Red sea Foundation ABC and AB energy + question

[924er]

Hey guys! ive been dosing red sea foundation ABC on my fluval 13.5 LPS dominant tank and its been going well. I am also running a refugium with chaeto which is helping keep my nitrates around 2-5 ppm consistently. My phos is 0.3-0.5 with the use of phosgaurd. I also use reef energy AB+ 2-3 times per week. I have been doing less water changes since I havent seen the need, plus my tank doesnt do well with parameter swings. My last water change was 2 months ago.

My only concern is trace elements. The red sea foundation is pretty much alk, ca and mag, which are the 3 main elements for coral, but what about trace elements? The calcium bottle does have barium and strontium. I just want to make sure im not missing out on trace elements that will eventually bite me. Im thinking I should have went with TM all for reef but I really like red sea products.

I can also send water in for ICP testing and maybe consider adding red sea trace elements if needed

what do you guys think?

 

[Spare time]

What phosphate test are you using? That would be considered very high. (Ideally you want 0.02-0.1)


As for trace elements, you can dose these. I don't like red sea's trace elements as they require 4 bottles, but there are plenty of options. ICP is a good idea if you start to avoid water changes, but there are also some test kits like salifert potassium that are handy.

 

[Spare time]

PS that tank is amazing looking!

 

[924er]

What phosphate test are you using? That would be considered very high. (Ideally you want 0.02-0.1)


As for trace elements, you can dose these. I don't like red sea's trace elements as they require 4 bottles, but there are plenty of options.

sorry that was a typo, my phos is 0.03 on the hanna haha

Yeah I dont like that there are 4 different bottles. I want to keep it more simple, any recommendations?

 

[Uncle99]

A regular scheduled water change at 10% should keep trace in check.
I don’t change water much so I dose RS, A,B,C, and D.
Does it make a difference, can’t tell.
Tank looks great, I wouldn’t touch that.

 

[Spare time]

sorry that was a typo, my phos is 0.03 on the hanna haha

Yeah I dont like that there are 4 different bottles. I want to keep it more simple, any recommendations?

Tropic marin uses 2 but doesn't have potassium (I believe my refugium is a big sink for potassium). I think HW uses 2 bottles. Seachem uses 1, Two little fishes uses 1 (but doesn't list ingredients), brightwell uses 1 (I don't like the ingredients). For a while I used red sea abc, chaetogro, and a pinch of red sea iodine).


Water changes are still a viable option, and you can get around the low nitrate and phosphate that could come about by intense feeding.

 

[924er]

A regular scheduled water change at 10% should keep trace in check.
I don’t change water much so I dose RS, A,B,C, and D.
Does it make a difference, can’t tell.
Tank looks great, I wouldn’t touch that.

Thanks, I just got my tank back in good health, I went through a period of many euphylia melting away for no reason, parameters are in check. Now that everything is back to normal I want to keep it that way.

ill look into red sea D, its a single bottle with 18 elements. how do you like it ?

how often do you do water changes? I dont mind changing 10% a month.

 

[hllb]

I use the Red Sea trace. Yes, it’s 4 bottles, but I only dose once a week

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks, I just got my tank back in good health, I went through a period of many euphylia melting away for no reason, parameters are in check. Now that everything is back to normal I want to keep it that way.

ill look into red sea D, its a single bottle with 18 elements. how do you like it ?

how often do you do water changes? I dont mind changing 10% a month.

10% per month a bit small maybe, but the tank looks great, again I’d do nothing but let it be.
Red Sea D is bio active elements.
Not sure the value of D without ABC as well.
Those elements in the ABC and D are the same as what is in their salts.
I don’t change water until nitrate surpasses 20ppm, which is quite some time ago now , say 6 months.

 

[924er]

10% per month a bit small maybe, but the tank looks great, again I’d do nothing but let it be.
Red Sea D is bio active elements.
Not sure the value of D without ABC as well.
Those elements in the ABC and D are the same as what is in their salts.
I don’t change water until nitrate surpasses 20ppm, which is quite some time ago now , say 6 months.

Yeah I dont need to do many water changes since my nitrates rarely ever go past 10ppm. I have a small tank so doing a waterchange also alters the parameters which are usually very stable. I am trying to get my paramters to match the new water but im using red sea salts and the alk is crazy high like 13dkh compared to my 8-9.

 

[MartinM]

In such a small aquarium, just drain it and refill it (nearly 100% WC) weekly or twice monthly, which is so much easier than anything else. This is what I’ve done with my small tanks (under ~100 liters) for decades, and I do ~50% weekly on anything ~200 liters or smaller. It saves dealing with all the elements, and if you don’t have SPS/clams, it may even eliminate needing to dose much or anything for ca/alk.

Now, the larger tanks, that’s definitely more complex!

 

[Simon_M]

Hey guys! ive been dosing red sea foundation ABC on my fluval 13.5 LPS dominant tank and its been going well. I am also running a refugium with chaeto which is helping keep my nitrates around 2-5 ppm consistently. My phos is 0.3-0.5 with the use of phosgaurd. I also use reef energy AB+ 2-3 times per week. I have been doing less water changes since I havent seen the need, plus my tank doesnt do well with parameter swings. My last water change was 2 months ago.

My only concern is trace elements. The red sea foundation is pretty much alk, ca and mag, which are the 3 main elements for coral, but what about trace elements? The calcium bottle does have barium and strontium. I just want to make sure im not missing out on trace elements that will eventually bite me. Im thinking I should have went with TM all for reef but I really like red sea products.

I can also send water in for ICP testing and maybe consider adding red sea trace elements if needed

what do you guys think?

Nice looking tank. What changes did you make to the $upplied filtration? Is it InTank in chambers 1 and 2 and external out of chamber 3?

 

[Tankkeepers]

Tropic marin uses 2 but doesn't have potassium (I believe my refugium is a big sink for potassium). I think HW uses 2 bottles. Seachem uses 1, Two little fishes uses 1 (but doesn't list ingredients), brightwell uses 1 (I don't like the ingredients). For a while I used red sea abc, chaetogro, and a pinch of red sea iodine).


Water changes are still a viable option, and you can get around the low nitrate and phosphate that could come about by intense feeding.

In such a small aquarium, just drain it and refill it (nearly 100% WC) weekly or twice monthly, which is so much easier than anything else. This is what I’ve done with my small tanks (under ~100 liters) for decades, and I do ~50% weekly on anything ~200 liters or smaller. It saves dealing with all the elements, and if you don’t have SPS/clams, it may even eliminate needing to dose much or anything for ca/alk.

Now, the larger tanks, that’s definitely more complex!

Exactly why I love my 32 biocube a 10 gallon water change is 40 percent actual volume every 2 weeks takes care of everything

Except alk and later on cal and mag