Dosing question for 20 gallon reef tank

[nport19]

So I have a 20 gallon reef tank the contains, trumpit coral, pulsing hand coral, torch coral, BTA, Kenya tree, acordia, and mushroom rocks. I have been dosing the following weekly when I do my water change: iodide, acropower, and reef trace. I was wondering if I'm missing anything that might make my reef grow better. Also I need so advise on what I should be feeding these corals and how often.

 

[Dalmatia]

what are your water parameters? with out that we cant help at all

 

[nport19]

Salt level is 1.025 and all the other stuff I never really bother to test for.

 

[Small triggers]

Shouldn't dose if you don't test...
Feeding-I don't feed my corals anything special, they usually get stuff from whatever the fish miss... My fish eat LRS frozen once weekly and pellets every other day...

 

[glb]

Salt level is 1.025 and all the other stuff I never really bother to test for.

You've just got to test for Alk, mg, ca, nitrates, phosphates, ph, temp and Salinity if you want to keep coral. I'd stick to a fish only tank if you don't want to do all those tests. Even with fish, you need to monitor nitrates, temp, ph and SG.

 

[glb]

You may need to dose Alk, mg and ca to keep the tank healthy. But I agree with Small triggers. Don't dose anything you haven't tested first.

 

[nport19]

Thanks for all the help. I think I will start to test my water to see what levels everything is at. I really want to keep my reef as happy as I can.

 

[glb]

Thanks for all the help. I think I will start to test my water to see what levels everything is at. I really want to keep my reef as happy as I can.

Good plan. Here are the tests I use:

Mg, Ca and Nitrates (Salifert)
Alk and phosphates (hanna checkers)
Ph: digital monitor
Salinity: refractometer
Temp: regular glass thermometer

Hanna checkers are more expensive but worth it imo. Salifert is more reasonable. Some people really like Red Sea tests. I wouldn't recommend an API set because they're not super accurate but if it's all you can afford by all means buy it and use it. I tried many different brands and found what I like by trial and error. Good luck!

 

[nport19]

Thanks for the information. Is 80 degrees to warm for a reef tank? That's what my tank is set at right now.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

It's a lil high for such a small tank . I would shoot for 77-78 .
Dependent on the brand salt used most should be able to keep up the demands with bi-weekly water changes .
FWIW all those additives you are using contain almost the same ingredients which will cause a problem down the road . (hair algae fuel)
I would not dose any of those ATM .If you feel water changes aren't enough to keep the corals happy then choose one and stick with it . Basic Ca,alk ,mg test kits will help in the tank but the additives you listed won't read for the later mentioned additives . I know it's exciting to have a reef tank but sometimes seeing all those additives in the store brings out the mad scientist in us . A lil of this and that sometimes is not needed and may cause more harm in the long run .
A good test kit for CA,MG,ALK is the Red Sea Foundation Pro . It retails for 39.00 dependent on where you look and has refills available when the kits run out . If you are going to dose iodine, the Salifert kit is what I used in the past . I stopped using it . The water changes pretty much take care of that .

 

[nport19]

Thanks for the information. That might explain the sudden out burst of hair alge I have been fighting for the last month or so. I use Red Sea salt for my tank.

 

[glb]

Hair algae is usually caused by excess nutrients, lights, and high temps don't help either. Check your nitrates and phosphates. You could probably run your lights less. I keep my tank at 78.

 

[nport19]

I will test for that once I get the test kit. I'm running my lights form 7am/7pm right now so I guess I could try cutting that back an hour and see what happens. As for the temp in my tank should I just turn the heater down to 78 or slowly drop the temp so the corals don't go into shock.

 

[Small triggers]

I only run my blues for 10 hours and my whites for 6... Also temp is subjective.. I run a cooler reef, but you also have to account for that when measuring salinity...