| The elements contained in saltwater are essential to | | | | magnesium and Kalkwasser. |
| the health of your fish. As an aquarium runs through | | | | Calcium supplements are beneficial for tanks with |
| its cycles, however, essential minerals and nutrients | | | | clams, corals, and algae, as it helps them grow. For |
| tend to become depleted and need to be refilled | | | | hobbyists who require a high level of calcium in their |
| through a water change or special aquarium | | | | aquariums akin to the amount found in natural |
| supplements. | | | | saltwater, it can be difficult to maintain the right |
| Not everyone needs to add supplements to their | | | | quantity without adding supplements. There are some |
| aquarium - it really depends on the situation. If you | | | | products on the market that dose aquarium water |
| keep up with water changes and maintenance, and | | | | with calcium, or you can purchase diluted calcium |
| only keep fish, supplementation may not be | | | | chloride to dose the water. The latter method is |
| necessary. This is because with each water change | | | | more expensive, but easier. To avoid lowering the |
| essential elements are automatically replenished. Coral | | | | alkalinity of the water with liquid calcium, you may |
| reef tanks require supplements to keep the amount | | | | have to use a carbonate or bicarbonate as a buffer. |
| of calcium at a high enough level. | | | | To maintain proper alkalinity, which needs to be |
| If you determine that your saltwater aquarium needs | | | | around 2.5 meq/L (the alkalinity of natural saltwater) |
| supplementation, using a test kit is essential so that | | | | you may have to add kalkwasser (lime water) to the |
| you know exactly what's missing and how much | | | | aquarium. This is calcium hydroxide - it must be added |
| needs to be added to the water. Also, adding too | | | | through doses. The process can be set up to occur |
| much of a particular element can cause problems for | | | | automatically according to the pH levels in the water, |
| your fish. A mistake is not easy to fix, either. You'd | | | | or you can do it manually when you carry out water |
| have to do a full water change to remedy the | | | | top-offs. You can also drip it slowly, directly into the |
| oversight, causing a lot of stress for your fish. | | | | aquarium. |
| There is still a lot of debate about supplementation | | | | Kalkwasser gives your aquarium a double whammy, |
| because routine water changes are normally enough | | | | adding calcium and maintaining alkalinity, so it has |
| to replenish supplies and keep the tank running well, | | | | many benefits. |
| especially for fish only aquariums or fish and live rock | | | | In the end, the choice to supplement is all in your |
| aquariums. However, most experts do agree that for | | | | hands. If you're planning to put together a reef |
| coral reef tanks, supplementing with calcium is | | | | aquarium, supplementation is a necessity to keep |
| beneficial. To keep the water alkaline in reef | | | | corals and any other invertebrates living in your tank |
| aquariums, you may also want to supplement with | | | | healthy. |