ATI Essentials Availability?

VR28man · Jul 13, 2018

So, in a few weeks I'll get a few SPS (no SPS right now, but we are having our annual members only frag fest giveaway soon), and I'm looking to start dosing to keep up alk and calcium, etc. After considering baking soda+dowflakes+trace elements, I decided to go with one of the name brand systems.

Triton was my first choice (possibly simply bc of bias because they, BRS, etc. have marketed it well), but its not currently available, and the stories in the subforum not only indicate it won't be around soon, but that there are also supply problems.

ATI essentials is my second choice. Have there been any supply issues with this?

Thanks!

GoVols · Jul 14, 2018

VR28man said:
So, in a few weeks I'll get a few SPS (no SPS right now, but we are having our annual members only frag fest giveaway soon), and I'm looking to start dosing to keep up alk and calcium, etc. After considering baking soda+dowflakes+trace elements, I decided to go with one of the name brand systems.

Triton was my first choice (possibly simply bc of bias because they, BRS, etc. have marketed it well), but its not currently available, and the stories in the subforum not only indicate it won't be around soon, but that there are also supply problems.

ATI essentials is my second choice. Have there been any supply issues with this?

Thanks!

Well,
The new Triton milk jugs have been leaking too.

I don't use the ATI E's but the users that I know of, have never had a problem of them being in stock.

Aquaforest Component 1+ 2+ 3+ and the Red Sea program are great products too.

BoomCorals · Jul 14, 2018

Triton changed the two components that leak to a powder you mix yourself. So they shouldn’t leak anymore. That’s also why there has been a shortage, because of changing the product.

ATI essentials in my experience isn’t as concentrated. It took a LOT to keep my system alk up.

VR28man · Jul 14, 2018

Haha. I also considered Red Sea, since I use Red Sea salt and don't have a dosing pump but was overwhelmbed by all the options......

Anyway, again I will be bringing in a number of SPS soon to a (sumpless, 29G with an ATS) tank (no dosing pump option at this time) without hard corals. Alk/Ca is around 9/420 right now; and NO3 and PO4 are presently undetectable with kits; presumably due to the algae. I intend to move all this to a bigger tank in 6 months, but I won't babble about that until it actually arrives.

My impression is that I'd better start dosing sooner rather than later. My potential schemes are as follows:

1. Baking soda and dow flakes (or BRS two part). Calculate daily alk and Ca usage, calculate daily addition, add daily. Add trace elements, carefully, if I choose to believe in their necessity. I would feed carefully, watching NO3 and PO4 don't go up too high.

2. Triton, as I understood, suggests a baseline ICP test, and then provides recommendations of exactly what balance of their additives to add. There are three packages to add; best done by dosing pump, an alkalinty package, a Ca/Mg package, and then a proportion of trace elements. They recommend periodic ICP testing. I would also feed carefully.

Again, their problem is logistics.

3. ATI is like Triton.

4. Red Sea is kind of in between. They have a "Foundations" which is the KH/Ca/Mg dosing kit (foundations), and then the "Trace Colors ABCD" kit which they recommend dosing in like 10% proportion to Ca. They also have a "trace colors" test kit for $70 to test I, K, and Fe as you like [

]. I would go with an "SPS dominant" recipe, and dose KH/Ca/Mg as needed. They also recommend NOPOX (an additive that gets rid of said) and daily Reef Energy (I thought at first this was coral food, but it looks like it's some sort of dissolved elements).

That's a lot of stuff to dose and watch. At least it's friendly for the person who doesn't have a dosing pump. (good luck getting the pet sitter to dose xmL of bottle 1, ymL of bottle 2, z mL bottle 3........

)

I lean towards Triton or ATI simply because they look like the easiest solution. I'm not sure that's really the case.

GoVols · Jul 14, 2018

VR28man said:
Haha. I also considered Red Sea, since I use Red Sea salt and don't have a dosing pump but was overwhelmbed by all the options......

Anyway, again I will be bringing in a number of SPS soon to a (sumpless, 29G with an ATS) tank (no dosing pump option at this time) without hard corals. Alk/Ca is around 9/420 right now; and NO3 and PO4 are presently undetectable with kits; presumably due to the algae. I intend to move all this to a bigger tank in 6 months, but I won't babble about that until it actually arrives.

My impression is that I'd better start dosing sooner rather than later. My potential schemes are as follows:

1. Baking soda and dow flakes (or BRS two part). Calculate daily alk and Ca usage, calculate daily addition, add daily. Add trace elements, carefully, if I choose to believe in their necessity. I would feed carefully, watching NO3 and PO4 don't go up too high.

2. Triton, as I understood, suggests a baseline ICP test, and then provides recommendations of exactly what balance of their additives to add. There are three packages to add; best done by dosing pump, an alkalinty package, a Ca/Mg package, and then a proportion of trace elements. They recommend periodic ICP testing. I would also feed carefully.

Again, their problem is logistics.

3. ATI is like Triton.

4. Red Sea is kind of in between. They have a "Foundations" which is the KH/Ca/Mg dosing kit (foundations), and then the "Trace Colors ABCD" kit which they recommend dosing in like 10% proportion to Ca. They also have a "trace colors" test kit for $70 to test I, K, and Fe as you like [ ]. I would go with an "SPS dominant" recipe, and dose KH/Ca/Mg as needed. They also recommend NOPOX (an additive that gets rid of said) and daily Reef Energy (I thought at first this was coral food, but it looks like it's some sort of dissolved elements).

That's a lot of stuff to dose and watch. At least it's friendly for the person who doesn't have a dosing pump. (good luck getting the pet sitter to dose xmL of bottle 1, ymL of bottle 2, z mL bottle 3........ )

I lean towards Triton or ATI simply because they look like the easiest solution. I'm not sure that's really the case.

First off:
Don't dose your big three until your reef is in-taking them and your parameter's are dropping.

Second:
You could hand dose the Red Sea ABC+ powder with colors C and D.
The ABC+ powder already has colors A and B in that product.

Read ;Bookworm the below link...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/red-sea-foundation-abc-good-stuff.296111/

VR28man · Jul 14, 2018

Thanks. yes, that's true, I can also just dose the ABC. Or any other trace element package. (though at least Red sea has a test kit for most of them).

GoVols · Jul 14, 2018

VR28man said:
Thanks. yes, that's true, I can also just dose the ABC. Or any other trace element package. (though at least Red sea has a test kit for most of them).

The ABC + powder is Calcium / Alk and Mag + The Red Sea Colors A & B.

If you dose The ABC+ with "Colors" C & D. You only have to dose 3 Red Sea products instead of 7.

It's the entire Red Sea program except NoPox and Reef Energy in 3 products.

You can't mix the ABC+ powder with other brands of trace elements. It's already got Colors C and D in that product.