All-in-one trace element supplement?

[Wrench]

Hello all. I want to start dosing iron, potassium, iodine, etc. into my system to improve the colors of my SPS. The problem is that I don't want to dose half a dozen supplements every day. Is there a trace supplement that includes everything in one bottle?

[chris88]

Kent coral vite has all of those plus a few more. Only problem is that it may not be in as high of as dosage as your looking for.

[mthomp]

wouldnt this be called a water change? I am pretty sure the salt we use in our water replenishes these things.

[ChicagoReefer88]

By correct dosing water changes become less and less frequent.

[AquamanE]

isn't salt cheaper? More effective?


+1.

[CUNAReefer]

wouldnt this be called a water change? I am pretty sure the salt we use in our water replenishes these things.

You beat me to it!

[Wrench]

Thank you for the recommendation of the Kent product. I will look into it.

I'm not a proponent of water changes. I chose not to get into the reasons why on the forums because they always end up in arguments but I've had success in the past. Most of the salt mixes on the market are deficient in the elements I'm looking for so it's a moot point.

[chris88]

Wrench i don't do large enough water changes to replenish trace elements either. I does kent coral vite, brightwells iodide, potassion, and iron. They are cheap and work very well. I also manually does calcium, alk, and mag. water changes could never keep up with my sps growth.

[Reef Bass]

IMHO, when one develops a good sized population of calcium hungry sps, water changes would have to be huge and / or continuous to keep up. Dosing is much more practical. Also, when relying on water changes, the vital compounds are doing large swings in concentration between depleted and replenished.

Automated dosing, besides being mega convenient and ultra consistent, provides a very stable water chemistry. The controller can also do the daily dosing in several small spurts over the day instead of all at once. Reduced variation in key compound concentrations and lower ph swings, especially at night. Just keep your supplement reservoirs from running dry and a controller takes care of it.

Of course, one needs to test regularly to ensure the amounts being dosed are appropriate. Happy corals grow, requiring more calcium, which then requires more alk and mag to balance, so there's a general trend to increased supplement consumption as long as everything is growing.

[Snowsrfr]

I've started dosing Korallen Zucht Potassium Fluoride Iodide in my new SPS dominate reef, and am really happy with the color and new growth I'm seeing in my frags. (Note: I also use a couple of the other KZ supplements too)

http://atlanticreefstore.com/store1/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1390

[chrissu]

Reef Bass, what specific ingredients/products are you dosing? Are you adding your ingredients to say a one gallon jug, mixing and then slow dosing it as a diluted solution? In my case, I have a 100 gal tank stocked with mostly softies. Thanks in advance, I appreciate it.

[Reef Bass]

For alkalinity solution, following Randy's recipe, I use 594 grams baking soda (from CostCo in the 13.5lb bag), baked at 300 for an hour to drive off moisture, then dissolved in roughly 1/2-2/3 gallon warm / hot ro/di water in a gallon jug (I use old, empty B-Ionic gallon jugs). I heat ro/di water (130-150degrees), add to a gallon jug, add baking soda and shake. Fill to one gallon total solution with ro/di water. Heating the water helps with dissolving the baking soda. When cooled, pour solution into gallon jug dosing reservoir from which alkalinity dosing pump draws fluid.

For calcium supplement, I use BRS's calcium chloride. The same basic process for mixing - heat 1/2-2/3 gallon ro/di water, pour into gallon mixing jug, add 500g calcium chloride (no baking), mix, add ro/di water to bring to one gallon total solution. Allow to cool, add solution to gallon jug dosing reservoir from which calcium dosing pump draws solution.

For magnesium supplement, I use BRS's magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate. Similar mixing process - heat 1/2 gallon ro/di water, pour into gallon mixing jug, add 5 cups mag chloride and 3 cups mag sulfate, shake, add ro/di until one gallon total total solution. Allow to cool, add solution to gallon jug dosing reservoir from which mag dosing pump draws solution.

I have about 150 total gallons system volume with lots of sps, so my dosing pumps are busy and I am mixing solutions fairly frequently (every couple weeks). With a tank of softies you shouldn't be going through solution any where near as fast. If one were to start where I am now, a calcium reactor would make sense but I started years ago with one small frag and water changes could handle my calcium demand. Then I started dosing "purple up" when I had a few frags and calcium was dropping too much between water changes. Then as my sps grew, I had to start officially dosing alk, ca and mag to keep their levels where they need to be. And if you're doing it right, demand for supplements keeps increasing as one's corals grow and require more (until one's tank is packed). I have an Idaho Grape Monti cap that I got as a 2" frag and is now roughly 18" across. It's probably a giant calcium sponge. :lol2:

[chrissu]

Thanks for the detailed information. I am using a kalk stirrer right now and just purchased a Neptune apex controller which I am planning to dose based on PH readings from the controller. Depending on how that works out, I may switch over to Randy's recipe and will follow your instructions so your info is definitely helpful. Thanks!

That covers the Ca, Alk, Mg but do you happen to dose anything else for trace elements? I was thinking about starting up a dosing regimen of Kent's Essential Elements or a similiar product. Do you have one that you recommend? Here are my thoughts on how I'd do it. If you have suggestions otherwiese, please let me know. My thought is to add a few capfuls (or whatever the direction recommend) of Kent's EE into a gallon of Ro water, mix, and then dose a small amount each day via dosing pump and timer. Of course, then I have to make sure I have a good ratio the additive to water and how long the timer runs each day. This crazy hobby makes you think about stuff like that! Are you doing anything like that?

[chrissu]

This Kent Coral Vite that Chris88 mentioned looks promissing.

[chris88]

I wouldn't worry about mixing it with ro water. I added it weekly about 1 capful. It is a lot better then similar products out there because it concentrates on elements that most are concerned with. I did think you will need to add extra potasium and mag. I use brightwells potssaium and it works great and i also dose bulk magnesium cholride.

[Wrench]

Good info in this thread. Thanks!

Looks like my plan is to send a sample to awt.com for a baseline. Going to dose coral-vite, lugols and Potassion for a month or so then send in another sample.

[chrissu]

Just curious, where is the awt.com tied in?

I purchased a 16oz bottle of Kent's coral vite because it seems to have a lot of good ingredients so what the heck. The directions say to put in 2-4 capfuls a week for a 100 gal system so I'll just do that once a week and see if I notice a difference over time.