Best Supplements?

[RadReef]

I'm wondering what people think are the best supplements? I've been using brightwell two part calcium A and B, magnesium, and iodide. I've also been looking at other brands like Elos Prima Line 1-5.

 

[iamwrasseman]

the complete line of brightwell products are awesome IMO .

 

[iap]

Brs two part

 

[RadReef]

the complete line of brightwell products are awesome IMO .

I've had good results with brightwell, I just didn't know if there were criticisms with brightwell and if people thought another brand better.

 

[Fishamatank]

magnesium, alkalinity, calcium supplements are all the same essentially. You can make these all yourself for a fraction of what any manufacturer sells one quart bottles for. Saying Brightwell or Elos Ca/Alk/Mg supplements are better or worse than any other brand is a little silly.
Most do not need to dose iodide, you should only add it to your tank if you test for it and monitor levels.

 

[RadReef]

magnesium, alkalinity, calcium supplements are all the same essentially. You can make these all yourself for a fraction of what any manufacturer sells one quart bottles for. Saying Brightwell or Elos Ca/Alk/Mg supplements are better or worse than any other brand is a little silly.
Most do not need to dose iodide, you should only add it to your tank if you test for it and monitor levels.

Where does the iodide come from if you don't dose, salt mixes? I know iodide is essential to the health of all livestock. The brs it would be cheaper because it's dry ingredients and you mix it yourself.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Where does the iodide come from if you don't dose, salt mixes? I know iodide is essential to the health of all livestock. The brs it would be cheaper because it's dry ingredients and you mix it yourself.

Yes, any halfway decent salt mix will provide enough iodide/iodine that is needed for almost all of our tanks.

 

[seapug]

As stated above, most 2 part cal- alk supplements are very similar. I use the Brightwell A-B because my local store carries their line and I am very pleased with it.

I was never a fan of supplementing other mineral additives I set up a zeolite reactor on my tank about a year ago and started a daily supplementation regimen of Potassium, BW Replenish & Coral Color, Iodine as well as some of the KZ Zeovit line (Pohl's Xtra and LPS Amino Acids) and I must admit it has done wonders for my tank. I don't know if it was the pro-biotics + zeolites or the mineral supplementation that are really responsible, but after 1 year or slow and steady supplementation of bacteria, carbon and trace/minor elements, the difference in the colors and growth of the corals is pretty incredible, and I have a lot more than just a bunch of pastel Acros in my tank. I'm convinced my giant white toadstool eats the organic carbon supplement like candy. It's almost 2 feet across now and spawns regularly. I need to find where I put my damn utility scissors.

 

[seapug]

double post

 

[RadReef]

I was never a fan of supplementing other mineral additives I set up a zeolite reactor on my tank about a year ago and started a daily supplementation regimen of Potassium, BW Replenish & Coral Color, Iodine as well as some of the KZ Zeovit line (Pohl's Xtra and LPS Amino Acids) and I must admit it has done wonders for my tank.

I've looked at your tank so many times, I think I know where every corals placed, lol. How often do you do water changes and how much? Do you test the levels of your supplements or follow the product instructions?

 

[allsps40]

I dose Kent Nano 2 part as needed for ca and alk, switching to B Ionic or BRS, iodine Kent Tech I once a week for color and softy growth, Blue Life Potassium once a week for color, Kent strontium every 3 days for sps growth and health, vodka .1 ml twice a week for sps color and to feed heavy, Kent or Aqua Vitro AAs for coral growth and color. And lastly Aqua Vitro Balance to correct low ph when alk is good, 8-10 dkh. A good reef salt will help to reduce the need to dose certain things. I use Reef Crystals and I hate it. Ph is low alk is high ca is high mag is ok potassium is way low. I really like Pro Reef and HW Reefer. DD has a really good salt as well.

 

[seapug]

I've looked at your tank so many times, I think I know where every corals placed, lol. How often do you do water changes and how much? Do you test the levels of your supplements or follow the product instructions?

Thanks. My tank looks quite a bit different than it did back when it was TOTM in 08. It's still recognizable, but quite a lot different than it looked last time I posted photos. I've made quite a number of upgrades and changes over the past couple years. I plan on doing a "TOTM Revisit 2.5 years later" some time this fall when the tank turns 4.

I know it's frowned upon (and I wouldn't "recommend" it to someone else), but actually don't test the actual levels of most of what I supplement. I generally start with about half of the levels recommended by the manufacturers and slowly increase dosages to recommended levels. The only problem I noticed from the supplementation were periodic outbreaks of cyano, which I was able to determine was caused by being a little too heavy handed with the KZ LPS Amino Acid supplement. Once I backed off on that stuff the cyano went away.

Oh, I'm pretty religious (every sunday!) about weekly 10-15 gallon water changes.

 

[RadReef]

That's funny seapug because I've been doing reef tanks now for 7 years and I've never tested my levels of anything and done weekly water changes and never had any issues. I'm now bumping up to the biggest system I've had so I'm learning new things that I didn't need to know before. There's always something new to learn in this hobby!!