Saltwater Aquariums – Add Those Supplements

by The Aquarium Lady

Saltwater aquariums in comparison to freshwater ones need a lot more maintenance if you want to ensure that the tropical fish in yours remain healthy. You need to be aware that over time, certain nutrients and minerals which are found in the water can become depleted, and sometimes the only way to replenish these in saltwater aquariums is through adding supplements.

However, sometimes there are saltwater aquariums where no supplements are needed as they have been properly cared for. When owning saltwater fish such as Angelfish and Clownfish, changing some of the water on a regular basis can help and also regular maintenance of the tank will further help and you may not then need to add supplements to it.

The reason why you won’t need to add supplements is because each time you change some of the water in saltwater aquariums, you are in fact helping to replenish the nutrients and minerals in it. But be aware that if your salt water aquarium contains any kinds of corals, then a calcium supplement will need to be added to yours.

Do You Need To Add Supplements To Your Saltwater Aquariums?

Using a kit for testing the water in saltwater aquariums is the quickest and simplest way of discovering what your tank is lacking. There are a number of different test kits available which you can either purchase at your local tropical fish shop or by going online. All of these will help you identify what is lacking from the salt water in your aquarium and the amounts you need to add.

When adding supplements to any saltwater aquariums, make sure that you do so very carefully, as an excess can cause problems and prove harmful to the marine life within the tank. To actually deal with excesses of supplements in the tank’s water, you will in fact have to take all of it out, and this can put stress on the fish, plants and coral in yours.

Saltwater Aquariums – Kinds Of Supplements That You May Need To Add

There is still much debate going on about if you really do need to add supplements to saltwater aquariums. There are some aquarists who believe that by changing some of the water in your tank on a regular basis, is more than sufficient to help replenish those nutrients and minerals which have been lost. Certainly those who own aquariums which contain just tropical fish or tropical fish and live rocks, have found this to be the case. However if you are someone who owns a reef tank in which corals are kept, then adding a calcium supplement is essential, along with possibly supplements of magnesium and Kalkwasser to your coral reef saltwater aquariums.

Adding calcium supplements to a reef saltwater aquariums actually aids the corals, algae and invertebrates living in the tanks to grow. Certainly if you don’t then you may find it far more difficult to get the chemical composition of your tank right, and which hopefully will mimic the wild environment from which the tropical fish and other marine life in the aquarium came from.

Today there are a number of good quality calcium supplements available that come in liquid or tablet form, and which can be purchased at a local aquarium supply company or by using an online one. These both enable you to place the correct amount of calcium into saltwater aquariums, however the liquid, although easier to use is also more expensive. You may find that you need to add some bicarbonate or carbonate along with the calcium supplement to keep the alkalinity levels right. If however they fall below 2.5meg per liter of water of in your saltwater aquariums, a supplement of Kalkwasser may need to be added also.

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