Low trace elements - which to dose? And what to dose?

[clhardy5]

Just had my third ICP test done.....Nothing appears to be totally out of whack....but my tank is consistently low in the 'yellow' elements. Are these things I should dose? Or not worry about. Tank is doing ok. LPS and zoos are doing great....the few SPS I have are just doing 'ok' ...ie....growing slowly. I do currently have a problem with LCA Dino's....but they currently aren't getting worse. Could the lack of these trace elements be something the Dinos like or don't like?

Anything stick out to anyone? I have RedSea ABCD on hand....but haven't dosed anything as I was waiting to see if the repeated ICP test were the same.

 

[Lavey29]

Deciding to dose is when weekly water changes do not maintain proper parameters for alk and cal and to a lesser degree mag. Trace elements typically replenish fine with water changes long after alk and cal dosing has started. However, at some point you get enough corals in the tank so trace elements may not replenish in full with weekly water changes and trace dosing may be required. Red Sea trace is based on calcium consumption and they have a dosing calculator. If you decide to dose trace start slow because it is not something easily tested weekly as you know. I dose red sea trace weekly but not on my water change day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, it's fine to dose some trace elements, and some are especially prone to fast depletion, such as iron and manganese.

 

[Steven Garland]

If you do decide to dose,this is a cheap way to get into it and bring up each element independently. They sell each one in 60ml bottles as well and the other elements not included in the bundle.

Captiv8 Reef Blueprint Isol8 Minor and Trace Element Pack 100mL

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