Zinc

A

Acromaniac

Member
Hi all

I want to start zinc dosing for my sps tank.

Most people are either dosing Zinc Chloride or Zinc Sulfate.

The leb chemical supplier i use has 2 products just called Zinc Granules and Zinc powder. I asked if either was Zinc Chloride or Zinc sulfate and the reply I got was that it was neither they are both just pure zinc metal.

Is this possible? and also is this suitable?


Thanks
 
Zinc is pretty toxic to corals. It's on par with copper. Why would you want to dose it?
 
Zinc metal is obviously not soluble in water. You need a salt of zinc. The chloride or the sulfate would be appropriate.

I don't know if I'd call this "common". I know a few thousand reefers and I'm not hearing anyone else poisoning their corals and inverts on purpose. But you're free to do what you will.
 
Never heard of aquaforest. Didn't know zeovit involved intentionally poisoning the corals.

What is the purpose of poisoning them to make them expel the zooxanthellae? Are dying corals prettier or something?

There are a few of those trace metal supplements that contain some zinc and copper but they are at vanishingly low levels. It's going to be hard to make a DIY solution at that low of a concentration and be accurate. A little too much and you're buying new corals.
 
Fish foods contain plenty of trace metals and you can maintain them at safe levels with water changes, but don't let me stop you from following the latest hyped marketing trend.

I don't like the pastel look in corals because you run the risk of running your system on a razors edge and when things go wrong you never know which of those many bottles you're dosing is the problem.

Most of these type of issues manifest themselves over months.
 
Last edited:
This conversation has me wondering if I may be harming my corals. I have been using the "Triton Method" for my 125 gal tank for the last 4 months or so. This involves sending water samples to the Triton labs for testing/analysis every 2 months or so. One of the elements Triton analyses is zinc. According to Triton, my sample indicates 0.00 micrograms with a setpoint for zn at 4.00 micrograms. Triton, in their analysis, recommends dosing 0.19 ml of zn on a daily basis. Triton further states that zinc "Can promote enzymatic processes in reef aquariums" and can also "promote color and health of LPS and SPS corals". As far as the overall condition of the corals in my tank is concerned, some corals are doing better than others but none seem to be dying. What do you guys think, am I potentially putting the health of my corals at risk by dosing the amounts of zn suggested by Triton?
 
Zinc is used as is Copper. Its a necessary element. But at very small trace levels. I've heard of some people experimenting with slightly elevated levels to help promote the health of the corals. But to much will hurt them.

I don't know what that level is. It's most likely below Triton's LOD. Then there's also the fact that ICP-OES testing is not good at all at testing trace elements especially in seawater. ICP-MS is slightly better and AA possibly better. This is from a 3rd party that tests seawater.

I would not dose it. There's more then enough in the foods we feed and the saltmix we use.
 
Given their methods I'd take the trace analysis from triton with a grain of salt. There's a great skeptical reefkeeping article that goes over their methods but I can't find it from my phone right now. They sent in several NIST standards and show the wild variation in results from triton. They also go into some good technical detail on the flaws in the methods.
 
But in general if you give your tank any food then you've got plenty of copper, zinc, strontium, and all those other trace ions for things to be healthy.
 
Thank you jason2459 and disk1 for your responses. disk1, I will see if I can find the article you mention. Thanks again guys.
 
Here's the article--

As you'll see even when they could detect levels it was 400% off on zinc and 200% off on Manganese. Two of the trace metals people have been dosing.

If the test reads zero it doesn't mean that there isn't some in your system, just that it's below their level of detection on their tests.

http://packedhead.net/2015/triton-lab-icp-oes-testing-of-a-certified-artificial-saltwater-standard/

This article shows some of the levels of some metals in foods, ect.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rhf/feature/
 
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