Do all corals require addatives?

Gdbyrd

life's a beach
Just wondering. My dad and I started up tanks at the same time, he really wants corals but doesn't want to have to add stuff daily to his tank. I am pretty sure the lower light corals like mushrooms and the like don't require that much, but wasn't positive. So, do some corals do OK with just the minerals from your weekly water changes? Or do they all require pretty strict testing/adding?
 
Sweet. He bought one of those MH lights I picked up last week too. that's good news for him.

Quick question about my tank now. I had him pick up an alkalinity test and calcium test while he was in SA. My Ca+ level was at 500. Does that sound normal? My way of thinking is that if there is nothing in the tank using the calcium then it should be high.

The only available alkalinity test they had available was one by instant ocean. I followed the instructions but don't exactly know what I'm doing. Hopefully some one on here that's familiar with the kit can help me out.

I added drops until the solution went from blue to yellow(was 9), I then divided by 2, giving me 4.5. Does that mean that my alkalinity is 4.5 mEq/L?

Is that a good level? My pH is and always has been a solid 8.2-8.4(looks like it's 8.3 but that's not an option for my kit).

I still need to hunt down a Mg test...

Lastly...when I finally get my nitrates under control, how often do I need to test Mg, Ca, and Alk before buying something? Just to make sure it's stable. I know Yote said he checks his tank daily for those three..but wondering what I should do before adding anything.

Thanks guys
 
blue to yellow = 9 means dKH is 9. dKH from 8-12 are good. You don't really have to translate it to alkalinity. Most people know dKH. If you must translate it, you have to multiply it with 0.357142857

Your pH looks good. As long as it doesn't change more than 0.2, it's good.

If you don't have too many hard coral, regular water change pretty much covers everything and you don't have to check the Ca or Mg. pH/Alk is a good indicator if something goes wrong.
 
+1 Wes
Regular water changes are going to take of 99,9% of most folks corals.So no worries there.Its when you start filling the tank full of SPS that it starts getting tricky.
A calcium level of 500,even though its high,aint gonna hurt anything.It'll come down as coralline starts taking off.
 
Very few people dose additives (I don't dose any). Like others have said, salts will generally contained a balanced mix of what your tanks need. So water changes not only remove bad stuff, but they add good stuff. When you start keeping more sensitive corals (like SPS), then you should probably start testing for a dosing for more obscure things.
 
I agree with the others. PWC`s will do mostly what you need for supplementing for trace elements in your tank. The average salt mix has 89 different salts in it that make up the trace elements needed. As minute as they are they are still very important to fish and coral processes.
 
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