| Re: Do you supplement elements? Do you test for the things you are adding? If not, how do you know how much to add, or how much your tank NEEDS? I've been keeping S/W tanks for over 20 years, and have always believed that you never add ANYTHING that you can't or don't test for, and have relied on water changes to maintain my trace elements. Calcium and alkalinity buffers are something that is easy to test for with reliable test kits, but many of the trace elements, either there are no tests available for, or else they are EVEY unreliable, and in the case of iodine, (many add that instead of iodide) the line between "just right" and "Toxic levels" is very fine, and takes only a few drops too much to overdose.
IMO, all those fancy colored bottles on the shelf in the LFS are designed to separate you from your hard earned fish $$$ more than they are to really do anything of value in your tank.
When all else fails, do a water change!
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