DIY trace elements - How to lower threshold for reefers to start?

[Luc Vogels]

Over the past few years, I have spent considerable time preparing my own trace element solutions and determining the daily dosage required by my reef. Reef2Reef has been a great source of information and inspiration, but one piece of information I often found difficult to find was a practical starting point for periodic trace element dosing.

I therefore started conservatively and gradually adjusted the dosages based on the response of the aquarium and monthly ICP testing. After two years, I have reached a reasonably stable understanding of my reef's trace element consumption and the corresponding dosing amounts.

Clearly, these values cannot simply be transferred from one reef to another. Consumption will depend on factors such as coral biomass and growth, livestock, filtration methods, and the supplementation system being used. Nevertheless, I think actual dosing data from established reefs can provide useful reference points, particularly for reefers who want to prepare their own trace element solutions.

I would therefore like to share my current dosing levels and hear whether others consider this information useful as a reference, or whether the differences between individual reefs make such comparisons of limited value. I’m also curious how these numbers compare with what other reefers are dosing. Are we roughly in the same ballpark, perhaps within 50%, or could the differences be as large as 500%?

Aquarium: 3000 Liter (793 Gallon)
Build Thread: Here
Aquarium Type: Mixed reef
Aquarium Live stock: heavily stocked (mature reef)
Major element supplementation system: Triton Core 7

Element	Chemical product	Daily product dose (µg/L/day)	Daily element / nutrient dose (µg/L/day)
Strontium	SrCl₂·6H₂O	520.7143	171.1301
Vanadium	V2O5 *	0.5357	0.3001
Cobalt	CoCl₂·6H₂O	0.1071	0.0265
Manganese	MnSO₄·H₂O	0.2496	0.0811
Copper	CuSO₄·5H₂O	0.2630	0.0669
Zinc	ZnSO₄·7H₂O	0.2357	0.0536
Nickel	NiSO₄·6H₂O	0.2384	0.0532
Chromium	CrCl₃·6H₂O	0.0579	0.0113
Iron	FeSO4 7 H2O *	23.7500	4.7708
Iodine	KI	3.1144	2.3809
Fluorine	NaF	39.4643	17.8564
Nitrates	NH4HCO3	119.0476	93.3649
Nitrates	CO(NH2)2	8.9286	18.4351
Phosphates	KH2PO4	11.9048	8.3077

*An additive is used to improve solubility

If a specific trace element is not in the list I do not consider it useful to dose periodically.

If there is interest, I can also share the practical side of my dosing approach: which chemical compounds I use, which elements I combine into stock solutions, the concentrations of those solutions, and how I dose them.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for posting info about what is a poorly understood aspect of reef tank husbandry.

Am I correct in interpreting that these doses were based on attaining target levels for these ions, and assuming so, what were those target levels?

Have you explored higher or lower target
Levels for any individual ions and noted differences?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Thank you for the post. Yes, I am interested in how you chose the chemical compounds, how you found the bioavailability information, and how much trial and error went into the process.

 

[Peer.Boerner]

Great post. Tagging along to learn. Many thanks.

 

[Luc Vogels]

Thank you for posting info about what is a poorly understood aspect of reef tank husbandry.

Am I correct in interpreting that these doses were based on attaining target levels for these ions, and assuming so, what were those target levels?

Have you explored higher or lower target
Levels for any individual ions and noted differences?

The values represented in the table are the dosages required to maintain the trace elements at a constant level. I did observe fluctuations in alkalinity consumption and coral coloration based on reduced values, but I never purposely explored extremely elevated levels of these elements.

That being said, R2R has sometimes helped me regain confidence in how to act when a level was too high. In my case, this happened with calcium reaching 700 and a 10x overdosage of barium. In both cases, I learned not to overreact and to resolve the situation gradually through water changes.

Studying the impact of heavily elevated or depleted elements is a difficult and potentially dangerous thing to do in a private reef tank. And why would you take the risk? Some of my corals I have already have for over 10 years, so I only take educated risks.

This topic is really about that: hoping that more data from other reefers will become available so we can further optimize our approach and reduce the risks, especially for someone just starting out.

Thank you for the post. Yes, I am interested in how you chose the chemical compounds, how you found the bioavailability information, and how much trial and error went into the process.

In a next post I will share my approach and the target levels I try to maintain!

Great post. Tagging along to learn. Many thanks.

Thank you!

 

[Luc Vogels]

hereby want to share my approach to maintaining stable trace element levels in my reef.
This is all scaled to my consumption, needs, and equipment and might be suboptimal for another reefer.
I took inspiration from older Balling literature and also from some key topics here on R2R.

My stock solutions

Here I ensured that the stock solutions are properly soluble, can be stored for a while (at least 6 months), and are still easy to prepare and measure.

Clean_stock	Element to increase	Supplement	Chemical (g per 1,000 mL FINAL)	Dissolution additive	Quantity (gram)	Solubility screen reference (~25°C, g/L water)*
A_1_1	Strontium	SrCl₂·6H₂O			538.0	45.17%
B_1_1	Vanadium	V2O5	Sodium Hydroxide	0.0	0.00%
C_1_1	Cobalt	CoCl₂·6H₂O			970.0	0.41%
C_1_2	Manganese	MnSO₄·H₂O			629.0	2.96%
C_1_3	Copper	CuSO₄·5H₂O			349.0	2.81%
C_1_4	Zinc	ZnSO₄·7H₂O			965.0	0.91%
C_1_5	Nickel	NiSO₄·6H₂O			693.0	1.28%
C_1_6	Chromium	CrCl₃·6H₂O			590.0	5.50%
D_1_1	Iron	FeSO4 7 H2O	sodium citrate dihydrate	667.0	1.71%
E_1_1	Iodine	KI			1430.0	0.46%
F_1_1	Fluorine	NaF			42.0	52.62%
NO3_1_1	Ammonium bicarbonate	NH4HCO3			248.0	64.52%
NO3_1_2	Urea	CO(NH2)2			1190.0	1.01%
PO4_1_1	Phosphate	KH2PO4			255.0	39.22%

​

Some of these stock solutions I combine to "stock_mixes" to reduce the number of required dosing heads:

Stock_mix

Stock_1

Stock_1 (ml)

Stock_2

Stock_2 (ml)

Stock_3

Stock_3 (ml)

Stock_4

Stock_4 (ml)

Stock_5

Stock_5 (ml)

Stock_6

Stock_6 (ml)

Final volume (mL)

RO top-up (mL)*

A_1

A_1_1

1000

0

B_1

B_1_1

1000

0

C_1

C_1_1

15

C_1_2

7.5

C_1_3

15

C_1_4

15

C_1_5

15

C_1_6

1

1000

931.5

D_1

D_1_1

1000

0

E_1

E_1_1

1000

0

F_1

F_1_1

1000

0

N03_1

N03_1_1

250

NO3_1_2

250

1000

500

PO4_1

PO4_1_1

1000

0

​

I use 8 dosing heads to dose the trace mixes.
I prepare eight 1000 ml bottles, which are then evenly dosed over 28 days (8 dosages distributed over the day, with no two dosages occurring at the same time).

Trace Mix	ml (stock)	Stock	RO top-up (mL)*
A	A_1	A_1	820
B	B_1	B_1	950
C	C_1	C_1	850
D	D_1	D_1	825
E	E_1	E_1	960
F	F_1	F_1	850
No3	N03_1	NO3_1	750
P04	PO4_1	PO4_1	990

​

Based on ICP testing, I only adjust this last table; I try to avoid adjusting the stock solutions or the dosing times. This gives me a very clear overview of whether a dosing channel is broken or underperforming, since the bottle will be more or less depleted than the others.

This approach works well for me, but if you see any improvements I could make or have any tips, please let me know!

 

[Felipe_Severo]

Nos últimos anos, dediquei bastante tempo à preparação das minhas próprias soluções de oligoelementos e à determinação da dosagem diária necessária para o meu aquário de recife. O Reef2Reef tem sido uma excelente fonte de informação e inspiração, mas uma informação que muitas vezes achei difícil de encontrar foi um ponto de partida prático para a dosagem periódica de oligoelementos.

Por isso, comecei de forma conservadora e fui ajustando gradualmente as dosagens com base na resposta do aquário e nos testes mensais de ICP. Após dois anos, consegui ter uma compreensão razoavelmente estável do consumo de oligoelementos do meu recife e das respectivas dosagens.

É evidente que esses valores não podem ser simplesmente transferidos de um recife para outro. O consumo dependerá de fatores como biomassa e crescimento dos corais, presença de animais aquáticos, métodos de filtragem e o sistema de suplementação utilizado. No entanto, acredito que dados reais de dosagem de recifes estabelecidos podem fornecer pontos de referência úteis, principalmente para aquaristas que desejam preparar suas próprias soluções de oligoelementos.

Gostaria, portanto, de compartilhar meus níveis de dosagem atuais e saber se outros consideram essas informações úteis como referência, ou se as diferenças entre os aquários de recife individuais tornam essas comparações de valor limitado. Também tenho curiosidade em saber como esses números se comparam aos de outros aquaristas. Estamos mais ou menos na mesma faixa, talvez com uma diferença de 50%, ou as diferenças podem chegar a 500%?

Aquário: 3000 litros (793 galões)
Tópico de construção: Aqui
Tipo de aquário: Recife misto
Animais marinhos do aquário: grande número de habitantes (recife maduro)
Sistema de suplementação de elementos principais: Triton Core 7

Elemento	Produto químico	Dose diária do produto (µg/L/dia)	Dose diária de elemento/nutriente (µg/L/dia)
Estrôncio	SrCl₂·6H₂O	520,7143	171.1301
Vanádio	V2O5 *	0,5357	0,3001
Cobalto	CoCl₂·6H₂O	0,1071	0,0265
Manganês	MnSO₄·H₂O	0,2496	0,0811
Cobre	CuSO₄·5H₂O	0,2630	0,0669
Zinco	ZnSO₄·7H₂O	0,2357	0,0536
Níquel	NiSO₄·6H₂O	0,2384	0,0532
Cromo	CrCl₃·6H₂O	0,0579	0,0113
Ferro	FeSO4 7 H2O *	23,7500	4,7708
Iodo	KI	3,1144	2,3809
Flúor	NaF	39,4643	17,8564
Nitratos	NH4HCO3	119,0476	93,3649
Nitratos	CO(NH2)2	8,9286	18.4351
Fosfatos	KH2PO4	11,9048	8,3077

*Um aditivo é usado para melhorar a solubilidade

Se um determinado oligoelemento não estiver na lista, não considero útil medicá-lo periodicamente.

Caso haja interesse, posso também compartilhar o lado prático da minha abordagem de dosagem: quais compostos químicos eu uso, quais elementos eu combino em soluções concentradas, as concentrações dessas soluções e como eu as doso.

Very good!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The values represented in the table are the dosages required to maintain the trace elements at a constant level. I did observe fluctuations in alkalinity consumption and coral coloration based on reduced values, but I never purposely explored extremely elevated levels of these elements.

That being said, R2R has sometimes helped me regain confidence in how to act when a level was too high. In my case, this happened with calcium reaching 700 and a 10x overdosage of barium. In both cases, I learned not to overreact and to resolve the situation gradually through water changes.

Studying the impact of heavily elevated or depleted elements is a difficult and potentially dangerous thing to do in a private reef tank. And why would you take the risk? Some of my corals I have already have for over 10 years, so I only take educated risks.

This topic is really about that: hoping that more data from other reefers will become available so we can further optimize our approach and reduce the risks, especially for someone just starting out.


In a next post I will share my approach and the target levels I try to maintain!

Thank you!

Ok, thanks. I’ll just note that the demand for many chemicals may depend on the actual concentration that you try to maintain. That is, demand will be higher at higher concentrations because many consumption pathways will accelerate as concentration rises.

Hence the question.