Fish need nutrients such as Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats and Vitamins. These nutrients are from the food the fish ate. I will not talk about these nutrients as you can google to find out more.
Beside these nutrients they get from the foods, there is another thing that is important to the health of the fish that is Trace Elements. In the ocean, there are plenty of different natural elements and however the fish need no less than 13 of them to live. This are the 'essential elements' or sometimes called trace elements which you normally can buy off the shelve. Some examples are Kent Marine Essential Elements, Seachem Marine Trace Elements, etc.
The elements are taken in by the fish from the water that surrounds them through ingested (swallowed in foods), migrated into the fish through their skin, and passed through the gills. The elements get depleted from the aquarium water.
There are other processes that deplete these elements in our aquariums. They include skimmers, marine organisms (Live Rock, inverts, corals, algae, microbes, etc.), precipitation and complexing with other chemicals and substrates, and losses due to carbon and other such treatments.
Sometimes, water change can not keep in pace with this depletion of the small quantities of the micro elements. Thus, small quantities of element additives put into tank water are needed for proper fish health.
I am using Seachem Marine trace, I normally dose it at middle of the water change period. This is because during water change, the elements are replenished through the new water added and at the middle of the period, I just do a top-up.
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