know is to start regular testing and chart the results. Be as precise as possible.

What corals are you planning to add.

What corals did not survive your system?

 

[lmforbis]

I am a chemist and it doesn't help at all.
I agree with Bang. Test the water and see where you are. Depending on what the water parameters end up being, you may need to dose to get things where they need to be but with a reef salt you probably won't need to dose regularly. Water changes are usually enough if they are done regularly.
You might consider switching to instant ocean reef crystals (orange container) instead of their regular salt. It has higher levels of the minerals needed to maintain a reef.
What kind of lights do you have? That will to a degree dictate what kind of coral you can have.

 

[wen tom]

What test kits do you recommend? Mushroom polyp, yellow polyps and starburst and colony polyp did not make it. Nitrates were pretty high then, as I would guess my phosphates were. Both are way down now. 20 on the Nitrate and 0.2 phosphate. Do weekly water changes. I don't want the difficult ones. I know I'm not advanced enough for them! Maybe just like the ones I lost. Some color in there. Lights- A mix of white blue and royal blue 3watt Cree LEDs. (home made) Ricordea's, taro tree corals and Xenia are in there presently. How important would it be to put a light in my sump and get a little refugium going in there? Thanks guys!

 

[lmforbis]

I like salifert. I've heard Red Sea is also good. I've used SeaChem but not the calcium, magnesium, an alkalinity tests.