Reef nutrition

who is dosing supplements?

bluenassarius

bluenassarius

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anybody dosing with good results? i'm hearing mixed results with these products. some say they are getting some incredible color on their coral while others are saying undesirable algae is growing out of control.

one product i'm looking at is the essential elements.
 
Hey Sam,

I've used Essential Elements and Coral Vite before but only when I was lazy with my water changes. If you look at all of the TOTM tanks, few if any dose these additives as their contents are included in your salt. I don't believe an excess of the nutrients will improve your coral color. I think the only thing I'd consider dosing for color enhancement is Vodka. I've never seen it first hand, but what I've seen online has definitely peaked my interest.
 
Vodka dosing is for nitrate reduction. A side affect of it might be color enhancement but that shouldn't be your reason to do it. If your nutrients are already really low, you probably won't see that big of an improvment from vodka dosing.

I myself dose ELOS aminos. No big improvement here. I don't think I'm going to continue it after the bottle runs out.
 
phong,

i saw some before and after shots of this guy's tank when he dosed some supplements.. it looked like a forest in a week :D

i feed a lot every other day to the lps man. growth on the macros isn't where i would like it :(
 
Whats your nitrates at Sam? Also I know you've been running mostly actinics. You need to give the macros some day light to grow.
 
I used KM Essential Trace Element, KM Iodine for my shrimp, KM Strontium, KM Magnesium, TLF Part B, KM phyto plankton, and Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium powder.

The results from the supplements are great because it keeps them grow nice and healthy. Just like us, we need our vitamins.
 
I have been trying out the Seachem AquaVitro Aminos (since I won them at BAYMAC) pretty much see nothing as far as changes in the corals or their growth.
 
See I broke the cardinal rule of reefing with the aminos{Don't dose what you can't test for}. Still think it is a very good rule to live by {Do as I say not as I do}

That said:
I am not a big fan of dosing iodine unless you have a big amount of macro algae or a ton of shrimp. Not only is it really difficult to test iodine accurately, it can also add to algae blooms and growth within your tank. Most tanks honestly IMHO don't need it if you do frequent enough water changes. Same with Strontium and some of the other trace elements.

Key elements are CA, KH and Mg.

In most cases (probably including the very Amino's I am dosing) most of these kinds of things are more snake oil the truly beneficial. Of course there are some exceptions and some people will sware by some products.
 
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