What should i be adding to my tank

[John08007]

I currently dose diy 2 part plus magnesium. I also add some iodine once a week. I have some lps, monti, zoas. Is there anything else i should be adding? I typically feed my corals reefroids with a baster. Trace elements, strontium? Phytoplankton? There are a ton of bottles and not much documentation on what to use

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Don’t dose anything unless you know you need it. Are you testing? If not then I wouldn’t be adding anything besides doing regular water changes.

 

[W1ngz]

I wouldn't manually dose any individual elements, unless you really know what you're doing, already know your targets and are testing for them.

If you really feel like you want to be dosing trace elements instead of relying on water changes to maintain things like iodine and strontium and various things, maybe you should consider some of the more complex 3 part solutions like aquaforest 123+, brightwell, red sea, zeovit and the like.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Don’t dose anything unless you know you need it. Are you testing? If not then I wouldn’t be adding anything besides doing regular water changes.

This. What are you testing for and what are your results? I never dose Mag or Iodine (though I test for both). I get both from my weekly water changes. I do dose Cal/Alk, but test for both often to make sure I'm not dosing too much or too little. As for dosing other things, it depends on how new your tank is. Sometimes things like Reef Roids can help newer tanks low on nutrients. On an older (2+ years) seasoned tank, you shouldn't need to dose anything else. I dose nothing but fish poop on my acro tank (other than Cal/Alk).

 

[John08007]

I test alk, mg, ca on a regular basis. The tank is prob 6-7 yrs old. The reef roids I use very little and deliver it to each coral with a long eye dropper, I don't just drop it in the tank. the iodine I add about once a week if I remember, I have some xenia and I believe they need it.

I was just curious because there's a million differents upplements that can't be tested for. Trace elements for example. I was curious if there is anything that most people use that really helps with coral health/growth.

 

[ScottR]

I test alk, mg, ca on a regular basis. The tank is prob 6-7 yrs old. The reef roids I use very little and deliver it to each coral with a long eye dropper, I don't just drop it in the tank. the iodine I add about once a week if I remember, I have some xenia and I believe they need it.

I was just curious because there's a million differents upplements that can't be tested for. Trace elements for example. I was curious if there is anything that most people use that really helps with coral health/growth.

Feed your fish well, your fish will feed your corals well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I currently dose diy 2 part plus magnesium. I also add some iodine once a week. I have some lps, monti, zoas. Is there anything else i should be adding? I typically feed my corals reefroids with a baster. Trace elements, strontium? Phytoplankton? There are a ton of bottles and not much documentation on what to use

The alk/cal/mag is the main thing in any tank. The iodine may not be useful, but likely isn't harming anything if dosed appropriately.

Two options on trace elements is to get an ICP test and see what (if anything) is needed, or to try a commercial trace element cocktail and see if there is improvement when dosing it for a week or two.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Feed your fish well, your fish will feed your corals well.

Will they? Some trace elements are clearly not adequately maintained this way in many tanks (e.g., iron and manganese).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was just curious because there's a million differents upplements that can't be tested for. Trace elements for example. I was curious if there is anything that most people use that really helps with coral health/growth.

Aside from organics like amino acids, most additives can be tested by ICP. Iron is one of the few that is hard to test, but also hard to overdose.

 

[7237689918]

Will they? Some trace elements are clearly not adequately maintained this way in many tanks (e.g., iron and manganese).

Randy, are those elements, and perhaps others not referenced often, generally kept in check by water changes?

 

[John08007]

I didnt realize that the icp test was so reasonable, i am going to go that route. Figure i will also do my own tests when i send their sample out so that i can compare mine to theirs.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

That might be worth the $50 analysis fee just for curiosity's sake. However, realize that montipora, zoas and LPS are generally rather forgiving, and have been maintained for many years by aquarists that simply do water changes and maintain their alkalinity, calcium and magnesium by dosing as needed.

As you note, there's a massive number of various supplements on the market. IMO, they're reason-for-existing is largely about aquarist's perceptions rather than something that every tank actually needs.