7-Part Reef Care explained

A successful coral reef aquarium is dependent upon maintaining the appropriate water parameters that provide the stable environment required by the corals. This is achieved by starting with balanced seawater such as using Red Sea or Coral Pro Salt and using complete and balanced supplements, that are formulated to work together for long term use, without changing the ionic balance of the water.

The original 7-part Reef Care program is the result of years of research into the physiological demands of SPS, LPS & Soft Corals in the reef aquarium and practical experience on tens of thousands of diverse reef tanks worldwide.

This research has shown that corals take up the 36 Major, Minor and Trace elements in a relatively fixed ratio, however, the macro-algae of refugiums (or algae scrubbers) also take up these elements from the water differently from the corals. To ensure optimal water conditions for coral growth and coloration, alongside the sustainable macro algae growth needed for effective for nutrient control, it is necessary to supplement each of the Foundation and Trace-Colors based on a measured uptake of their primary element.

• Foundation A contains: Calcium, Strontium & Barium.
• Foundation B contains: KH/Alkalinity components.
• Foundation C contains: Magnesium.

• Trace-Colors A contains: Iodine, Bromine & Fluorine.
• Trace-Colors B contains: Potassium & Boron.
• Trace-Colors C contains: Iron, Manganese, Cobalt, Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Chrome & Nickel.
• Trace-Colors D contains: 18 other bioactive trace elements. (Dose 1:1 with Trace-Color C)

Coral Growth & Coloration

Although all the elements found in natural seawater have an important role in providing the optimal water parameters, a few of them have a more significant role in the overall stability. These elements are the foundation of the reef environment, and they include the three major elements: Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Bi-Carbonates (HCO3). These 3 elements have a major effect on the water chemistry (pH stability, Alkalinity, sea water ionic strength) and on many of the coral’s biological processes (skeleton formation, ions exchange, photosynthesis).

The minor and trace elements that are present in the skeleton and soft tissue of all corals are known as important biocatalysts in the thousands of metabolic processes in marine organisms as well as having a direct connection to specific coral pigments. All these elements must be readily available in all reef aquariums, however, many of them become toxic in concentrations above the levels found in natural sea water and therefore their correct dosage is crucial to the long-term success of any reef aquarium.

Coral Growth (Skeletogenesis) is the process by which the corals precipitate the foundation elements together with Strontium and Barium from the surrounding water to form the building blocks of coral skeletons. Corals build approximately 97% of their skeleton by combining Ca and CO3 ions from the water to form Aragonite (CaCO3). The rest of the skeleton is made up from the other minor and trace elements.

In unbalanced conditions such as low levels of Magnesium and Strontium the skeleton will develop with a higher proportion of Calcite making it more brittle and more susceptible to damage. The foundation elements complement each other in the formation of coral skeleton and if not available in the correct ratios one of them will quickly become the limiting factor of healthy coral growth.

Corals display their vivid colors due to the production of pigments (chromoproteins) that protect the delicate inner layers of the coral soft tissue from intense UV radiation, like the tanning of human skin when exposed to direct sunlight. The pigments can only be produced by the soft tissue of the coral if the specific elements required for the bio-chemical process are available in the correct concentration. Our research has identified 4 distinct groups of trace elements that have a direct connection to each of the natural pink, red, green/yellow & blue/purple coral pigments. However, all the elements are necessary for all mixed reefs and SPS aquariums without connection to the colors of the specific corals.

Elevated Levels of Foundation Elements

Elevated levels of the foundation elements create a higher saturation state inside the corals that induces faster aragonite formation making this process much more efficient (less energy required from the coral per gram of skeleton). Therefore, balanced elevated levels of the foundation elements will result in accelerated coral growth rates.

In reef aquariums, corals often have higher than natural populations of Zooxanthellae algae that give a deep brown tint obscuring the natural vivid pigments of the corals. Lowering the Zooxanthellae populations by fine control of algae nutrients (such as with Red Sea’sNO3:PO4-X) will remove the brownish tint and induce the production of pigments(chromoproteins), enhancing the coloration of the corals. When aiming to enhance coral coloration by reducing the levels of algae nutrients, it is advisable to maintain lower balanced levels of the foundation elements to prevent causing stress to the corals.

The desired levels of the foundation elements are therefore dependent on your objectives for your aquarium, and you should choose the salt mix and salinity that gives them. The Complete Reef Care supplements will then enable you to maintain these levels by replenishing the elements as they are used up.

Supplementing for a Refugium

Supplementing Foundation and Trace-colors for optimal coral growth and coloration can be relatively simple as all of the elements are used up in a relatively fixed and predictable way. However, when relying on the macro-algae of a refugium, to reduce the nitrate and phosphate levels, supplementing the Foundation and Trace-Colors elements is more complex.

Supplementing for the corals can be based on measuring the uptake of the calcium as this is the most dominant element that is a direct indication of coral growth. Macro-algae, however, take up all of the other elements apart from calcium, so calcium cannot be used on its own to control supplementation for systems with a refugium. Furthermore, macro-algae have the ability to accumulate many of the trace elements, over and above what that they need for growth, so relying on algae growth indicators such as iron or potassium are also not going to ensure that all elements are available for the corals.

The original Reef Care Program provides all of the 36 Major, Minor and Trace elements that are used up by both the corals and macro-algae in 7 individual supplements that should be monitored by the full range of Foundation and Trace-Colors Pro test kits to ensure that all of the elements are replenished as an when they are used up, by the all of the biological processes that are going on in the system.

It is recommended to do small but frequent harvesting of the macro-algae from the aquarium to limit the variations in both daily algae nutrient (nitrate and phosphate) removal as well as the uptake of Foundation and Trace-Colors elements.

If you are interested in a simpler testing and supplementing routine, consider using NOPOX to control your algae nutrients and use the 4-part Complete Reef Care with a single weekly calcium test.