Venders and Supplement Ingredients.... Secrets?

NEFFx

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Not sure if this is the right forum - It would be good if someone could shed some lighton this issue.

For an industry that has often preached - dont add anything to your tank that you cant measure.... There seems to be more and more ambiguity or blind faith in products.
The world of supplements is starting to become quite unregulated. and why this is annoying is that it could change over the months you use it and you would never know. How do we as consumers compare all these additives. Have others found places that actually mention what is in these components? And yes - I still use them :D
I guess on the plus side I dont think I can OD on "Supplements" but I would like to reduce the need for so many while understanding what is going into my tank or others to compare.


Aquavital/Seachem is the ONLY company that tells me what is in the bottle.
Aqua Vitro Fuel.png


I have searched for Tropic Marin Items as I like their stuff.
For instance - What is the composition of Part C "Tropic Marin components add calcium, alkalinity, and sodium chloride free sea salt to maintain the crucial balance of elements in your aquarium's water (So I asked them and "
This means, the main components of Part C are magnesium and potassium salts, but is also composed of numerous other elements. These 9 g of Part C contain ca. 1350 mg Mg, 400 mg K and all the other minor and trace elements of 1 l Pro-Reef saltwater except calcium and alkalinity) though this is just an ionic enough other “stuff” to offset the NaCl increase over time, so not much really.

A few other products of theirs have little Detail like the rest. Though they are all made in a lab and trustworthy.
For the TM A- ELEMENTS - contains anions of the trace elements bromine, fluorine, iodine, lithium, molybdenum, selenium and vanadium in pure mineral form
For TM K+ ELEMENTS - contains cations of the trace elements barium, chrome, cobalt, iron, copper, manganese, nickel, strontium and zinc in pure mineral form
So I stopped using part C because I have Kalk and calcium reactors.

Aqua forest - literally feel like its like magic fairy dust sometimes.
What is AF Life Source "100% natural deposit derived from the cleanest waters of the Pacific – from Fiji. It is perfect as a buffer to enhance microbiology in saltwater aquariums. Biological stabilization is a crucial factor for corals health. Using the AF Life Source provides corals access to components and minerals derived from the natural environment. The product is also an excellent complement an algae refugium and DSB."
Literally what does that^^^ mean?
For AF Growth boost "AF Growth Boost is a supplement for growth acceleration. It is designed for all kinds of corals. Due to the unique composition of carefully selected amino acids, it significantly improves coral polyps extension. The use of AF Growth Boost allows to complement deficiencies and significantly enhance metabolism. The preparation was enriched with calcium carbonate, which is used by corals for building skeletons. Specially selected formula of the preparation significantly accelerates the calcification process and high content of amino acids ensures healthy growth. Due to the perfectly balanced formula, AF Growth Boost significantly accelerates the growth of the coral frags and facilitates their adaptation to new conditions."
Am I adding Calcium^^^ what is different between this and their 3 other amino acid supplements.

ZeoVit/Korallen
Pohl’s Coral Vitalizer - Coral "Food"
https://s3.amazonaws.com/brsinstruc...llenzucht_guide_easy_reefing_english_2018.pdf
Amino Acid Concentrate - "Amino Acids" Up to 100% increased growth of many SPS, even sensitive types such as Fiji and Tonga corals." and nothing else is mentioned

I havent gotten into Red Sea Products but looking lightly into it it seems they dont provide this either. Though they do provide a bit more than the above.
https://media.cdn.bulkreefsupply.com/media/wysiwyg/PDFs/Red Sea Manual Coral Colors Complete.pdf

Brightwell also has done an OK job at trying to delineate what is in their products I would say second best from this list.
Guaranteed Analysis Zinc (min) 0.061 mg/oz.; Iron (min) 0.0063 mg/oz.; Manganese 0.00344 mg/oz.; (min) Cobalt (min) 0.000344 mg/oz.
From the above - only 4 are mentioned of the 29 that are in the bottle

Brightwell does have an insane amount of products. of these many have an analysis on them.

for trace and amino I dose automatically:
Julian’s acropower (gallon)
Red Sea AB+ or Seachem fuel depending how I’m feeling.
Red Sea colors ABCD
Brightwell chromocolor (lots of photo for the clams)

For fun I add aquaforest ABEV when I remember and am not traveling.
I run ESV Kalk, brightwell and reborn calcium Reactor media. Adds trace too and Mag (neoMag).

In hopes that this helps negate a requirement for water changes till when I make time for it and also to provide a little extra for the corals.


I keep looking at other companies with more and more coming out with proprietary blends that only mention a few.

Excluding Triton for obvious reasons.
 
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NEFFx

NEFFx

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I went to the Local Reef Place to read some labels. AB+ does not mention any analysis. The whole polyplab suite is about as mysterious as aquaforest but slightly different dosing instructions 3 drops (AF) to 5 drops (PL) per 100g. and Brightwell (replenish, boron, and color) didnt mention much either.
 

sixty_reefer

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Probably because they all basic ingredients, once added to the label anyone could replicate the same for peanut.
 
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Yea, but you can do that with anything. Hence the BRS calcium chloride etc. but who is going to make their own Amino Acid mixes. LOL.
 

taricha

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For an industry that has often preached - dont add anything to your tank that you cant measure.... There seems to be more and more ambiguity or blind faith in products.
The world of supplements is starting to become quite unregulated. and why this is annoying is that it could change over the months you use it and you would never know. How do we as consumers compare all these additives. Have others found places that actually mention what is in these components? And yes - I still use them


This is an interesting topic. and your thesis is correct: we are constantly asked to add things to our systems without being told what's in those things.
Red Sea trace part D wants me to know that they contain "18 Bioactive Trace Elements" but literally will not tell me which ones those are - much less how much they might be.

support emial:
"And as for part D - Bioactive Elements, we listed 4 main elements (of 18 traces) as Silver, Gold, Vandium, and Tungsten. These are in traces amount, undetectable by our hobby test kits, and only recommended to dose based on the aquarium calcium consumption. Any elements not listed are considered a part of our trade recipe and unfortunately we cannot share this information."

14 unknown elements in unknown (miniscule) amounts, but trust us - you want them!

But I do have to point out that your last sentence is the problem, right :) ?
"and yes - I still use them"

When choosing between products if we always opted for the ones that tell us what they contain, then we wouldn't have this problem.
It would actually require us to make the hard (but fundamentally sound) choice that if a company refuses to say what's in the bottle, then I don't actually need it.
 
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Probably because they all basic ingredients, once added to the label anyone could replicate the same for peanut
I actually think amino acids would be hard to come by compared to phyto, calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate etc - and yet we all still buy those.
 
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@taricha
I think its strange that they dont even tell you which are in there, let alone at what levels.

I agree that using them may be the problem - but I still use Fuel #1 - just trying some others and this is where my frustration started. becuase I was trying to understand what I should dose in case I am missing something - how do I know. I will get a Triton ICP and see where I am with my current levels and that may help understand since I havent been home in 1 month and most things are auto dosed. Before I go mess with it all :D

I guess I wish Seachem and Aquavitro made more products along the same line to cpmpete...
 

X-37B

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I get the marketing if your trying to sell something. IMO most people would be better off feeding their fish and let the fish feed the corals in the long run, all else being equal.

Starting your tank with a plan from day one is the best way to avoid blindly adding things to your system because someone said it works in their tank.
 

mikeytrw

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AquaForest did a live stream where they talk exactly what is in LifeSource and how they make it.

It's literally mud from the reef, put through a sieve and packed into a bag.
 

livinlifeinBKK

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Yeah Life Source is good stuff from my experience and I think they really can't break down exactly what's in it because they just know how they collect it (I doubt they really do much analysis since it's a natural product) but that's not really what you're wondering... Honestly, I think half the issue is that a lot of it is very similar to other brands and they want to sound like they have something different and special than anyone else...it is frustrating though
 

Koty

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For me, this is a long sought after topic. there is something inherently wrong with not telling us what's in what we are adding to our tanks. I can understand if they do not provide the actual types and ratios of amino acids as this may be proprietary being a result of extensive research on which aa is essential for which coral. However, some companies disclose NOTHING. Aquaforest dosing stuff includes a full description and that is why I chose them. I do use their 4 coral liquids even though according to the descriptions they do not know the difference between amino acids and vitamins. For full disclosure, I use KZ sponge power hoping that it is actually a silica supplement and based on smell it is in glacial acetic acid (and it works). I think this forum should be more active or even aggressive to push these companies to provide at least some info or....
For example, if you are an experienced successful coral grower that uses KZ products , what are you? An expert on using a combination of solutions you have no F@#$^ idea what they contain. What then is your learning curve in the hobby?
I designd my tank based on the "Triton method" but will never use them. They essentially charge more money for the lack of data compared to AF.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I have some minor disagreements with conclusions in the first post, but I do agree that nearly all hobby companies fail at telling us what is in the products.

Worse, in my opinion, is the many hobby companies that give incorrect information about their product, either because they do not understand their own product, or intentionally mislead folks.

Some products you can deduce the exact, or near exact composition from the description. Balling Part C and ESV two part fit that description.

Some products use descriptions that might sound impressive and meaningful, but end up being impossible even for an expert chemist to decipher.
 
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NEFFx

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I have some minor disagreements with conclusions in the first post, but I do agree that nearly all hobby companies fail at telling us what is in the products.

Worse, in my opinion, is the many hobby companies that give incorrect information about their product, either because they do not understand their own product, or intentionally mislead folks.

Some products you can deduce the exact, or near exact composition from the description. Balling Part C and ESV two part fit that description.

Some products use descriptions that might sound impressive and meaningful, but end up being impossible even for an expert chemist to decipher.
I made some updates to the first post based on discussions since.
 

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