Live Rock Enhance killed my alk consumption

[MadTownFess]

So I've always been confused with how much I've had to dose (7 month old tank) It's been 60mL a day on a 45 gallon tank almost from the start. I have high pH and decent coraline growth, so always attributed to that. I have no precipitation on heaters/pumps. No sps, only a few small sps. Started with dry rock. I have done 3 doses of Live Rock Enhance the last week... my alk consumption went from 60mL to 7mL. I haven't noticed any other changes with the tank. Confused... looking for any insights. I'm not sure if it's a good sign that things may be better balanced somehow? Or a sign my tank is ticked off from it.

 

[road_runner]

So I've always been confused with how much I've had to dose (7 month old tank) It's been 60mL a day on a 45 gallon tank almost from the start. I have high pH and decent coraline growth, so always attributed to that. I have no precipitation on heaters/pumps. No sps, only a few small sps. Started with dry rock. I have done 3 doses of Live Rock Enhance the last week... my alk consumption went from 60mL to 7mL. I haven't noticed any other changes with the tank. Confused... looking for any insights. I'm not sure if it's a good sign that things may be better balanced somehow? Or a sign my tank is ****** off from it.

What is this product? Is it chemical? What function?

 

[MadTownFess]

What is this product? Is it chemical? What function?

Its a bacterial supplement. Its supposed to enhance pore structure of rock, maintain biological filtration, and cure live rock. I have had minor dino's for months, and people have had success with this product to to get rid of them, so thought I would try.

 

[road_runner]

Its a bacterial supplement. Its supposed to enhance pore structure of rock, maintain biological filtration, and cure live rock. I have had minor dino's for months, and people have had success with this product to to get rid of them, so thought I would try.

Good lord. It's like fracking ha ha.
Sorry am not familiar with such chemical..

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Following along with this. I used some twice about 6 months ago on my 13 year old live rock to help clear and sort of refresh the rocks, as sort of how I understood the product to work. But I'm not sure if that help my phosphates drop to a non detectable level and was the cause of my sps decline or not but I'm saying that I'm not sure I should have used it

 

[road_runner]

Not sure why we put such chemicals in our systems.
Descriptions of the product seems so violent ha ha.
What kind of chmeichal reaction it's doing thstbits changing the steucturebof the rocks yet claim to improve filtration bacteria...
Indo not mean to challenge your usage of it rather the claims of the product.
There is a reason we wnat to cure rocks outside the system. It's a nasty process.
How can this media cure rocks yet the same time help filtrations.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I was under the impression it sort of help rejuvenate old rock. And help clear the blockages in the pores of the rock. I just wish I never used it now. I don't think it damaged the rock, it did look cleaner after. I just think it threw my tank out of whack and I'm in the process of trying to get it back thriving again before I shut it down

 

[road_runner]

I was under the impression it sort of help rejuvenate old rock. And help clear the blockages in the pores of the rock. I just wish I never used it now. I don't think it damaged the rock, it did look cleaner after. I just think it threw my tank out of whack and I'm in the process of trying to get it back thriving again before I shut it down

Just think about it...how is it doing so? Do not you think it's an invasive proccess that if done better be done outside the system? I wonder what biproducts are produced after the proccess of whatever this chemical is doing...
In any event my advice to avoid chemicals. The reefing industry have turned in to one big chemicals and medication pushed by vendor through confusion and vague descriptions.

Test your parameters especially no3 po4 and give your system time to mature naturaly.
Alk swing is not a big deal now since u do not have corals maybe this chmeichal created a reaction that bound ca and Alk
So just monitor your system and see.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Just think about it...how is it doing so? Do not you think it's an invasive proccess that if done better be done outside the system? I wonder what biproducts are produced after the proccess of whatever this chemical is doing...
In any event my advice to avoid chemicals. The reefing industry have turned in to one big chemicals and medication pushed by vendor through confusion and vague descriptions.

Test your parameters especially no3 po4 and give your system time to mature naturaly.
Alk swing is not a big deal now since u do not have corals maybe this chmeichal created a reaction that bound ca and Alk
So just monitor your system and see.

Oh this happened a while ago I do have corals just all lps.this was my mixed thriving tank now all sps have died, well apart from the few polyps of the sps that I didn't scrape off the tank is 3 years old now but the rock was I've had for over 13 years it's been in 3 tanks now.

this shot was from about 2 weeks ago and the sand doesn't look as bad now

my levels are (as of lastnight)
Alk 7.7
Calcium 440
Magnesium 1320
Ph 8
Temp 78.8
Salinity 1.026
N03 10
P04 0 according to salifert higher range x2 solution

 

[road_runner]

...

 

[MadTownFess]

With zero po4 and high no3 you are creating good environment for dino and cyano so be careful. Bring po4 up a bit. Stop gfo of u using. That's what I would advice
As for the alk I would just check it's not a test mistake if its real just ignore it and adjust your dosing accordingly. Maybe the reaction bound the alk and ca

I do not run GFO, I run 4ppm nitrate, .02 phospahte. no GFO

 

[road_runner]

I do not run GFO, I run 4ppm nitrate, .02 phospahte. no GFO

Sorry maybe I was confused. In your earlier post you said zero po4 that's why I commented

 

[CNDReef]

I use it every once in a while and have had no ill effects. It also states to use it once a week if I’m not mistaken. It’s pretty much just live bacteria like dr Tim’s waste away. I find that it removes a lot of ditrus from inside my rock work.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Sorry maybe I was confused. In your earlier post you said zero po4 that's why I commented

I'm zero on mine and I don't gfo ,or skim and alk is 7.7 as I use natural sea water I keep it at that level and that's what my sps grew with so I don't know what went wrong. I have been feeding 2 x a day for the last 5 days now and I don't think that's enough to bring po4 up I do only have 3 fish as tank is only 90litres. Do you (or anyone) know a good way to raise po4 safely as my lps used to look and grow better previously, so I'm thinking phosphates or lack of are my issue.

 

[CNDReef]

add bio load or dose p04/nitrates. If you run a skimmer maybe turn it off for a while during the day. If you have a fuge cut back on the lighting and/or keep it to a smaller amount of macros. Cut back on water changes. Just don’t do all of these at once. Pick the one that would be easiest for you and wait a few weeks to see if anything changed. It’s easy to get everything out of wack fast but hard to get it back on track.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

add bio load or dose p04/nitrates. If you run a skimmer maybe turn it off for a while during the day. If you have a fuge cut back on the lighting and/or keep it to a smaller amount of macros. Cut back on water changes. Just don’t do all of these at once. Pick the one that would be easiest for you and wait a few weeks to see if anything changed. It’s easy to get everything out of wack fast but hard to get it back on track.

Cheers, I don't have a skimmer, I do t do water changes very often at all 6-8 weeks and I don't have a fuge it's just a small 24x18x18 tank with about 90litres of water and 3 fish. I do however have biohome media which is for biological filtration to help nitrates, doesn't claim helps phosphates, could removing some of it help? Also what could be consuming my phosphates if I know I can address that , or is it a case that I'm not adding enough through feeding.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I used the other product this company makes and my tank was fine . Reef Enhance which is just like marine snow.


The product you guys used , I believe is to speed up the curing of live rock. I would not use this in my display tank



The Reef Brite Live Rock Enhance helps speed up the curing process of new live rock by introducing beneficial bacteria that eat detritus, algae, slime and other dead organic matter.

Established live rock also benefit in releasing clogged detritus.

Features:

• Accelerates curing of new live rock, sand, and porous structures within the aquarium
• Maintains biological filtration cycle
• Safe for reef and fish only aquariums, with or without live rock
  
• Unclogs biofilters, refugiums and dead spots in water columns
• Formulated of microbial spores and enzymes
• Allows desired microorganisms to colonize

Suggested use:

• Store in a cool dry place, or refrigerate
• Initial dose for seeding live rock, and sand:
  • Dose 1 scoop per 25 gallons in high circulation area
  • For best results, add dose to a cup of aquarium water, stir, and dose after 20 - 30 minutes
• Dose for curing live rock:
  • Dose daily until ammonia levels reach 0 ppm and water is clear
  • Use in conjunction with protein skimmer
  • Change water when cloudy and re-dose
  • Keep water at approximately 72 to 73 degrees F
  • Keep salinity at approximately 1.020 - 1.021 SG

Specifications:

• Ingredients: Bacillus subtillis, Bacillus licheniformis, attendant enzymes, botanical extracts and accompanying enzymes
• Approximate size = 7 billion cfu/g
• Treats approximately 2000 gallons

Manufacturer Info
With clean aesthetic lines and extensive product design, Reef Brite is providing an attractive element to enhance the beauty and personalization of aquatic biotopes world wide. However, innovation is at the core of what we do at Reef Brite. Creating stunning high quality lighting and aquatic environment solutions Reef Brite’s product line encompasses cutting edge solar replacement technologies in efficient lighting and aims to provide users with a powerful product designed to be versatile and efficient.

 

[Ike]

What does the actual product look like? Not the snake oil jar it comes in...

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

It can be used in an established aquarium, the bacteria is supposed to clear detritus from established live rock so as my rock is over 13 years old I thought it would help clear the rock up a bit and sort of rejuvenate it a little. This was the only reason I used it. I'm not saying this caused issues as the Rick did look clearer. I lm just not sure if it rebooted my rock a little or the die off from the stuff in the rocks caused the issues.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

This product is suppose to be different strains of bacteria to help breakdown organic waste that has accumulated in your system as well as can speed up the curing process of live rock. I don't imagine the bacteria itself it causing either of your issues unless you had a large bacterial bloom shortly after. Breaking down the organics could have dramatically decreased available nitrates, phosphates and other nutrients which destabilized things. For a product like this a big water change and some carbon would probably be the first steps. You could just wait and give it time to re-stabilize. You do this long enough and you will eventually have things go out of whack, patience is worth its weight in gold for reefing.