Red Sea Trace colors vs just doing water changes

[b4tn]

I am conflicted on the use of trace colors. I have used it in the past but have never been consistent with it so cant say if it made any kind of difference. I have a box on the shelf and was thinking about dosing it. Its pretty simple, according to BRS you dose based on calcium consumption which for me at the time comes to dosing .2 ml per day which I would probably just do 1ml weekly until my consumption starts to increase. Many say that trace elements are replenished during water changes but others seem to use them regularly. I had not planned on using them since I do weekly 5% water changes but I got to thinking. My weekly water changes are not enough to replenish alk and calc so why would it be enough to replenish trace elements? If I have to dose Alkalinity and Calcium on top of water changes to keep up with demand would it not be the same for trace elements? My only concern is that I cant test levels and have no intention of buying separate test kits to test. Thoughts?

 

[Spare time]

They are not that necessary. I've seen tanks that rarely do water changes with acros that are alive and they dont dose it. Now I'm not saying that it has no benefit, but that if you do water changes then it doesnt matter. I dont do water changes and I dose 1 to 2 ml of trace a week in my 75 plus refugium.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I am conflicted on the use of trace colors. I have used it in the past but have never been consistent with it so cant say if it made any kind of difference. I have a box on the shelf and was thinking about dosing it. Its pretty simple, according to BRS you dose based on calcium consumption which for me at the time comes to dosing .2 ml per day which I would probably just do 1ml weekly until my consumption starts to increase. Many say that trace elements are replenished during water changes but others seem to use them regularly. I had not planned on using them since I do weekly 5% water changes but I got to thinking. My weekly water changes are not enough to replenish alk and calc so why would it be enough to replenish trace elements? If I have to dose Alkalinity and Calcium on top of water changes to keep up with demand would it not be the same for trace elements? My only concern is that I cant test levels and have no intention of buying separate test kits to test. Thoughts?

What do you have for corals? I personally dose acropower and do see a difference in zoa and acro colors.

 

[Spare time]

What do you have for corals? I personally dose acropower and do see a difference in zoa and acro colors.

I have mix of sps, lps, softies, and mushrooms. Acropower is an amino acid supplement and not a trace element supplement like red sea colors so they do completely different things.

 

[Spare time]

They are not that necessary. I've seen tanks that rarely do water changes with acros that are alive and they dont dose it. Now I'm not saying that it has no benefit, but that if you do water changes then it doesnt matter. I dont do water changes and I dose 1 to 2 ml of trace a week in my 75 plus refugium.

I want to add that the trace elements may be overall beneficial to a variety of life though and not just coral.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I have to dose alkalinity and calcium daily about 1 table spoon of each which is 1 ml for trace elements. Trace elements were linked with nopox from redsea also. If your dosing nopox, then you need to dose the trace elements or do weekly water changes. I generally am not fond of water changes because my tank is 240 gallons. I do run a stage 1 uv plus carbon and micro filter pads. I test usually daily because normally my alkalinity and calcium stay at 1-2 tablespoons but there are times it has not moved and then my alkalinity is high and calcium.

I have noticed that it doesn’t take much to make a coral die. There have been corals in my tank that are 2 years old and then suddenly they go. Which is why it’s important to know the parameters, and keep things consistent.

 

[HB AL]

I haven’t done a water change going on 3 years years now. I have a heavily overstocked tank with fish and corals, lps and acros majority are sps and dose redsea abcd. Everything is alive and well, so they definitely replace essential elements thus serve a purpose.

 

[Chad3407]

Water changes will always be cheaper and more beneficial than adding trace elements. May take more time than dosing but worth it in my opinion.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Acro power is actually a mix of trace elements including iodine. It’s a lot more then just amino acids.

I have mix of sps, lps, softies, and mushrooms. Acropower is an amino acid supplement and not a trace element supplement like red sea colors so they do completely different things.

 

[Spare time]

Acro power is actually a mix of trace elements including iodine. It’s a lot more then just amino acids.

Do you have a link to a place that says that? I can't find anything mentioning trace elements in it. Regardless, amino acid supplements do work really well for corals especially if they are starved of nitrogen.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I’ll take a picture of the back of the bottle when I get home this evening.

Do you have a link to a place that says that? I can't find anything mentioning trace elements in it. Regardless, amino acid supplements do work really well for corals especially if they are starved of nitrogen.