Redsea 4 part dosing

[LostNemo]

Hey all, has anyone been using Red Seas new 4 Part complete reef supplements?

How does it do? And compared to AFR is it worth it. I’m currently using AFR and thinking of switching since I already utilize the ReefDose 4.

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on red seas new 4 part supplements.

 

[Lavey29]

Do you mean the trace supplements? I use these once a week in between water changes.

 

[LostNemo]

Do you mean the trace supplements? I use these once a week in between water changes.

I meant these supplements Red Sea recently released

 

[tbaum101]

Hey all, has anyone been using Red Seas new 4 Part complete reef supplements?

How does it do? And compared to AFR is it worth it. I’m currently using AFR and thinking of switching since I already utilize the ReefDose 4.

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on red seas new 4 part supplements.

I've been using it for 2 months. I only have anecdotal evidence as to the efficacy and have been using it in conjunction with regular direct feeding but my colors have gotten much brighter and I've had explosive growth in all of my SPS...Montes, Acro and many others. I'm planning on continuing the dosing. I use all Red Sea additives and have been very happy with my tank since I have been.

 

[Solo McReefer]

I thought it was the 4 Colors trace bottles you were writing about

Probably not

Something else

 

[LostNemo]

I've been using it for 2 months. I only have anecdotal evidence as to the efficacy and have been using it in conjunction with regular direct feeding but my colors have gotten much brighter and I've had explosive growth in all of my SPS...Montes, Acro and many others. I'm planning on continuing the dosing. I use all Red Sea additives and have been very happy with my tank since I have been.

Sounds good. Has the testing and dosing based on Calc been keeping everything else stable? I remember reading other post of people saying it wouldnt be that accurate

 

[tbaum101]

Sounds good. Has the testing and dosing based on Calc been keeping everything else stable? I remember reading other post of people saying it wouldnt be that accurate

I gotta be honest there...I dose them the same each time I use them. I have a bunch or coral (young but lots of them) so every two days I dose the small measuring cup side worth of each one.

 

[Doctorgori]

Tentatively it looks more expensive than other 2-4pt products…
I thought master chemist Randy didn’t endorse Calc based dosing, I could be wrong …

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I thought master chemist Randy didn’t endorse Calc based dosing, I could be wrong …

It's not optimal, IMO, although there is no perfect solution for all reef tanks.

OP: what sort of tank do you have?

 

[LostNemo]

It's not optimal, IMO, although there is no perfect solution for all reef tanks.

OP: what sort of tank do you have?

I currently have an lps dominate tank with a few softies and 2 sps corals. Here’s a photo for reference

 

[FernBluffReef]

Replied on a similar thread before seeing this. I’ve been using this program for a while now. See for my thoughts https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/red-sea-4-part-dosing.1065030/

 

[Bent17]

I am tempted to ditch the Fauna Marin Balling kit and go for this as I have the doser in place already. I have been reading that people are having issues with KH and that its dosing way too much and that they ended up breaking the schedule and dosing KH separately. Is this true?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am tempted to ditch the Fauna Marin Balling kit and go for this as I have the doser in place already. I have been reading that people are having issues with KH and that its dosing way too much and that they ended up breaking the schedule and dosing KH separately. Is this true?

Have you been having issues with the FM product?

 

[Bent17]

Well I cant say I have been having, however my colours are not "Popping" and I have seen many people mention that they have seen an improvement in coral colouration which is interesting. I am also in for ease of use and I would prefer just replacing 4 bottles rather than mixing elements and so on.. However not sure what to do yet as it seems that the app its a limiting factor as you cannot modify alk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well I cant say I have been having, however my colours are not "Popping" and I have seen many people mention that they have seen an improvement in coral colouration which is interesting. I am also in for ease of use and I would prefer just replacing 4 bottles rather than mixing elements and so on.. However not sure what to do yet as it seems that the app its a limiting factor as you cannot modify alk

People are always chasing the latest claim of colors, but the type of alk and calcium supplement has little to do with that, unless one adds a trace element that is getting depleted too rapidly when using the other.

 

[Bent17]

People are always chasing the latest claim of colors, but the type of alk and calcium supplement has little to do with that, unless one adds a trace element that is getting depleted too rapidly when using the other.

I have always suffered low elements with FM products so happy to try out something else

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have always suffered low elements with FM products so happy to try out something else

OK, that's a fine experiment. There are many options, including using a supplement such as Tropic marin A and K along with any alk and calcium scheme.

 

[Bent17]

Yes but you will need to stay running ICPs to get everything in order and also by more elements and I am one to try simplify this hobby not complicate it more :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes but you will need to stay running ICPs to get everything in order and also by more elements and I am one to try simplify this hobby not complicate it more :)

Maybe. It should only require alk and calcium measurement.

In any case, if you are looking for simple dosing, Tropic Marin All For reef is my recommendation.

 

[Naturalreef]

I just visited my LFS the other day which started a Red Sea 425xl Sps dominated tank a few months ago only using the RS 4 part system and a weekly calcium test. Tank started out with normal ugly stage which quickly subsided and I was visiting once a month to watch its progress.

Shortly after the ugly stage they started throwing in maricultured Sps colonies which I thought would RTN due to tank instability. It took a month for the colonies to settle. They didn’t have much polyp extension and there was a little stn on a few colonies. Fast forward two months, and they look amazing! The stn is gone and polyp extension is crazy. This is with a weekly calcium test and a monthly po4 test.

I purchased a Max nano peninsula on sale and am going to make it Sps dominant only using Red Sea 4 part system. The goal of this system is as much hands off as possible and no automatic testers. Weekly calcium test, Monthly po4 test once stabilized and monthly ATO fill up since I purchased 10 gallon reefcan. I couldn’t believe how nice the tank looked with minimal interaction using just a doser.