Step 5 Explained: Bioavailable Nourishment™ for Corals and Fish

Introduction

Fish food can be a source of phosphate in your reef tank.

The manufacturer's Reef Essential® Aqua Care Guide™ explains why. Phosphate may be present in fish foods as a preservative, because it can help improve their shelf life.

Once it's in your aquarium, that phosphate can lead to algae issues and a possible nutrient overload.

Step 5 – Bioavailable Nourishment™ is where the Guide deals with this. It covers the nutrition your corals and fish need, and how to supply it without adding nutrients your tank doesn't want.

In this article, we break down what Step 5 is, why corals need feeding even under good lighting, what each Step 5 product supplies, and how the Guide doses them.

What Is Bioavailable Nourishment™?

Bioavailable Nourishment is Step 5 of the five-step Reef Essential system. In the Guide, it's the step that explains the key beneficial nutrients and how to supplement them in your reef aquarium.

The step's name points to what matters here: bioavailable nutrition, nourishment your corals can take in and use.

The Guide says these supplements help provide key molecules that naturally boost coral vitality and health. It calls them essential in helping corals reach their maximum potential, because they supply many of the organic molecules corals need for countless biochemical processes.

Like Steps 1 to 4, Step 5 runs for the life of your tank.

Why Corals Need Feeding Even With Good Lighting

Corals provide a home for zooxanthellae. These are photosynthetic, meaning they use light and nutrients to make complex biomolecules. In exchange, the coral consumes many of the biomolecules they make.

That still leaves a gap.

The Guide says zooxanthellae can't provide all of the nutrients a coral needs, and that corals are more similar to animals than plants. So corals need additional food sources for the full spectrum of nourishment behind vibrant color and vigorous growth.

Step 5 also links back to the step before it. The Guide recommends including key biomolecules in coral feeding to help get the most from Step 4 – Bioactive Color Elements™.

What Each Step 5 Coral Food Supplies

The Guide names three Step 5 products for corals, and each one supplies nutrition in a different form.

Pure Phyto™: Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are a natural nutrient source. The Guide calls them some of the most important organisms on the planet, because they're oceanic primary producers.

They make biochemicals from light and nutrients through photosynthesis. Those complex molecules help provide corals with many of the nutrients they can't get from zooxanthellae alone.

Pure Phyto™ supplies natural marine-based phytoplankton, phycocyanin extract and energy. The manufacturer says its phytoplankton is aquacultured in ultra-pure saltwater.

Bio-Enhance™: A Daily Liquid Supplement

Bio-Enhance™ supplies amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids, energy, and what the manufacturer calls cellular bound nourishment enhancers.

The Guide says these nutrients help improve the overall health of all types of coral. It lists stimulating polyp extension as another benefit, which can help corals appear fuller, more colorful and more vibrant.

Coral Cane®: A Solid Coral Food

Corals can consume solid food directly from the water column, so the Guide advises adding a refined coral food.

Coral Cane® supplies phytoplankton, zooplankton and natural food sources. It's also adsorbed with all of the ingredients in Bio-Enhance.

It has a range of particle sizes for both large and small polyps, which makes it suitable for all types of coral. The Guide notes it contains no added binders, fillers or excess unwanted nutrients.

How Bioavailability Changes the Way You Feed Corals

The goal isn't simply to add more food.

The goal is food your corals can actually use.

The Guide starts with quality. High quality foods help provide amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids and energy without polluting the water with unwanted nutrients such as excess phosphate. That helps corals gain health and vitality without promoting nuisance algae.

How you feed matters too. Step 5 supplements can be used for target feeding as well as broadcast feeding.

The Guide says target feeding can help increase bioavailability, by enhancing polyp extension and giving your coral more time to consume food. That may help improve absorption.

Its target-feeding mix is 1 scoop of Coral Cane, 1 mL of Bio-Enhance, 3 mL of Pure Phyto and 4 mL of aquarium water. Turn off all circulating and return pumps, gently spot feed your coral, then turn the pumps back on.

For a closer look at why some foods never reach the coral, read The Bioavailability Breakthrough — Why Most Coral Foods Don't Reach the Coral.

How to Feed Fish in a Reef Tank With Less Phosphate

Step 5 covers fish as well as corals. The Guide says fish need a full-spectrum diet of amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids and more for good health and vitality.

Because fish foods may carry phosphate, the Guide recommends straining them with RODI water before they go into the tank. That helps lower the phosphate that reaches your water.

Straining has a downside. It may also wash out some of the beneficial ingredients your fish need, so the Guide says it's important to replenish them.

That's where Fish Enhance™ comes in. It supplies amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids, energy and appetite enhancers.

Add 1–2 drops per cube of fish food, let it soak for at least 5 minutes, then feed as normal.

How to Dose Step 5 Coral Foods

The Guide doses each coral food by how heavily your tank is stocked. Bio-Enhance goes in daily, while Pure Phyto and Coral Cane go in twice a week. These are the broadcast-feeding doses:

• Lightly stocked: Bio-Enhance 0.50 mL/day · Pure Phyto 5.0 mL twice a week · Coral Cane ½ scoop twice a week, each per 100 L (26 gal)
• Moderately stocked: Bio-Enhance 0.75 mL/day · Pure Phyto 7.5 mL twice a week · Coral Cane ¾ scoop twice a week, each per 100 L (26 gal)
• Heavily stocked: Bio-Enhance 1.0 mL/day · Pure Phyto 10.0 mL twice a week · Coral Cane 1 scoop twice a week, each per 100 L (26 gal)

The Guide recommends combining Pure Phyto with Bio-Enhance and Coral Cane, for target or broadcast feeding, so your corals get the full range of beneficial nutrients.

You'll find all three coral foods in our Step 5 – Bioavailable Nourishment collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Step 5 Supplements Go on a Dosing Pump?

Bio-Enhance can. The Guide says it doesn't need refrigeration or shaking, which makes it suited to dosing pumps. Pure Phyto can't: the manufacturer says to shake it well, and that it can't be used on a dosing pump.

Should I Turn Off My Protein Skimmer When Feeding Pure Phyto™?

No. The manufacturer says to leave the protein skimmer on for both target and broadcast feeding. Turn off the return pump (and the circulation pumps too when target feeding), let your corals feed for at least 30 minutes, then turn the equipment back on.

Do Step 5 Supplements Need Refrigeration?

The Guide says Pure Phyto, Bio-Enhance and Fish Enhance don't require refrigeration.

How Do I Work Out My Tank Volume for Dosing?

The manufacturer's dosing formula uses the total volume of your aquarium and external filter, minus everything that takes up space in the water, such as media, rock and ornaments.

Does Step 5 Change if I Use Easy Reefer® or Signature Series™?

The Guide presents Easy Reefer® and Signature Series™ as alternative ways to dose Steps 3 and 4. Whichever dosing method suits you, it says the next step is the beneficial nutrients in Step 5. To compare the lines, read Which Quantum Saltwater Line Is Right for You?