I have a 120g dt, that I just started adding a significant amount of sps to. I have had a monti cap in there for about 5 months, and it is growing very nicely. My parameters are ammonia = 0, nitirte = 0, nitrates = trace, phosphates less than 0.08 (need to retest soon), salinity 1.025, temp = 78, calcium = 420, alk runs 8.5 to 9, mg = 1400. I do run gac and gfo. I feed mainly Rods fish food, mysis, some pellets (Ocean nutrition mainly), and sometimes Hikari Mega-marine Angel. I do 15% water changes ever two weeks. With only 1 week in the tank, I have fair to good polyp extention on the new frags. What if any suppliment would aid coral growth and color?
What if any suppliments are essential?
- Thread starter bamf25
- Start date
Acropolooza
New member
Alk Calc Mag
Already doing that. I have been hand dosing twice daily, but I have everything I need to set up my dosing pumps on my Apex now.
danschargers21
New member
I use marine snow for target feeding. I have heard coral frenzy is a good product too though.
allsps40
New member
The only things you need to dose to a reef tank are ca, alk and mag if needed. Regular water changes will take care of everything else. I have wasted a lot of money and time chasing the other minor trace elements and it is pointless. Dosing things like strontium, iodine, potassium ect are a great way to fill the pockets of the people running the supplement companies but will do little to nothing for your corals. Ca, alk and mag, stability and regular water changes is the key. IMO any amino acids and things like marine snow are foods no trace elements so they fall into another category.
FragIt Dan
Marine Biologist
Since you are running GFO, Reef Roids and Coral Frenzy are fairly popular, but keep an eye out for phosphate in them. I feed an amino acid supplement after the lights go out and then about 20 minutes later feed marine snow. AA gets the polyps out and ready for the food, then they get hit with the marine snow once fully extended. I also dose KoralColor which is a trace elements product, as well as a few others, but your water changes should be as/more effective than using these types of products. IMO, regular water changes accomplishes the same as dosing all the 'accessory supplements', assuming you are using a good salt. Maybe just find a good food for your corals such as one of the marine snow products out there, and dose after your lights go out for your coral foods.
Dan
Dan
FragIt Dan
Marine Biologist
I assume you are doing regular water changes? I do not, and thus am not replacing a lot of the non-conservative elements that would be achieved by doing so. IMO, there are two ways of maintaining concentrations of major and minor elements... regular water changes using a good salt, OR supplementing individual components with periodic larger water changes. Both methods can provide sufficient concentrations to saturate proteins in the corals, each has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I would agree with you that there are many who would be in a situation where use of KoralColor, and indeed most other supplements, would be redundant, and they would not see any difference; it would in fact be doing nothing. For my situation though, I know my trace and minor elements get substantially depleted, and have observed a difference that I attribute to the use of KoralColor. I am published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography on the use and mechanisms of some trace elements in the ocean (related to iron seeding experiments) and am fairly confident in my position on this. I think we are saying the same thing though, just in different ways
Dan
REEF SMAC
New member
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