Trace elements and alkalinity...

[Malex530]

Hey everyone,
So I have been planning the corals for my first reef, a 44 gallon custom tank. I was wondering if I would need to dose anything to keep my trace elements up. The corals will be the following

SPS & LPS
Montipora undata
Purple and green hammer coral

Soft Corals
Kenya tree
Pulsing xenia
Neon green nephthea
Various zoanthids
Various mushrooms

As well some random frags that I get my hands on.
I'm not sure if just salt mix and Chicago tap water would be enough to keep a montipora and hammers.

 

[zportell]

Regular, weekly water changes will be sufficient for your set up as all the trace elements should be in your salt. If you don't like to keep up on weekly water changes, I would check weekly for Alk, Calcium, and Magnesium. Get an idea of how much your corals are using each week and then dose accordingly.

With the size of your system, lower costs come with water changes... Lower time consumption would come with dosing.

Good luck!

 

[Sawdonkey]

I'm not going to say not to use tap water, but you're fighting an uphill battle by doing so. It is likely that your tank wont look so great due to algae and corals may not respond well, especially sps.

To answer your question, you should be able to get all trace elements you need with your water changes, even just doing them once per month. Depending on your corals, you really only need to worry about Alk and Cal dosing.

 

[Malex530]

I'm not going to say not to use tap water, but you're fighting an uphill battle by doing so. It is likely that your tank wont look so great due to algae and corals may not respond well, especially sps.

To answer your question, you should be able to get all trace elements you need with your water changes, even just doing them once per month. Depending on your corals, you really only need to worry about Alk and Cal dosing.

Oops, I forgot that I WILL be using my own Ro/di unit for water changes and top off. Thank you for your info!