Reef Calcium, completeand Reef Plus Amino Supplements

R_C · Mar 3, 2016

I looked a everywhere and I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question, but here it goes anyway. I got these bottles of Seachem Reef Calcium, Reef Complete and Reef plus vitamin and amino acid supplement they are about 3 years old. I have opened them, smelled them and checked them out thoroughly and they seem fine. My question is could I still use them? I don't see an expiration date on them and have not found any info that they expire.
What are your opinions? Thanks in advance.

R_C · Mar 4, 2016

Anyone?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 4, 2016

IMO, this is a complicated question, not just whether they are too old, but whether there is ever a situation to use them.

Reef Calcium is an organic bound calcium. It's the only one on the market I have seen that is not clearly both a calcium and alkalinity additive (like calcium acetate), and it adds both calcium and some unknown amount of alkalinity (unknown meaning not known by anyone, including Seachem), because the amount of alk added depends on whether the polygluconate is metabolized by bacteria before it is otherwise removed from the system (as by skimming, precipitation, etc.).

I generally recommend not using it for that reason

As to its age, I doubt degradation of the organic in it will make it any worse.

Reef Complete should be fine as a calcium only supplement, regardless of age.

As tot he Reef Plus...Vitamins and other organics degrade over time. I'm not sure if adding vitamins just to the water is ever useful (maybe, but the evidence is not strong), but if it was originally useful, it may be less so as it ages. The amino acids are probably mostly OK, although some of them may also degrade over time.