Best brand supplements

[Fishology]

Best reef supplement brand, I need
Calcium
Alk
Phospate
Magniusm
Supplements as I’m about to run out and wanna try a brand that last longer, I would prefer powder as it last longer, and suggestions,
My tanks. A 40g
And have very few corals, but am wanting to add more in about a year and wanna get my chemistry right before adding more.

 

[ekandler]

I just use the BRS brand for alk, calc, and mag. Buy the 5 packs of 1 gallon pre-made bags. Really cheap and gets the job done.

for nutrients I use brightwell, but I only use them in “emergencies”, I try to keep my nutrients in check without any aid of chemicals if I can help it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Best reef supplement brand, I need
Calcium
Alk
Phospate
Magniusm
Supplements as I’m about to run out and wanna try a brand that last longer, I would prefer powder as it last longer, and suggestions,
My tanks. A 40g
And have very few corals, but am wanting to add more in about a year and wanna get my chemistry right before adding more.

Calcium- BRS, ESV or aquaforest
Alk - BRS, seachem and aquaforest
Phospate - Brightwell
Magniusm- BRS, ESV and Seachem

 

[Uncle99]

I’ve used Seachem Fusion 1 (CA) and Fusion 2 (Alk) for more than 10 years. I like premix as the concentration is always the same, batch to batch and never ever clogs my doser. It’s also a good buy as it contributes 3x more per volume than the leading brand.
MG I use Red Sea, used to use Seachem Aquavitro (Ions) which worked well, but, was twice the cost of the RedSea version.
For a nitrate or phosphate bump, I use Brightwell Neophos and Neo nitro, but Seachem Flourish worked well as well.
Hope that helps.

 

[bushdoc]

I second vetteguy53081. I use BRS, but ESV has got trace elements included, however you can buy it only as a liquid, I suppose.
As for phosphate I prefer fish poop and dry fish food with higher content of phosphate, if you must.

 

[Fishology]

Sorry I forgot to add I have a very low cost El set up and don’t have a auto doser, I usually does by hand with a scoop For powder or with a small measuring cup for liquid, would these brands still work

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't have a best brand preference as there is little to no data on what is in most additives.

Thus, it either comes down to trust of the knowledge and integrity of the companies making them, and/or any purity assurances that may come from known purity grades (such as food, pharma or reagent grades, etc.). The latter most often applies to DIY additives, and I'd use a DIY graded product from a recognizable company (not rebagged on ebay) over an ungraded hobby company product.

Trust is a hard thing to earn and easy to loose. Some reef manufacturers lost my trust long ago by making false claims of one sort or another.

While I may not agree with the need for every product from these companies, two companies that I trust to typically make decent chemical products are ESV and Tropic Marin. That is based mostly on actual discussions with people from these companies, and lack of widespread problems with the products.