What is your favorite additive?

Frozn · Mar 14, 2017

So I'm wondering what people's favorite and most noticable additive is for their reef.

I have an sps dominate mixed reef and like to keep things simple due to my busy schedule. I've noticed good results with a short usage of Red Sea Coral Colors abcd, but currently I only have a 3 unit doser in which I dose nitrates on one head due to my low nitrates. I don't mind manual dosing but also don't want to run an ULNS as I have done in the past due to sensitivity in the reef.

I have heard good things about acropower and fuel which seem like decent single substance additives.

Besides an excellent skimmer (lifereef) and a dual chamber CaRx I run a fuge and a large sump. Everything seems to do well, the system is stable and I feed a large variety of foods. I'm by no means unhappy with my results, but I would like to see a bit more out of my system in regards to growth and perhaps a bit more color in certain corals.

I have used a bit of zeo additives and acropower a short and perhaps unfair use.

So without trying to make the intro to this topic too lengthy the question stands:

What is your favorite additive that you feel yields noticeable results?

bif24701 · Mar 14, 2017

Vibrant

Frozn · Mar 15, 2017

Well I'm not too much of a believer with vibrant and it is also geared for cleaning or reducing unwanted algae through basic carbon dosing. I'm not really trying to correct any issues at this point but to further increase results with perhaps a clean food source.

Looking for comments more in regards to may iodine dosing which improved x, y, x or acropower increased both growth and color. Or coloration examples of Red Sea colors. I did only use 250ml worth at a low dosage on a 300g system. I did see results but I find the dosing to be geared towards 3 part method in which I utilize a CaRx.

Does fine food really benefit sps in the same manner as aminos? Although corals produce a certain number of aminos through different processes. Are sps coral receiving adequate amounts of nutrients in a closed system without external addition whether it be food, an additive or water changes.

Although I am experiencing great coloration in some corals I am lacking in others.

Colors are fairly vibrant here.

Colors are a bit dull here, more noticeable in the base area of the tricolor here. The coral to the left is browned out when viewed the from the front.

In regards to the coloration and possible shadowing. I am running 8 bulb T5 with 2 kessil 360in the front.

mdlc805 · Mar 16, 2017

I've recently started keeping sps and changed a few things up so I can't contribute an specifics information. I'll just let you know what I've changed that's been giving me results. I have a 40b with 20l sump. I dose 10 ml of acro power 2 times a week and have seen better color polyp extention and growth. I've heard that putting it on a doser helps even more but it says in the directions to shake before adding so I'm not to sure if a doser really does help because I've only added by hand. I switched from Instant ocean to red sea coral pro around the same time as starting acropower and have done 10 percent weekly water changes. I also had an algae outbreak and have been adding vibrant not to sure if this has also contributed in any way.i also am up to 8 fish and upgraded my skimmer. as far as food I only feed frozen food. I have a cup with tank water and a few cubes of coral gumbo my sis and sperulina and feed in the morning before lights come on and at night before they go off. Before these changes I wasn't able to keep any sps. I'm not sure if it's any one specific thing or just the improvement in my husbandry. Hope this helps

jsker · Mar 16, 2017

I have been using the AquaForest balling method components 1+2+3+ link for over a year now and I have been very happy. I mix my own which is a major savings over the premix and I can tweak the ingredients if it need too.

Sm51498 · Mar 16, 2017

Salt and food.

In all seriousness, reef chili is pretty magical stuff.

bif24701 · Mar 17, 2017

Frozn said:
Well I'm not too much of a believer with vibrant and it is also geared for cleaning or reducing unwanted algae through basic carbon dosing. I'm not really trying to correct any issues at this point but to further increase results with perhaps a clean food source.

Looking for comments more in regards to may iodine dosing which improved x, y, x or acropower increased both growth and color. Or coloration examples of Red Sea colors. I did only use 250ml worth at a low dosage on a 300g system. I did see results but I find the dosing to be geared towards 3 part method in which I utilize a CaRx.

Does fine food really benefit sps in the same manner as aminos? Although corals produce a certain number of aminos through different processes. Are sps coral receiving adequate amounts of nutrients in a closed system without external addition whether it be food, an additive or water changes.

Although I am experiencing great coloration in some corals I am lacking in others.

Colors are fairly vibrant here.

Colors are a bit dull here, more noticeable in the base area of the tricolor here. The coral to the left is browned out when viewed the from the front.

In regards to the coloration and possible shadowing. I am running 8 bulb T5 with 2 kessil 360in the front.

That's not what Vibrant is at all actually.

CheckeredPants · Mar 17, 2017

For three years of reefing I only used Brightwell's Elemental and have had great coralline, zoa, softie, and LPS success. I recently switch to Continuum's Element-T and am working on finishing the sample bottle I got at RAP. We shall see.

Frop · Mar 17, 2017

Sm51498 said:
Salt and food.

Same goes for my nano.

andrew james · Mar 17, 2017

Does Oyster Feast count? If not then KZ Flatworm Stop

Frozn · Mar 17, 2017

bif24701 said:
That's not what Vibrant is at all actually.

Can you further elaborate?

I'm enjoying how everyone has something different to contribute.

I find that solid husbandry with nutrient import (CaRx, food, water change) and nutrient export does the job.

I have ran an ULNS tank and even my current setup was running down that road accidentally which is why I now dose potassium nitrate.

ULNS tanks are great for fine tuning however are very sensitive to changes and additives. I don't have the time to be consistent with all the regimens so I had to back off. Things are looking good for the most part, I just feel a few of my corals could have 'better' coloration; which could be subjective.

Frozn · Mar 17, 2017

jsker said:
I have been using the AquaForest balling method components 1+2+3+ link for over a year now and I have been very happy. I mix my own which is a major savings over the premix and I can tweak the ingredients if it need too.

Have you been utilizing any of the other components offered by AquaForest?

Frozn · Mar 17, 2017

Sm51498 said:
Salt and food.

In all seriousness, reef chili is pretty magical stuff.

I've been meaning to give the chili a go. I currently use Coral Frenzy and Reef Roads. Along with an occasional dose of Oyster feast and Phyto.

Anirban · Mar 17, 2017

I will say using AF component 123 full balling helped me a lot with less water changes and maintenance. Other than this I am a fan of LRS foods and possibly algagen pods and phyto.

jsker · Mar 17, 2017

Frozn said:
Have you been utilizing any of the other components offered by AquaForest?

I do not have to anymore. I was dosing everything under the sun from different brands but since switching to the AF Balling components I do not have to keep a cabinet of individual components:)

bif24701 · Mar 17, 2017

Frozn said:
Can you further elaborate?

I'm enjoying how everyone has something different to contribute.

I find that solid husbandry with nutrient import (CaRx, food, water change) and nutrient export does the job.

I have ran an ULNS tank and even my current setup was running down that road accidentally which is why I now dose potassium nitrate.

ULNS tanks are great for fine tuning however are very sensitive to changes and additives. I don't have the time to be consistent with all the regimens so I had to back off. Things are looking good for the most part, I just feel a few of my corals could have 'better' coloration; which could be subjective.

Basically it is a bacterial product that is extremely effective at turning organic wastes in the system to biomass.

It also clings to algae and turns the metabolic waste from them to biomass via the bacteria that are then skimmed out or otherwise filtered out.

This is by far the best single bottle product I have ever come across and I would recommend it to any system. High effective and in three weeks removed all traces of turf, hair, and cotton candy algae. Bubble algae has started dying off and also bryopsis though not completely gone yet.

bif24701 · Mar 17, 2017

Anirban said:
I will say using AF component 123 full balling helped me a lot with less water changes and maintenance. Other than this I am a fan of LRS foods and possibly algagen pods and phyto.

I've been looking for a balling method. Can the AF balling salts be added to my current additives for ALK/Cal/Mag or am I force to use their product exclusively?

Anirban · Mar 17, 2017

bif24701 said:
I've been looking for a balling method. Can the AF balling salts be added to my current additives for ALK/Cal/Mag or am I force to use their product exclusively?

Their method is full balling so you need to use their full balling supplements but you can still use your own salt mix.