Introduction
What are we really looking for?
What should such an additive include
What should you do?
Other types of needed additives
ConclusionAs the aquariums we maintain contain more and more diverse animal life, the need for more complete additives becomes more of a necessity, and the make-up of these additives has to be more geared to the new type of aquariums, in order to satisfy the requirements of all the animal life we now keep.
I put this in the plural sense, giving the impression that we need more than one additive. This was certainly the case up to a little while ago when it was not unusual for us to add 3 or 4 or more different additives to our aquariums. As we shall l see later, we can greatly reduce the amount of additives needed if we follow a good plan and buy high quality products/additives.
The key is to buy additives that are more complete in their composition than what we used to buy to reduce the number we need, realizing though that not all additives can be mixed into one solution. We also need to realize that because some are required in greater quantities than others we cannot get down to being able to add just one additive.
What are we really looking for?
As implied in the "Introduction" we are looking for an additive that contains "many more" elements that the additives we used in the past. Also, we are looking to cut down on the number of additives we are using, and we are, in addition to that, looking for additives that contain the kind of chemical compounds that the greater variety of animals we now maintain, require. The latter, in itself, represents a major change from what was done in older type aquariums. That is not all though.
Because many modern reef systems are set up using newer and much more powerful protein skimmers the additive(s) used will be removed faster than before.
This brings about the need to either have additives that will remain in the water for longer, or to adjust the dosages we use so that all required elements are present on a continuous basis in the aquarium water and remain present in the same type of concentration as they needed (both in terms of quantity and as a percentage of each other).
Note that many hobbyists still maintain systems operating that use older methods of filtration. There is, of course, nothing wrong with doing so. These hobbyists may very well be extremely satisfied with the additives they are using and there may be no need at all for them to change their practices.
This document addresses itself to those of you who either are already running more modern systems or wish to do so. With modern systems I particularly refer to Berlin Type tanks, Live Sand Filtration tanks, and/or combinations of these two methods.
Often these systems can be identified by the fact that besides live rock and/or live sand, the only implement used for filtration is a strong protein skimmer. Nothing else. It truly is a system minimized in terms of equipment as in reality only a protein skimmer is used. Because of this it is important that you use a real strong and efficient one.
What should such an additive include?
The more complete such an additive is the better results we will, obviously, obtain when using it. "Complete additives", in the sense meant here, are not commonly available. In fact, at this stage, there are really only two on the market: Combisan and Liquid Gold Pro. Other additives exist, of course, but none come close to the completeness of the two I just mentioned. I strongly suggest that you use one of those two. The both are very complete in their make up and what they supply the animals with.
Combisan was developed by Peter Wilkens and Liquid Gold Pro by Albert Thiel, both quite well known in the hobby. Both have written several books on the subject of reef tanks too.
The main difference between the two products is that the first one contains iodine in a chelated form, whereas the second one does not. I personally prefer to add iodine separately, deciding on the dose myself, as I feel that this gives me more control over how much iodine is my tank at all times and let's me be in charge, and make sure there is enough iodine available, especially since I may have more corals that require it than the developers of the other product had in mind when they decided on the dose of iodine to include in their product.
Would you not like that control yourself? I certainly do! I may have many more soft corals, for instance, that require a far greater amount of iodine than a is normally supplied. Adding it myself gives me total control over how much I put in and I can match the dosage with the amount needed, based on what my tank contains.
Both products contain a multitude of trace elements and organic nutrients as well as vitamins and other beneficial ingredients such as necessary amino acids.
There is a major difference between the two though. The first one is meant to be dosed once a week, whereas the second one takes the approach that it is better to dose "more frequently", and the reason for this is that foam fractionation (or protein skimming) may remove some of these necessary elements quite fast and that some of these elements may, therefore, be in short supply until a week has gone by and you re-add Combisan.
Since neither manufacturer gives away the complete formula of their product, you will have to decide for yourself which one of the two to use. The label on Liquid Gold Pro does, however, mention quite a few of the ingredients included in it. You may want to check this out further in the Product Guide section in this WEB site as a long document on Liquid Gold has been placed in that section so you can better understand what it is exactly you are using, and how the product should be used for maxim um efficiency. With more information available one is always able to make a better choice in my opinion.
Given the limited choice of truly complete additives, my suggestion is that you try both for a while. A while in this case means several weeks in a row. After you have done so, decide for yourself which one of the two gives you the better results.
Keep in mind that other additives or supplements are necessary. They are covered in the next section. Using just one full additive is not enough. Your tank requires more than that.
Most of the other additives used in reef tanks are probably familiar to you but you may not necessarily know what the best way is to introduce them to your tank. We will briefly explain how to do so for each of them.
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