Supplements for sps
- Thread starter Polkman
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Rogger Castells
New member
I am pretty sure there is no magic potion that makes all acros colorful even though some reefers may swear by certain products and in fact some may work in their tanks, it doesn't mean the same products will work in yours, as the parameters, equipment, bio load and husbandry are different from one tank to the other.
In the past it was a trial an error now and days you can actually send your water to be tested for specific deficiencies and then in most cases replenish them on a regular basis, there are several companies that offer that service, the most populars are in Germany and their service is not crazy expensive considering what you get, I will recommend doing 2 tests about 3 months apart with no addition of any supplements in between and compare what are you depleting even with regular water changes, this could give you an idea of what to dose and perhaps how to dose it sparse in a way that it's constantly adding very little at the time (balling system), Fauna marin and Triton are some of the leaders of this ICP type of testing
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In the past it was a trial an error now and days you can actually send your water to be tested for specific deficiencies and then in most cases replenish them on a regular basis, there are several companies that offer that service, the most populars are in Germany and their service is not crazy expensive considering what you get, I will recommend doing 2 tests about 3 months apart with no addition of any supplements in between and compare what are you depleting even with regular water changes, this could give you an idea of what to dose and perhaps how to dose it sparse in a way that it's constantly adding very little at the time (balling system), Fauna marin and Triton are some of the leaders of this ICP type of testing
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Yeah I see a lot of people using the Red Sea color/growth program, zeovit, aquaforest and have really good outcomes. Was just wondering if it's worth the money investment.
Rogger Castells
New member
They might be worthy, the issue is that these supplements (mostly vitamins, amino acids, and microelements) work as substitution of other nutrients like nitrates and phosphates.
In essence, you run a super low nutrient tank and then supplement the deficiency with these supplements and correct your colors from dull and pastels to vibrant, however, if you just add more products to an already high nutrient tank then you get excessive algae blooms and perhaps even browning of the corals. So you must be careful when "adding this without checking that"
In essence, you run a super low nutrient tank and then supplement the deficiency with these supplements and correct your colors from dull and pastels to vibrant, however, if you just add more products to an already high nutrient tank then you get excessive algae blooms and perhaps even browning of the corals. So you must be careful when "adding this without checking that"
Yeah I understand your point. My current issue is im not getting much color on my sps pieces, most notably my acros. I believe I'm running a low nutrient tank even though I'm feeding twice a day with frozen/pellets for 7 fish in a 65 total volume tank. Here are my parameters.
440-460 cal
8-8.4 dkh
1300-1360 mag
1.024-1.025 salinity
.01-.03 Phosphates (Hanna and Red Sea kit)
.25-1 nitrates
Running 3 ai primes on a 3ft wide tank (redsea reefer 250) I have a 4th prime but not sure if it would be overkill. Settings are 20k-1hr 18k-2hr 16k-1hr then back down at 85% intensity.
Dosing Red Sea 2 part ABC that include trace elements.
I'm noticing a slight loss in color especially with my pink lemonade. Had a bright yellow but noticed very slight browning to it now. I just moved the acro higher in hopes of maybe coloring up more. I have no algae growth other than on glass every 2-4 days, so I doubt it's excess nutrients. It's either lighting or maybe I'm not supplementing?
Flippers4pups
Home made abyss
What's your photo period on your lights? When I made the switch from T5's to my mars aqua units I had them set as low as I could, around 10% white channel and 20% blue channel. Everything looked great with awesome polyp extension. After a couple of weeks I up the intensity to 20-30 and within a week all my acros and monti digata's got pale. Water parameters were spot on the whole time. Dropped them back to 10-20 and over the course of two weeks the colors came back. Lights 12" off the water.
So could be your putting them in photoinhibiton due to the light intensity causing the zooxanthellae to be expelled and a reduction of chlorophyll, thus causing pale colors. If your getting good polyp extension, but colors are pale, could be the lights.
So could be your putting them in photoinhibiton due to the light intensity causing the zooxanthellae to be expelled and a reduction of chlorophyll, thus causing pale colors. If your getting good polyp extension, but colors are pale, could be the lights.
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My initial photoperiod was for 10 hours which I ran for 3 weeks. I don't believe I'm having any issues with my montis since they're coloring up fairly well. Only issues are just with the acros. On each prime I'm running 24w out of the 40 peak. The acros show polyp extension and growth/encrusting. Just dull in color.
Rogger Castells
New member
The Picture looks good to me, they are not pale, they are little on the brown side, I did notice that the parameters were almost spot on, I will feel more comfortable with elevating the salinity slightly to 35ppt (1.0264 SG) which might increase the alk and the magnesium, but if not, I like the magnesium at about 1425-1450 and make sure to take your time elevating this there is no rush in this hobby.
I am not sure if you are dosing anything other than the redsea A-B but I would check my Potassium next.
it's important to do just one thing at the time and let it go for a couple of weeks before determining any effects, the best way is to take pictures before and after and compare, best to take the pictures at the same time of the day.
What are you doing to keep your nutrients low? the reason why I ask is because I've encountered issues with both using bio pellets and also GFO to reduce PO4
Thanks for the info. Only thing I'm using is 1/2 cup of gfo in a reactor. Po4 hasn't dipped lower than .01 on my test kits but then again there is a small +/- on those Hanna checkers. The rock I'm using has been established for a few years and has coralline on it. I'm currently not dosing anything else other than 2 part. That's why I was asking about supplements to use to up potassium, iodine etc. I can try to up my mag up slowly, and I'm currently in the process of increasing salinity with salt water in my ato. Im sitting at 32.5 salt via apex, and it's slowly climbing. Overall I do try to do 10g water changes every 2 weeks but then again Im having a hard time getting po3 over 1, so not sure if it's detrimental doing those water changes. Any recommendations on products for dosing amino acids and potassium etc.?
Rogger Castells
New member
Yes, there are several good products to fix the deficiencies but, I would first fix the salinity and the mag before targeting anything else, like the potassium as these alone could be the answer.
If these easy fixes don't correct the problem then plan b would be sending the water for testing, however, bear in mind that you may not see immediate results, I would give it at least 3 weeks before taking pics again and comparing.
If these easy fixes don't correct the problem then plan b would be sending the water for testing, however, bear in mind that you may not see immediate results, I would give it at least 3 weeks before taking pics again and comparing.
Sounds good! At the moment increasing my mag by 20ppm per day. Is there an issue with my ph being on the low side? Lights out I've seen it dip to 7.75 and with lights in and alk dosing it's gone up to 7.9 and sometimes peaking at 8.0. I've read that I should stay away from buffers. Would it benefit me to get my ph up to 8.0-8.3? And if so what would you recommend by doing so?
Rogger Castells
New member
Your ph is on the mid part of the normal range and I wouldn't be to concern with using buffers to increase it, however, you might see a natural increase when you elevate the salinity and the magnesium.
Personally I don't worry too much about ph, but you may want to test if perhaps there is elevated CO2 in your home, try opening the windows and letting fresh air comes in and see if that increases your ph. There are some things you could do if this is the case like using a CO2 scrubber on your skimmer input but normally this is not necessary.
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Personally I don't worry too much about ph, but you may want to test if perhaps there is elevated CO2 in your home, try opening the windows and letting fresh air comes in and see if that increases your ph. There are some things you could do if this is the case like using a CO2 scrubber on your skimmer input but normally this is not necessary.
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My ORP readings measure 330-350, I don't really know much about co2 at this moment and will be trying to learn about it. But in the range that I posted, is that acceptable? How high is too high and how low is too low for co2?
Rogger Castells
New member
Your ORP is fine, however, this is a measurement of dissolved organics in your water and not carbon dioxide content.
The Co2 is hard to test in your house but normally if you keep the a/c on all the time like most people do here in SFl, co2 will accumulate naturally through breathing exhaling, this will be higher if you use a calcium reactor and there is residual co2 escaping to the room but I know this is not your case because you mentioned that you do two part.
As a good practice, you may want good fresh air ventilation to the area where your tank is.
The Co2 is hard to test in your house but normally if you keep the a/c on all the time like most people do here in SFl, co2 will accumulate naturally through breathing exhaling, this will be higher if you use a calcium reactor and there is residual co2 escaping to the room but I know this is not your case because you mentioned that you do two part.
As a good practice, you may want good fresh air ventilation to the area where your tank is.
I agree with Roger in regards to water parameters. I would supplement your leds with T5 to get the most out of your sps. If you looking to grow sticks higher non directional light like t5 or mh will color up sps.
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Would 2x t5s be enough? And what type bulbs? Not really wanting to change out for a whole new light fixture.
Rogger Castells
New member
Although I agree that t5's are an excellent option to keep corals, I would not go changing multiple things at one time as you may never fix the issue and spend a lot of money in the process and if you do fix the issue you will never know what it was 
I think it's better and more economical to resolve your issues by a process of elimination, Personally, I am not a fan of neither T5's or LED alone but it is evident that both are capable of sustaining corals.
Patience and consistency are key in this hobby, I think you are on the right path to success, fix your chemistry first and then assess if the corals are coloring and go from there. This is an older picture of my tank, I had no T5's just MH and LED's, which incidentally is the same thing I am doing on my new build
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I think it's better and more economical to resolve your issues by a process of elimination, Personally, I am not a fan of neither T5's or LED alone but it is evident that both are capable of sustaining corals.
Patience and consistency are key in this hobby, I think you are on the right path to success, fix your chemistry first and then assess if the corals are coloring and go from there. This is an older picture of my tank, I had no T5's just MH and LED's, which incidentally is the same thing I am doing on my new build
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