Water conditioners and/or Bacterial additives? Yes, no what kind?

[Eleni18]

Hello all. I am running a mixed reef with a live rock and sand, a skimmer and activated carbon and anti phosphate in the skimmer's media chamber. I use filtered tap water for my bi-weekly water changes. All my parameters are OK more or less, except nitrates which are constantly around 20. The tank has been running for about 3 years. My question is this: Should I be adding something to the water after water changes or on a weekly basis, like seachem prime or beneficial bacteria, like aquaforest pro bio S? Or is this not necessary in an established tank with live rock? Is there anything I should be adding to the water on a regular basis if my basic parameters- Calcium, magnesium etc- are OK?

 

[Cell]

Probably depends on how you are filtering your tap water and what kind of things are in your tap water to begin with.

 

[vetteguy53081]

water changes should satisfy all tank requirements. At times, addirtives can cause more harm than good as you may climb into overdosing state.
Water tests best determine if something needs to be added.

 

[W1ngz]

I wouldn't add anything unless you have a specific goal.

I'm about to head out the door myself to buy some of the AquaF pro BioS, but that is specifically to bring down my nitrates and phosphates a little to appease my angry montipora, after I over-harvested my chaeto.

 

[brandon429]

It’s great you researched before spending. No form of bacterial assistance is needed, clearly at three years the balance is in effect. Any condition your current tank is in can be addressed without buying any form of boosting. Bottle bac are being grossly over used and it’s generating hundreds of thousands of dollars to sellers, if you kept the money and spent it on quality feed or pod booster kits that’s money well spent