B&B Aquatics - where to?

[los.tejanos83]

I have a 120g tank and treat with Kent Marine iodine each wk (2.5 capfuls). Without a quarantine tank and only a sump/fuge, how would i make use of KM other than my current regimen?

Hate to sound like such a novice (extreme rookie), but how do you make ph balanced freshwater?

[corruption]

You would use a pre-made mix of buffers, such as SeaChem's Reef Buffer... There are no newbie questions, just techniques you haven't learned yet!

I would not dose anything in my tank that I'm not testing for, personally -- if the tank is using 2.5 capfuls of iodine a week, thats not a problem, but I would definitely be testing for this. I know Salifert has an iodine test...

To utilize the dip methods, its as simple as mixing up your dip in a separate container, and allowing the item 5-15 minutes to soak. Again, while this does a lot for general maladies, this does nothing for things that are parasitic in nature -- the only cure here is going to be quarantine.

-Corruption

[los.tejanos83]

So i can mix Reef Buffer with tap water to make it ph balanced and use that as my dip, huh? Okay, i'll try it.

I'm assuming you dont dose regularly with iodine? If not, what do you dose regularly each week?

[corruption]

I don't dose regularly at the moment, after a rough year and a half of a new job my tank was pretty rough -- I'm just doing hefty weekly water changes with Tropic Marin. When I did dose, I usually did B-ionic for Cal/Alk because I was too busy to manage a full kalk regimen, and too poor for a Calcium Reactor... The key is testing for anything you dose on -- there is no magic formula, every tank is different -- the usage of various trace elements is entirely dependent on what you have the tank stocked with..

I wouldn't use tap water for a dip, instead use RO/DI with the buffers.. The tap, while probably ok, is definitely going to have more potential problematic elements than RO/DI -- the buffers will supply any that are essential.

-Corruption