Coral feed

[dirty_south87]

I have recently learned from lfs the put aquavito fuel in my water to help with the corals. Is that a good route or should I use something else?

 

[T-J]

Do yourself a favor and buy an RODI unit. LFS are notorious for not having great water/salt.
Why are they putting a water conditioner in RODI water?

 

[dirty_south87]

Do yourself a favor and buy an RODI unit. LFS are notorious for not having great water/salt.
Why are they putting a water conditioner in RODI water?

I have looked into that before, was told it was a high maintenance thing to save a few dollars. As far as putting things in their water I couldn’t answer that myself. I’m trying to figure out how to maintain a thriving system without completely relying on chemicals for every little thing

 

[Mikedawg]

I have looked into that before, was told it was a high maintenance thing to save a few dollars. As far as putting things in their water I couldn’t answer that myself. I’m trying to figure out how to maintain a thriving system without completely relying on chemicals for every little thing

I suggest finding another LFS, one with staff that are better informed about animal care

 

[dirty_south87]

I suggest finding another LFS, one with staff that are better informed about animal care

They are the best one I have found so far. All the others are more worried about selling than helping

 

[MoshJosh]

I dose fuel in the evenings (lower dose than suggested on the package). My understanding it is an amino acid/supplement that corals can eat/absorb. I have heard some corals do well with this type of "food".

The reading I have done states fuel is one of the better amino supplements, but can't say anything for certain. . .

I don't think this kind of supplementation is strictly needed, many people have thriving corals and only feed thier fish. . . But my tanks are heavy on coral low on fish so I am trying Fuel out.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

It’s not a water conditioner. It’s a carbon source with other elements in it. Coral and bacteria food. I’ve never used it but it sounds interesting enough that id give it a try.

 

[The_Skrimp]

I mix aminos with reef roids when I feed my coral. I switched from Fuel to AB+ once I started dosing trace elements because fuel has added trace elements but I definitely liked fuel a lot. You don’t really need it unless you run a low nutrient tank though.

 

[dirty_south87]

I dose fuel in the evenings (lower dose than suggested on the package). My understanding it is an amino acid/supplement that corals can eat/absorb. I have heard some corals do well with this type of "food".

The reading I have done states fuel is one of the better amino supplements, but can't say anything for certain. . .

I don't think this kind of supplementation is strictly needed, many people have thriving corals and only feed thier fish. . . But my tanks are heavy on coral low on fish so I am trying Fuel out.

You dose every day? if so how much per gallon do you do?

 

[dirty_south87]

I mix aminos with reef roids when I feed my coral. I switched from Fuel to AB+ once I started dosing trace elements because fuel has added trace elements but I definitely liked fuel a lot. You don’t really need it unless you run a low nutrient tank though.

I plan on not using much chemicals later down the road. Just gotta figure out how to balance everything right

 

[MoshJosh]

I plan on not using much chemicals later down the road. Just gotta figure out how to balance everything right

Not to sound presumptive, but if you are in the "balancing" stage, adding supplements and chemicals may not be the best route. How old is the tank? What corals are you growing etc?

 

[dedragon]

From the sounds of it, your LFS is not very good if they are trying to sell you aquavitro fuel and not an rodi filter unit.
The reason being they get a lot more money if you have to come back to purchase more fuel and rodi water in the future. RODI costs them almost nothing to make so having you buy it from them is almost all profit everytime you need it.
Aquavitro fuel might be more helpful in low nutrient tanks but they arent necessary at all and can actually lead to algae or nutrient problems if not done correctly

 

[dedragon]

Not to sound presumptive, but if you are in the "balancing" stage, adding supplements and chemicals may not be the best route. How old is the tank? What corals are you growing etc?

This is good information as well, just not sure which chemicals they were referring too. Alk and ca supplements are almost always necessary

 

[T-J]

I have looked into that before, was told it was a high maintenance thing to save a few dollars. As far as putting things in their water I couldn’t answer that myself. I’m trying to figure out how to maintain a thriving system without completely relying on chemicals for every little thing

There is like no maintenance other than changing filters.
And you aren't saving a few dollars: RODI water is literally the building block that your tank is built off of. If you have crap water, it doesn't matter what you put in your tank, it's going to be a struggle.
Do yourself a favor and get an RODI unit. Start with pure water. Get a good tank going, then worry about supplements.
Adding supplements to a tank that isn't using them is going to cause issues.

 

[Acros]

Dosing aminos or coral foods to a young system will fuel all sorts of nuisance algae growth.

 

[dedragon]

I see now that this is for a 180 gallon tank so yeah, you will save hundreds of dollars by just buying an rodi filter. Filters arent changed out that often especially when it is only for one tank

 

[dirty_south87]

From the sounds of it, your LFS is not very good if they are trying to sell you aquavitro fuel and not an rodi filter unit.
The reason being they get a lot more money if you have to come back to purchase more fuel and rodi water in the future. RODI costs them almost nothing to make so having you buy it from them is almost all profit everytime you need it.
Aquavitro fuel might be more helpful in low nutrient tanks but they arent necessary at all and can actually lead to algae or nutrient problems if not done correctly

I only have a few around me without driving 2 hours away. I plan on finding a better place when I’m not working all the time

 

[dirty_south87]

There is like no maintenance other than changing filters.
And you aren't saving a few dollars: RODI water is literally the building block that your tank is built off of. If you have crap water, it doesn't matter what you put in your tank, it's going to be a struggle.
Do yourself a favor and get an RODI unit. Start with pure water. Get a good tank going, then worry about supplements.
Adding supplements to a tank that isn't using them is going to cause issues.

I will look into buying one then

 

[dirty_south87]

Not to sound presumptive, but if you are in the "balancing" stage, adding supplements and chemicals may not be the best route. How old is the tank? What corals are you growing etc?

The tank is about 1month under me. I have a few gsp, a leather, fox coral, and a couple my wife bought so I’m not really sure on the name.

 

[dedragon]

The tank is about 1month under me. I have a few gsp, a leather, fox coral, and a couple my wife bought so I’m not really sure on the name.

for those corals I wouldnt really worry about amino acid dosing. More important is keeping levels stable and within known range of ideal water parameters. Nitrate, phosphate, calcium and alkalinity are the most important to have good test kits for (not API test kits). Magnesium is good to have too but i dont feel it is as important to test as frequently as the others. Good test kits include hanna, red sea pro, salifert, etc.

I will look into buying one then

When looking, search up your cities water quality and what they add to the water. If they add chloromines you need a specific carbon filter for that but not everywhere uses chloromines