Let’s talk about trace elements

galantra

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I’ve been dosing for a while trace elements/ minerals within my tanks and have notice overall improvement within my reef tanks and keeping a stable system . I pretty much stumbled on this on ways of keeping SPS and other Corals flourishing and not quickly dying within my tank. I have been currently dosing Professional Coral Solutions trace element from Australia. And I must truly say dosing trace elements have truly helped me. But I feel I am still lacking something. Example my SPS colors looks off

Since then I started noticing many other different trace elements solutions; some of many companies that we are well aware of like Redsea, Tropic marine, seachem, and the list goes on from the range of balling methods on providing and keeping close to accurate trace levels. Or Dutch Synthetic Reefing (DSR) on no water changing methods. I know not one method is the same for many but wanted to hear views from fellow members.

What systems do you use if any trace?

Is there one better than another? From daily dosing to weekly?

Experience with the trace you are using?

Honestly I wanna hear either view points might wanna try something new
 

Nigel35

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Trick to best coloration in corals is ultra low nutrients. Red Sea has a guide on the whole setup. Quite difficult to achieve but it can be done and you will be well rewarded!

Nigel
 

Spare time

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I used to do chaetogro, red sea iodine+, and the occasional red sea potassium+

I have been using diy all for reef (about a gallon so far) which has worked out well.


I am doubtful that trace elements have anything to do with color. Light intensity should be the main factor for coloration (as well as light color)

Certain things I do not want to dose unless I know something that is using it. This is primarily because I do no water changes.
 

blasterman

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Since I dont do water changes and have a dense mixed reef in a smaller tank tiny changes in water comp or dosing have a big impact. I recently experimented with adding some tap water to my top offs and I know my tap is pretty hard.

Within days several of my larger zoa colonies started to deepen in color...some rather significantly. I got money on it either being silicate or iron. No change in my SPS. Montipora and birdsnests want as much phosphate as I can dump in the tank.

However, I would hardly call silicate or iron trace elements. I'm not saying the OP is seeing things. If it works it works. I'm just not thrilled at throwing the term trace elements around because there is no standard in regards to what trace elements are. They could be the ingredients in a frozen pizza for all we know. We really need to break them down and see what affect they have.
 
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galantra

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Apologies, maybe I didn’t say it correctly when I am saying my color is off I mean as could I possibly me missing something more to aid me with better coloration.

I’m regards to dosing trace elements my personal opinion has been something no have recently done ( 20years of reefing of an on ) that been able to allow me to keep corals thriving way better than the earlier years. With all these brands I was wondering if there was one better than the rest
 
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galantra

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Have you done an icp to see which traces if any you are actually lacking in or whether there are other problems?

I have done my ICP and all my levels have been good other than Tin that was elevated. But have used detox just going to send out another sample soon to see where I am at
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Trace elements in reefkeeping is a very complicated area fraught with anecdotes and misinformation. I don't have any perfect answers to suggest, and think it comes down to trial and error dosing/export and observation in many instances.

The following complications are worth keeping in mind...

1. "Natural" levels of some trace elements can vary substantially with depth and location.

2. In some cases (e.g., iron), "natural" levels are thought to be growth limiting for some organisms, so matching natural levels may be suboptimal.

3. The bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements is heavily impacted by the chemical form present, and different ways of attaining specific levels, as well as different aquarium husbandry techniques, may result in different chemical forms being present.

4. Even if one assumes that ICP is accurate, it says nothing about the chemical form.

5. Normal ICP cannot detect down to the "natural" levels of some important trace elements (e.g., iron).

6. There's no reason to assume that all trace elements are needed at "natural" levels, even if they are needed at all, and many trace elements have no biological utility.
 

rusgum

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Since I am using Tropic Marine products, A- und K + ELEMENTS are dosed daily. But I regard it as supporting biological processes, and then coral health follows.
 

GoVols

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I’ve been dosing for a while trace elements/ minerals within my tanks and have notice overall improvement within my reef tanks and keeping a stable system . I pretty much stumbled on this on ways of keeping SPS and other Corals flourishing and not quickly dying within my tank. I have been currently dosing Professional Coral Solutions trace element from Australia. And I must truly say dosing trace elements have truly helped me. But I feel I am still lacking something. Example my SPS colors looks off

Since then I started noticing many other different trace elements solutions; some of many companies that we are well aware of like Redsea, Tropic marine, seachem, and the list goes on from the range of balling methods on providing and keeping close to accurate trace levels. Or Dutch Synthetic Reefing (DSR) on no water changing methods. I know not one method is the same for many but wanted to hear views from fellow members.

What systems do you use if any trace?

Is there one better than another? From daily dosing to weekly?

Experience with the trace you are using?

Honestly I wanna hear either view points might wanna try something new

Have had the best results with my cal reactor:

While underdosing Red Sea Colors (to play it safe) with Seachem's strontium. Dose Reef Energy on the heavy side, daily.
 

sfin52

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Have had the best results with my cal reactor:

While underdosing Red Sea Colors (to play it safe) with Seachem's strontium. Dose Reef Energy on the heavy side, daily.
I use seachem fuel and love it. Have thought about going to energy due to cost.
 

BiggestE222

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Since I dont do water changes and have a dense mixed reef in a smaller tank tiny changes in water comp or dosing have a big impact. I recently experimented with adding some tap water to my top offs and I know my tap is pretty hard.

Within days several of my larger zoa colonies started to deepen in color...some rather significantly. I got money on it either being silicate or iron. No change in my SPS. Montipora and birdsnests want as much phosphate as I can dump in the tank.

However, I would hardly call silicate or iron trace elements. I'm not saying the OP is seeing things. If it works it works. I'm just not thrilled at throwing the term trace elements around because there is no standard in regards to what trace elements are. They could be the ingredients in a frozen pizza for all we know. We really need to break them down and see what affect they have.
Is there some advantage to not do water changes in your opinion or is it not convenient or are you just trying to see if it works.
 

danieyella

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I do moonshiners, loosely. I run whatever nutrient level my tank settles at, and do correction doses monthly, as well as dose the 4 moonshiner dailies on a dosing pump along with a few drops of seachem iodide. I switched to this from AFR because my LPS weren't doing as great with AFR - saw a big improvement in LPS and I can actually keep SPS alive now, with coloration that isn't brown. I say I do this loosely because I'm not nearly as regimented as most people running the program. I still see success either way.
 

minus9

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I use moonshiners and it’s great. It’s not for everyone, but it’s super easy to follow. The corrections become less over time and some you can split up over the course of the month based on your tanks consumption. Think of it as advanced balling or Triton method, but with absolute control over the elements. Instead of dosing one bottle with multiple elements (which makes it hard to adjust individual elements) you only dose what you need. There’s a great support network of followers on Andre’s FB group and everyone chips in to help. Download the handbook for free and give a read.
 

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