When to add supplements....

[FishPharmD]

I've heard varying advice about when I should start adding mineral supplements like calcium, iodine, strontium/molybdenum, trace, etc. I've had my 55 up and running for 5 days now, and I've got lots of live rock and a couple tiny damsels. Should I start now for the benefit of the live rock, or wait? When do I start?

[Minh Nguyen]

I've heard varying advice about when I should start adding mineral supplements like calcium, iodine, strontium/molybdenum, trace, etc. I've had my 55 up and running for 5 days now, and I've got lots of live rock and a couple tiny damsels. Should I start now for the benefit of the live rock, or wait? When do I start?

I would not add anything to the tank other than Ca and alkalinity (HCO3- and CO3--). I don't add anything else to my tank other than the above. Occasional water change is all you needed so don't waste your money. Trace elements are more likely cause toxicity due to too high levels rather than too low. Adding will just worsen the problem.
Don't add anything unless you can test and track the level, even Ca and alkalinity.
Minh

[Ninong]

Before adding anything you should test your water to see what is necessary. I wouldn't bother starting Kalkwasser or a two-part calcium/alkalinity additive until about two weeks after the tank has completed the initial cycle. You say that is has been up and running for five days now but you don't say if you started out with fully cured live rock or uncured live rock. Too bad you have damsels in your tank at this stage; that was totally unnecessary.

Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Once your ammonia/ammonium reading is undetectable and your nitrite reading is down near 0.25 ppm, your initial cycle is pretty much complete. At that point your nitrate readings might very well be around 50-100 ppm, depending on whether you started out with uncured live rock or fully cured.

If I remember correctly, I don't believe I started dripping Kalkwasser for at least five or six weeks and I started out with fully cured live rock. Do NOT add anything else unless you have tested for it first and find that the levels of that particular element are considerably below natural seawater concentrations. I have never added iodine and every time I test for it I get readings above NSW concentrations. There is a lot of iodine in the food that we add to the tank. I have never added strontium and I have not bothered to test for it either. I may get a strontium test kit one of these days but it's not a top priority. Just be aware that elevated levels of either strontium or iodine are toxic. Elevated levels of strontium will interfere with calcium carbonate deposition in corals. Again, don't add anything until after you have tested your water and know for certain that your levels of that particular element are low. You might want to test for magnesium and boron while you're at it, too. You would want to maintain your magnesium levels somewhere above 1000 ppm, I believe NSW levels are around 1285 ppm but you can get by with less. If you want to raise magnesium up to 1300 ppm fine, but as long as it isn't affecting your ability to maintain calcium and alkalinity at desired levels there is no reason to be concerned.

The reason you might want to test for boron (assuming you can find a boron test kit that works, something I have been unable to accomplish in spite of repeated promises from the President of Salifert) is because elevated levels of boron have been proven toxic to leathers and other corals. One salt mix manufacturer, Seachem, actually adds extra boron. The president of that company is looking into the claims that extra boron is not a good thing.

As far as trace minerals, or trace elements, in general are concerned, the problem doesn't seem to be a lack of them, the problem seems to be elevated levels of them in most salt mixes available today.

You can save yourself a lot of money by not adding things that you don't need. You won't make any of the additive manufacturers happy with that approach but you will save a lot of money and have a healthier tank.