Calcium supplement you prefer?

[scuba_steveo]

I am a big B-Ionic fan. They put something in there that make the corals pop. A few of us were talking to Paletta about this when he was at my house. Great stuff but it can get expensive to use especially if you have a bigger system. I just ordered 16 gallons of each part I and II straight from them.

[GaryP]

Reef Advantage Calcium™

http://www.seachem.com/products/prod...dvCalcium.html

This is my choice just dose as directed

I disagree, slightly. The dosing direction may be good for a starting point, but no 2 tanks will deplete calcium in the same way. Your dosing strategy needs to be based on the daily or weekly useage of calcium, or any other supplement. That requires doing a lot of testing in the beginning and then a less stringent monitoring program afterwards. Remember that the useage rate changes as the tank matures and you add livestock. Other changes may effect it to. A good example is fresh lightbulbs. New bulbs are going to have more PAR, resulting in more growth, and eventually faster depletion rates. I have seen a lot of folks get in trouble with supplements by following the recommended dosage rates. You certainly don't want to under dose, or over dose.

One other thing about the Seachem product. It contains a couple of trace metals as wella s calcium. It has Strontium and Magnesium blended in. This can be a good thing, so long as you are testing for them. I know of very few people that do. If you are only testing for calcium, how do you know that you aren't over or under dosing strontium for example?

The key to these solid products is how you make them up and add them to the tank but that is a post for another time.

[Bill S]

I just drink a lot of milk. No supplements required...

I guess I should start paying more attention to these posts, now that I'm on the way to a big tank...

[LoneStar]

Water changes and BIonic supplement. I do weekly water changes on Fridays (roughly 10%) and on Wednesdays dose with BIonic. All my sps is growing great and laying down thick base layers. Just like everything in life, its all variable. What works for me, proabably won't work good for the next guy, but you never know!

[Shark_Bait]

The dosing direction may be good for a starting point, but no 2 tanks will deplete calcium in the same way.--- trimmed --- Remember that the useage rate changes as the tank matures and you add livestock.

That is part of the dosing directions ;)

And the trace should be kept in check with the water changes...

[GaryP]

My opinion of Seachem just went up. They are the only chemical company I have heard of that says that on their directions.

[kkutac001]

I picked up the Reef Complete. I could only get it in liquid form. Gary, to illustrate their instructions for 'advanced' aquarists: "After determining the calcium consumption rate, set up a continuous drip system. Use this formula to determine how much to add to your top-off water: m=vc/160 (m=mL of product; v=volume in liters; c=amt to raise calcium in mg/L"

When I use SeaChem's alk buffer and follow their 'intermediate' level dirctions, I can hit an exact meq/L target every time. Sweet.

Thank you to all who gave their advice!