Additives and dosing

[mhart032]

What is everyone doseing now days? I was using mostly Poylp Labs, and some new aminos Callahan turned me on to a while back, cant remember the name right now. But is there anything new thats better? Just trying to get a head of the curve while i think about what species im thinking about keeping when i do the aquascaping in the new 20g nano. 

[Isaac]

 

[jolt]

I dose KZ Pohl's Xtra, KZ Amino LPS, and KZ Coral Vitalizer.  Not running full zeovit system though.  I have a mix of SPS and LPS and it seems to work well.  

 

[mhart032]

I was looking at the KZ products I'm thinking ill pick up the KZ Nano package and see how that works, science has really come a long way the more I read and research things and coral foods come way down in price and there is a specific set of equipment built now for things that were not exactly proven at that time but people saw great results with,  vs it more less a DIY type thing which now its a lot more plug and play. that's great for the hobby and the livestock we all keep.  as always I appreciate the advice. 

 

Matt 

[jolt]

5 minutes ago, mhart032 said:

I was looking at the KZ products I'm thinking ill pick up the KZ Nano package and see how that works, science has really come a long way the more I read and research things and coral foods come way down in price and there is a specific set of equipment built now for things that were not exactly proven at that time but people saw great results with,  vs it more less a DIY type thing which now its a lot more plug and play. that's great for the hobby and the livestock we all keep.  as always I appreciate the advice. 

 

Matt 

A couple of times a year most places will run KZ products at 25% off.  I always stock up then.  I bought the nano package a long time ago for my 32 gallon and I just got really comfortable with it.  Advice: do not follow the recommended dosage to start with or you will flood your tank with nutrients.  I dosed something like 8 drops of Pohl's per day in my 32 gal and I'm doing 18 drops/day in my 67 gallon frag tank.

[mhart032]

it will be a couple months before I'm ready for corals and additives, going to be a long start up process, I appreciate the info for sure and ill remember that. 

[+Dogfish]

So speakin of additives........ I got a box of Red Sea Coral Nutrition A/B stuffed in a bucket of salt. Is free good? Is this stuff any good? Anyone using it? Any issues?

[mhart032]

I honestly don't know, I used there salt regularly the coral sea pro, I used to get all kinds of stuff in them, test kits, t-shirts ( never my size). I would say if its not something you regularly dose and like your current results then don't change anything. we all know stability is the key. 

[mhart032]

Speaking of salt... i had switched to Tropic Marin before i shut the tank down, But i hear good things about this FritzPro RPM salt anyone use or used it? i was thinking either that or trying the B-ionic as I'm thinking of dosing their 2 part this go around, with this small a tank i don't really think i need to buy bulk chems from the start like i was before. 

[FarmerTy]

I tried Acropower, Red Sea Aminos, and a brand of Aminos that escapes my mind right now... Didn't see enough of anything to continue use. I went back to dosing fish poop and feeding heavily.

 

Never tried any Zeo stuff or Aquaforest stuff.

 

 

[Isaac]

3 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

. I went back to dosing fish poop and feeding heavily.

my skimmate bucket is close to full, you need more of this sh...tuff?

[+Dogfish]

17 hours ago, mhart032 said:

I honestly don't know, I used there salt regularly the coral sea pro, I used to get all kinds of stuff in them, test kits, t-shirts ( never my size). I would say if its not something you regularly dose and like your current results then don't change anything. we all know stability is the key. 

My cal reactor is the only "dosing" I do. I feed my tank a mix of frozen and fresh food, rodi,, spiralina brine, mysis, calanus, Live; white worms and baby brine. I do feed my corals once a week, green milk- a mix of phyto feast and oyster feast. Everyone seems happy. I figure my once a week 10% water change should give them all the trace things they need. My nitrate is falling so im trying to feed more and watching my phos in case it gets high.

[mhart032]

8 hours ago, Isaac said:

my skimmate bucket is close to full, you need more of this sh...tuff?

lol

[Timfish]

I dose alkalinity, calcium and magnesium as needed using using baking soda and/or calcium cabonate and/or magnesium carbonate/sulfate.  Soemtimes in new water for a water change, sometimes in freshwater to replace evaporation, sometimes straight into the sump and sometimes with an autofeeder on a daily basis. 

As far as feeding corals an important point to consider is what does each coral species/genotype prefer?(1)   This paper Ty posted a while back looked at the preferences of three so called "SPS" species and found very different responses and found each species preferences were varied (one species showed no benefit to being feed)(2).  Ideal conditions for growth for were not only species specific but ideal for one was contraindicated for another.   Bourneman is the first one I know of to point out the importance of fish poop in his book on coral husbandry "Aquarium Corals" (TFH Publications, 2001), sadly it's only recently hobbiests have started to take note.  Not only is it loaded with urea (organic nitrogen) and phosphates it also has lots of calcium and magnesium carbonate crystals.   So the degree an aquarist needs to supplement feeding their reef system will depend on the species of corals, the number of fish and how well fed the fish are.  Another cosnideration in feeding are the various 'pod populations which may directly or inderectly help feed corals as well.  (For my own purposes I mix powdered foods like Zooplan and Reef Roids along with pellets in an autofeeder.)

 

(1)  A problem scientists have had in dealing with corals is they do not fit the classic definitions of an autotroph that applies to plants and algae or to heterotroph that applies to invertebrate and vertebrate animals.  Consequently corals are frequently referred to as mixotrophs or photoautotrophs to deal with their ability to switch between autotrophic feeding and heterotrophic feeding.  The reason thes distinctions are important for reef aquarists are corals need inorganic nitrogen and phosphate when feeding as an autotroph and organic nutrients when feeding as a hetereotroph.   Each species of coral will have it's own preferences.  Over generalizations like clumping all species in a genus or family together or worse using colloqial terms to determine what's best for a coral will end up in frustration and dead corals.

 

(2)  The researchers in the paper I linked to used frags from different colonies from different locations in the hope of getting different genotypes.  To the extent they accomplished this is not clear but the one species that demonstrated the best response to supplimental feeding also showed a wide variation with a few frags having dramatic response to supplimental feeding (47% increase in displacement in 6 weeks).   I for one would be fascinated to see the feeding experiments repeated with known genotypes to see the extent genotype plays a factor in feeding preference.