What do you dose regularly besides Ca, Alk & Mg ?

calanprc

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Hi,

What other trace elements do you dose besides Ca, Alk, and Mg? I just watched a YouTube video with Ryan (BRS) with Lou Ekus and Lou mentioned that there are ~20 essential trace elements that corals require to help them thrive. But I’m not sure what else to dose on a regular basis besides the basics. Would be grateful for some input. All this time I thought water changes would replace the trace elements.

Thank You
 

The_Paradox

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Water changes with a quality salt will handle minor and trace elements if you keep up with them. Until you know your tank and corals though it’s hard to say what you “need”. IMHO too many people dump a ton of chems into their tank with no real idea what they are doing or even hoping to achieve.
 

ReskyZZ

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If all ur corals seems happy I think no need to do any changes like putting additional trace element dosing for example like redsea abcd or other brand, but if you still wants like want to try, my suggestion just dosing with a little amount slowly and observe it time to time with regular testing parameters.
Hi,

What other trace elements do you dose besides Ca, Alk, and Mg? I just watched a YouTube video with Ryan (BRS) with Lou Ekus and Lou mentioned that there are ~20 essential trace elements that corals require to help them thrive. But I’m not sure what else to dose on a regular basis besides the basics. Would be grateful for some input. All this time I thought water changes would replace the trace elements.

Thank You
 

Waters

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I dose aminos daily but I can say if it does anything or not. I will probably stop once I run out.
 

Hats_

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I dose aminos daily but I can say if it does anything or not. I will probably stop once I run out.
Had the same with the red sea reef energy ab or whatever its called. Never noticed a difference when i ran out didnt buy new. I dose all4reef and wodka/vinegar mix, thats it
 

PandorasChalk

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I do a 5 gallon water change on my 40B a week and dose about 5 ml of Phyto every other day. Once a month I will whip out the Reef Roids in very, very small quantities to spot feed a few corals in my tank. Seems to be keeping everything happy except for 1 - 2 pieces that have other issues.
 

Reef.

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Had the same with the red sea reef energy ab or whatever its called. Never noticed a difference when i ran out didnt buy new. I dose all4reef and wodka/vinegar mix, thats it
AFR contains trace elements, adding more it would have been hard to see an improvement I guess.
 

EricR

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Interesting topic (to me) since I recently stumbled onto a couple of YouTube videos, including one by Tropic Marin, which suggested that water changes are not sufficient to replenish trace elements. (Don't remember the explanation right this second but was presented in a scientific way that seemed plausible)

I don't dose anything (other than phosphate) and my only ICP test looked mostly fine so sticking with water changes for now.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Folks should realize that foods are a big source of trace elements. Perhaps more than water changes in most cases.

FWIW, I dosed only iron and silicate.
 

Gtinnel

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I used to dose tropic Marin A and K trace elements but when I ran out I never saw a difference in the tank so I’ve stopped. I had been dosing phyto, but again never saw any difference in the tank.

The only thing that I continue to dose daily (besides the big 3) is Chaetogro. Without it my chaeto will eventually deplete some element and die off, but dosing it keeps my chaeto growing well.
 

Grill

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Had the same with the red sea reef energy ab or whatever its called. Never noticed a difference when i ran out didnt buy new. I dose all4reef and wodka/vinegar mix, thats it
I did the same.
 

dadnjesse

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I just started dosing Phyto. I have noticed my Maxima Clam that has been with me for years seems to be happier.
 

Hats_

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Interesting topic (to me) since I recently stumbled onto a couple of YouTube videos, including one by Tropic Marin, which suggested that water changes are not sufficient to replenish trace elements. (Don't remember the explanation right this second but was presented in a scientific way that seemed plausible)

I don't dose anything (other than phosphate) and my only ICP test looked mostly fine so sticking with water changes for now.
yea, by doing any waterchanges other than 100% would in theory never raise it to the point that the source water is at, so eventually you will have to supplement. thats also why i stopped water changes alltogether. its expensive and doesnt keep up with demand. waterchanges are great at pulling stuff out without running the risk of depleting the elements entirely. but waterchanges technically dont supplement anything
 

WrasseyReefer

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Folks should realize that foods are a big source of trace elements. Perhaps more than water changes in most cases.

FWIW, I dosed only iron and silicate.
This may be a dumb question, but what is the purpose for dosing silicate? Have you found dosing iron to make a big difference for you?
 
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