I figured Id jump in and settle this issue for everyone (your welcome btw
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What works:
regular water changes (10%-20% a week) with a quality salt (everyone has their personal fav. and they all seem to work so no point in naming a brand really, but lets just say coralife its cheap and after years of use I always found it to be pretty consistant)
maintaining adeqaute calcium 400-500ppm: kalkwasser, calc reactors, and esv are all proven methods each with their pros and cons
magnesium: the only other trace element that needs to be added if you are doing reg water chagnes. Kent, esv, brightwell are all fine, just make sure u test for it.
Know before you go: never add anything to the tank you cant test for. make sure you know the levels of an element and how much you need to add before you add it. Use reef calculator if you need to figure out how much of something to add.
coral foods: say what you want, but all corals benefit from regular feedings if for no other reason that it feeds micro organisms that the corals feed on in turn. DT's, rotifeast, oysterfeast, kent pro series three part, and coral frenzy all do well check to see which suits your system best based on the corals you keep.
bio available carbon in conjunction with adding some beneficial bacteria periodically:
whether its from vodka, vinegar or bio fuel adding carbon does promote the growth of beneficial bacteria and will lower nutrient levels. The addition of bacteria from time to time although not 100% necessary does insure that there is always living bacteria to utilize the carbon.
I strongly believe that high import/export of nutrients is a necessity for this concept to work. Put stuff thats good for the corals and ecosystem in the tank and make sure the leftovers and bi-products are removed regularly via water changes/skimming. It is a technique that has been proven effective time and time again (check out reefbums tank pics if there is any doubt)
avoid swings in temp ph and chemistry: any one of these can cause serious stress to corals and fish and set off a chain reaction of problems.
If you follow these steps and your lighting/flow/filtration is adequate for the species you are attempting to keep and you have choosen species that are compatible, your corals WILL grow, you might lose a stray specimen here and there but that comes with the territory. It really is that mind numbingly simple. The hard part is staying dilligent with testing, cleaning, dosing, and water changes. You cant go two weeks w/o doing anything and make up for it by dumping a bunch of supps. in the tank.
medicines and other treatments:
salifert flatworm exit DOES work but it is important to follow the directions exactly, a turkey baster and some hungry fish do an equally good w/o the risk of toxins being dumped in the tank from the dead flatworms.
ruby reef ich medication DOES work if the directions are followed, but prolly not any better than raising the temp a few degrees and slightly lowering salinity. Garlic goes a long way in preventing it and have a cleaner shrimp or neon goby to eat any parasites that do manage to appear works well too. At the end of the day if your system is balanced and the fish is other wise in good shape it should be able to fight off ich and not really ever have it return.
now I am by no means saying that there arent other products out there that work. I'm just saying, if you do what I listed above, you will not need them plain and simple. As a general rule of thumb if something seems to good to be true or promises multiple results should prolly be avoided. Adding calcium will raise calcium, adding magnesium will increase magnesium... these are straight forward assertions that are easily backed up. "mikes super insane coral potion" (fake name)that says it will raise calcium, stabilize ph and alk, include all trace elements while providing corals with essential vitamins and amino acids should probably be avoided or atleast closely scrutinized before added (ecosystem reef solution comes pretty close to this all in one ideal, less the calcium and alkalinity, over all its a very good product but the majority of its components can not be tested and years of experience from multiple users is the only proof I have that it works, so start with a low dose and adjust as needed)
This may not have been the point of this thread but it is the answer to the question of "what works?"
