Coral Color and Supplement Additives, as stated by 'Red Sea'

[OneReef]

*(I will preface all of this by saying that many factors go into coral growth and coloration, including water quality, trace elements within your water, major elements within your water i.e. Ca, Alk, Mg; salinity, flow, nutrients both good and bad, feeding, lighting duration and intensity, and many others.*

I have always been interested in what makes coral coloration better, or more vibrant. *Many, many factors go into this, but the singular aspect of trace elements and what colors may be affected by them has intrigued me for some time. So when I saw Red Sea's "Reef Colors Pro" Test Kit, I thought it might be worth checking into. This kit has the following tests included: Iodine, Potassium, and Iron.

Within the instruction booklet includes some of this following information:

Reef Care Program: Coral Colors - Testing and Supplementing

Rea Sea breaks coral colors into 4 segments: A, B, C and D.

Within the A segment, they list the following elements:
Iodine, Bromine and Flourine. The kits test is for Iodine, which they say is related to the pink chromo-protein. Red Seas' suggested reef level for Iodine is 0.06ppm.

Within the B segment, they list the following elements:
Potassium. The test kit is for Potassium, which they say is related to the red chromo-proteins. Suggested level for potassium is 400ppm.

Within the C segment, they list the following elements:
Iron, Manganese, Cobalt, Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Chrome, and Nickel. The test kit is for Iron, which they say is related to the green/yellow chromo-proteins. Suggested level for Iron is 0.15 (chelated and non-chelated).

Within the D segment, they list Silver, Gold, Vandium and Tungsten. They say that Calcium is the item that supplies these elements. A test for Calcium is not included, but they list calcium and its 18 elements (trace elements found in NSW) are related to the blue/purple chromo-proteins.


I always though Potassium (K) was responsible for blue/purple coloration, but according to Red Sea, it is RED.

After using the 3 tests, I got the results of:

Potassium was high enough, 450, according to them. (400 ppm suggested)
Iodine was .03, a bit low. (0.06 ppm suggested)
Iron was 0.00, a bit low. (0.15 ppm suggested) Again, according to them.

I have the supplements for all 3 elements, I may dose them to see if I can see any differences. I really don't want to add more junk to my tank, as I like to keep it as simple as I can, but maximizing coral coloration has also interested me, so I will check it out and see what happens. If I get negative or no results after a few weeks, I will just stop them altogether.


Again, this is advanced supplementation. I suggest water changes, feeding and good skimming as a basis for good coral care. But if you are looking to take it to the next level and have the time and effort to monitor what is going on, it might be worth looking into. I'll post my results in a few weeks, good or bad. Happy Reefing.

 

[neuroslicer]

The company that makes amino acid supplements for coral cited a single paper as their scientific justification, and they had entirely misrepresented the data. So, show me the research! I can be convinced... my mind is open. Until then it's snake oil.

 

[OneReef]

I guess it's all theory and open for interpretation. This topic has been debated for years and I still see no hard evidence of anything related to coral colors. I see long winded article after long winded article that an ordinary layperson could never understand, and in the end, it can't say anything like "potassium levels of 400 are proven to increase the blue in your corals.". Most of this hobby is trial and error. For example, biopellets work amazing on my tank and I swear by them, but some people hate them and claim they crashed their tank...... But, it's part of the hobby that I like, trying different things.

 

[OneReef]

After thinking further about this last night and again this morning, doing more reading and more research, I have made the decision to stop the supplemental dosing. I only did it for 2 days, but I have concluded that I do not want to add more stuff to my tank. The less the better is usually the best approach. My colors are already good, so there is no sense in me having to dose 3 more products, let alone test for them to make sure I keep them in range. More trouble/work, more risk than reward, after I have thought/read further about it. For example, in the Red Sea booklet, they claim that phosphate level of .10 is best for coral growth. But in another research paper I read, it claimed that phosphate levels above .08 retard or slow coral growth. That contradicts Red Seas growth suggestion level for phosphates. They did both agree on low phosphate levels for coloration though. One said .02, one said .03 or less.

So, I am back to just what I feel is most important to my tank. Regular water changes, good skimming, only dosing amino acids and Oyster Feast, and running my biopellets as filtration.

I do not like testing, and using those new supplements is just more testing. I rarely test anything, I'll test Ca and Alk every couple of months, and phosphate once or twice a month. I have gotten to the point that with my tank mostly automated, I can tell if something is wrong or off, just by looking at my coral or my sand.

I am going to play with my lighting schedule though. I don't feel like I have optimized it yet. That's my next project to work on.

 

[Blindside]

best color imho is 20 k lighting. NOt being smart but i have been useing the 20k kessil on my frag system as supplement and colors have brightened and changed. Notice i said supplement, growth is too slow with 20k. I would be interested to see what u find jay.

 

[BigEaterDan]

Can someone tell me why reef colors C has copper in it I always thought tht was bad for most reef creatures just wanted advice on that because I was given some