Reef moonshiners program
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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I'm not sure of the full context of the question (e.g., do you primarily care what Moonshiners reps say, or just the answer?) but the answer, IMO, is certainly yes, one can use coral foods just like you can use fish foods.
acesfull44
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Any coral/fish food to help with getting Nitrates up? Phos are at .06 - .08 daily, but Nitrates are 2.5....Was thinking I need to get those to around 10-15???
There is no reason to chase nitrates like that. Just inviting trouble. Nitrates are all but pointless for our tanks. They are simply a measurement that there is enough ammonium to feed our corals and algae. As long as you have a detectable amount, you're good
acesfull44
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Not chasing them per sey, more concerned about the imbalance between those and my phos. As in bringing unwanted issues in if I do not get them up a bit.
Smite
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KZ doesn't really tell you what's in those products but you'll be ICP testing so if you see something trending up then I'd start to look into what's doing it. I'd bet they have some trace elements, similar to daily traces in the vitalizer, sponge power and pohls.
Increased health in gonis makes me think there are potentially trace elements in the vitalizer. Added fluorescence in pohls extra makes me wonder if there is manganese.
Personally I'd follow Andres advice of only making corrections and dosing dailies at first, so you can see what the corrections alone are doing for your tank. Then you can start to add in coral foods or aminos if you feel it's necessary and be able to tell if those are adding any benefit to your system.
The RM program and feeding fish well will get you some solid color and growth.
Increased health in gonis makes me think there are potentially trace elements in the vitalizer. Added fluorescence in pohls extra makes me wonder if there is manganese.
Personally I'd follow Andres advice of only making corrections and dosing dailies at first, so you can see what the corrections alone are doing for your tank. Then you can start to add in coral foods or aminos if you feel it's necessary and be able to tell if those are adding any benefit to your system.
The RM program and feeding fish well will get you some solid color and growth.
thatmanMIKEson
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Idk why having a target range for anything and correcting to obtain that range is commonly referred to as "chasing #'s" it's not chasing its just hitting your target. I guess if your always changing your target range based off other people's #'s it could be considered chasing maybe, this is one of the most over used phrases along with "just feed more" .
Benapets is a good reef food that seems to raise nitrates, it smells good too!
#My-opinions
Benapets is a good reef food that seems to raise nitrates, it smells good too!
#My-opinions
minus9
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THIS! As long as you have measurable nitrate, you have enough. The whole "I must have 10-25ppm nitrate" is crazy talk. Think of parameters as ranges and you'll be just fine. And yes, feed the whole tank and you're good. More input means more output (import/export).
Randy Holmes-Farley
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If you want to raise it, any food should do. All foods will add other elements as well, perhaps reducing what you need to dose (if you need to dose them).
Otherwise you could dose amino acids, ammonia, or sodium nitrate or calcium nitrate, none of which will directly add much in the way of minor and trace elements.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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There are quite a few folks who think their tanks look better at 10-15 ppm than at 1-2 ppm nitrate.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Yes, I’m not making the claim, just reporting why some others have target levels that they like.
IKD
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Keeping mine around 10-20 versus 2 also helps me see a trend down before I zero out and get more substantial issues occurring
OutColdCRNA
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Really debating on jumping on board. My tank is fairly new. Been reefing for about 12 years. Have never had stellar colors like you see in heavy sps tanks. My first few acros are growing but the colors have faded to pale. Attributed mostly to low nitrates and phos. May be due to something else. Of the two ati tests on the moonshine site which is the appropriate test? The MS or the OES?
minus9
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I’m still doing ATI every six weeks, but I don’t plan on using the others because of the price difference. I don’t dose vanadium, rubidium or selenium, as I don’t think they are necessary. But I’m sure others may disagree that are true shiners? I do corrections every six weeks and daily dose iodide, chromium, cobalt, iron and manganese. Your colors or lack of could be from a number of things, so I would rule out the obvious ones first, then venture down trace elements lane.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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While I certainly agree that rubidium is not known to be needed by any earthly organism, vanadium and selenium are widely used, and I personally would not flag those as worthy of intentionally ignoring.
OutColdCRNA
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Is there a reason to choose one ati test over the other?
thatmanMIKEson
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is there two different test options for ATI?
