Dosing Trace Elements

[Reef noob_]

I have joined the club of no water change reefers recently, partially by laziness and partially by the success I've seen doing it. My tank is a 90g system with a 65g sump and a 20g refugium.

I had a serious Ich outbreak ~ 1 Yr ago that killed off all but one of my fish and I let the tank go, and eventually ended up losing all corals. At this time I also had issues with my overflow and instead of choosing to fix it, I disconnected the sump and all filtration. Roughly 8mo. after that, I replaced the overflow and added the sump (65 gallons) back into the system with about 45 gallons (actual volume in sump) of fresh water. about 2 months after that, I added a separate refugium and another ~20g of water.

About a month ago I began adding coral back into the system, all of which are thriving, and then last week I added a clam. With these new corals, I understand there will now be calcium, magnesium, and alkalininty demands that will be taken care of through the use of Kalk and Bmag-ionic magnesium supplementation.

This tank has not had an actual water change for over 6 months now (probably more like 9-10) and I would like to continue doing water changes only every 6 or so months.

I understand that trace elements usually replenished by WCs will also be depleted and am looking for a way to replace them. What products does everyone use and how effective are they? I was looking at brightwell trace but it seems to only contain zinc, iron, manganese, and cobalt. Is that sufficient?

thanks in advance!

 

[CAPT_Dave]

Subscribing to read others opinions on this. I'm really intrigued by the Triton method, which it looks like you're a prime candidate for with your fuge and desire for no water changes. I'm wondering if you can modify if by using their testing and trace elements with kalk and/or Randy's Two Part instead of their Ca, All, and Mag.

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[Scrubber_steve]

I use the aquaforest make you own components A, B, C, + Components Strong which is the trace elements you add to the solutions.
Its a full Balling Method, with Component C being the 'Reef Mineral Salts', which are Sodium Chloride (NaCl) free sea salt.

Here's a link https://aquaforest.eu/en/wszystkie-produkty/

 

[Reef noob_]

I use the aquaforest make you own components A, B, C, + Components Strong which is the trace elements you add to the solutions.
Its a full Balling Method, with Component C being the 'Reef Mineral Salts', which are Sodium Chloride (NaCl) free sea salt.

Here's a link https://aquaforest.eu/en/wszystkie-produkty/

Interesting, but I'm looking more for a single (or a few) products i can ADD to my regimen. With that system (which looks very complete) I'd be spending way more than if I were to just do a WC and it seems like more work than a WC anyway.

Subscribing to read others opinions on this. I'm really intrigued by the Triton method, which it looks like you're a prime candidate for with your fuge and desire for no water changes. I'm wondering if you can modify if by using their testing and trace elements with kalk and/or Randy's Two Part instead of their Ca, All, and Mag.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Thanks for following! I'll definitely keep updated on here. And as far as Triton, I am basically trying to emulate that system but with much less analysis and more importantly, cost. I was actually thinking about having an ICP test done however, I'm curious how everything is doing with no WC's so far.

 

[Reef noob_]

More system info:

90g display
65g sump
20g fuge (lit by a 14K 250W MH for 14 hours/ day, filled with chaeto and caulepra mexicana)

Filtration is achieved through the use of a 100 micron mesh filter sock and a SCA-303 skimmer. I used to run GAC and GFO but have taken those offline as my reactor broke and have not felt the need to reapply. My water is crystal clear.

Last testing was appox. 2 weeks ago and read:
Ca-420
ALK- 9.1
Mag-1200

This was before the addition of a number of more stony corals and the clam. Have not tested recently due to my kits being expired. will buy refills soon.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Interesting, but I'm looking more for a single (or a few) products i can ADD to my regimen. With that system (which looks very complete) I'd be spending way more than if I were to just do a WC and it seems like more work than a WC anyway.

The aquarforest Components A,B,C, are calcium, magnesium, and alkalininty suppliments, which, if your corals are removing from the water, you will need to replenish whether or not you do water changes. :beer:

 

[Reef noob_]

The aquarforest Components A,B,C, are calcium, magnesium, and alkalininty suppliments, which, if your corals are removing from the water, you will need to replenish whether or not you do water changes. [emoji481]

I understand but as stated above, I'm using Kalkawasser for Calcium & Alkalinity and B-ionic Magnesium for magnesium. I did watch a few videos from the site you sent me and it seems much too intensive for what I am looking for.


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[Scrubber_steve]

I understand but as stated above, I'm using Kalkawasser for Calcium & Alkalinity and B-ionic Magnesium for alkalinity. I did watch a few videos from the site you sent me and it seems much too intensive for what I am looking for.


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Sorry' missed that bit