Additives that actually help corals.

[FragIt Dan]

I agree with the 'Salt' comments... there is little substitute for a good salt and regular (weekly maybe) water changes. Alternatively, less frequent water changes (perhaps monthly) can result in some of the elements in your tank to become depleted.
When I am keeping up with my my water changes the only thing I add is food (other than Ca and carbonates) and have liked Zeovit's Coral Vitalizer, but it is a bit pricey for me. Recently I have gotten into Reef Snow from Brightwell Aquatics (BA) and am happy with both the product and price.
When I am doing water changes less than weekly I dose KoralColor, also from BA, although most of the other trace element supplements out there will likely be just as good. Also, when my blues/purples are fading, I dose Potassium (K) and notice a big difference after a few days of dosing (the brand probably matters little for this). I have also been messing around with Boron (branded as BoroChrom, also from BA ), and found it really helps with my reds in several, but interestingly not all, of my sps/lps. It is not that expensive and you only add one or two mls a couple of times a week, so a $15 bottle lasts forever.
But, as I said, I don't use any of that stuff when I am doing regular water changes


Dan

[albert_dao]

... Okay guys, c'mon here. This is so heavily biased and misinformed.

There are plenty of additives out there that work plenty fine. Just because your corals are colorful doesn't mean they can't be MORE colorful, or colorful in different shades. Same goes for growth, polyp extension, and longterm success (especially in the case of certain Goniopora and Cespitularia.

It's so frustrating seeing people assuming that their work is complete and that no amount of tinkering or experimentation will do anything to make it "better".

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

... Okay guys, c'mon here. This is so heavily biased and misinformed.

There are plenty of additives out there that work plenty fine. Just because your corals are colorful doesn't mean they can't be MORE colorful, or colorful in different shades. Same goes for growth, polyp extension, and longterm success (especially in the case of certain Goniopora and Cespitularia.

It's so frustrating seeing people assuming that their work is complete and that no amount of tinkering or experimentation will do anything to make it "better".

yeah happens alot of reefcentral the first topic of food or additives comes up and a bunch of sps guys come on and say look at my full tank grew with nothing but goodlights flow and water.

i def believe there are alot of products that help both in growth and color.

[reefermadness]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

... Okay guys, c'mon here. This is so heavily biased and misinformed.

There are plenty of additives out there that work plenty fine. Just because your corals are colorful doesn't mean they can't be MORE colorful, or colorful in different shades. Same goes for growth, polyp extension, and longterm success (especially in the case of certain Goniopora and Cespitularia.

It's so frustrating seeing people assuming that their work is complete and that no amount of tinkering or experimentation will do anything to make it "better".

I've had poor colours dosing nothing......and tried quite a few additives with little results as well. Now I have very good colours (once I gained the experience) with out dosing anything. How is this biased or misinformed?

Im not saying none of them work....some of them probably do work but dont need them to achieve great colours. Could my colours be better.....honestly I dont see a product that would make enough difference for me to bother....and its may even be risky to my success.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

I've had poor colours dosing nothing......and tried quite a few additives with little results as well. Now I have very good colours (once I gained the experience) with out dosing anything. How is this biased or misinformed?

Im not saying none of them work....some of them probably do work but dont need them to achieve great colours. Could my colours be better.....honestly I dont see a product that would make enough difference for me to bother....and its may even be risky to my success.

Look, your tank is nice. But I wouldn't label your success the logical conclusion of SPS reef keeping and color refining. Allow me to show you an example of color refining using additives:







Sorry about the blurry cellphone pictures.

Top image is your typical purple valida.

Bottom image is after it has been played with using several additives.

I'm not talking about merely keeping animals alive. One should be competent in that regard PRIOR to attempting any sort of additive dosing. What I'm talking about is enhancement/modification of the corals.

Just because you're proficient at something, that doesn't mean there isn't an entirely different way of looking at where success begins and ends. I'm not here to argue about the NEED to use additives, I'm saying they have their time and place should you have the patience, discipline and observational skills necessary to utilize them. I call you biased because you look at your results and assume that's all there is to it. That is incorrect.

[albert_dao]

Let's make this a little more obvious:

Side by side:

[reefermadness]

If I can have great colours using IO, DIY 3 part and no additives.....what does that mean? I tried navagating the endless confussion of supplements. Like I said some do work like AA but most are not needed in a healthy tank....mostly its just a money generator for these companies. What is worse is that they dont need to tell you whats in them......I could spit in a bottle and put a fancy name on it and sell it as an crazy coral colour enhancer.

Most of my favorite tanks utilize none to very few additives.

Wicked Frags Ultimate Bonsai

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

If I can have great colours using IO, DIY 3 part and no additives.....what does that mean? I tried navagating the endless confussion of supplements. Like I said some do work like AA but most are not needed in a healthy tank....mostly its just a money generator for these companies. What is worse is that they dont need to tell you whats in them......I could spit in a bottle and put a fancy name on it and sell it as an crazy coral colour enhancer.

Most of my favorite tanks utilize none to very few additives.

Wicked Frags Ultimate Bonsai

That's a lineaged, cherry-picked coral. I'm working with a piece of crap Bali Aquacultured. Let's compare apples to apples. Bet you I could turn that Ultimate Bonsai into something completely different with some tinkering. I'm not talking about simply getting great colors. I'm talking about getting enhanced or modified colors. It's a matter of perspective. For me, watching a coral get colorful (subjectively speaking) and grow is standard/boring. It's like buying an off-the-shelf computer -- it works just fine and will meet the needs and demands of 99% of the population. However, I'm the sort of guy who likes building his own computer with top shelf hardware (customizing his corals).

[whatcaneyedo]

These pictures were from my TOTM a few years ago before I screwed things up with biopellets. I'm slowly getting back to this point the old fashion way (water changes) once again. That little mistake set me back 2 years worth of growth with some specimens. If it aint broken don't fix it right?

For the sake of the thread starter maybe you could list some of the additives that you've used that you credit your success to. That is after all what this thread was intended for.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

For the sake of the thread starter maybe you could list some of the additives that you've used that you credit your success to. That is after all what this thread was intended for.

No can do due to my previous affiliations. Let's be clear, I AM heavily biased myself.