New to AF

[farbs]

Hi Guys,
Would just like some info on how to start with Aquaforest.
My tank is roughly 300 dimensions litres 3 x 2 x 1.5 plus sump
And my param:
Nitrate 0, been 0 for a long time
Phos 0, but have some nuisance Algae
Cal 410
Alk 7.5
Mag 1370
Tank has been running for about 4 yrs.
I beleive I use the pro bio s and NP Pro.
I guess my question is whith such low N and P will It still work. Sorry for the dumb question. And what dose would I use?

I have a few acros which are growing and have great polyp extension just not a lot of colour
Any way thanks in advance.
Oh Im in Australia and I beleive the pro Bio s is hard to come by down here. If anyone in aus is using it, where did ya get it?

[Aquaforest]

Hello,
Are you dosing any microelements?

Are you using some amino, vitamins..?

[ClearwaterUK]

You may find this helpful
http://online.fliphtml5.com/tezm/bbaq/#p=1

how are you maintaining the elements today ?

[farbs]

Hello,
Are you dosing any microelements?

Are you using some amino, vitamins..?

Not dosing anything at the moment.
Keeping cal, Alk, mg in check by water changes and manually dosing when they drop a little.

You may find this helpful
http://online.fliphtml5.com/tezm/bbaq/#p=1

how are you maintaining the elements today ?

By water changes and manually dosing when they drop. have a doser but the main 3 Cal, alk, mg are staying fairly stable through water changes.

[GoVols]

What brand of test kits are you using?

[GoVols]

Give us a full run down of your tank.

Like GFO, Skimmer, Carbon etc.

What do you feed your corals?

What products do you use to dose Cal, Mag and Alk.

[farbs]

Give us a full run down of your tank.

Like GFO, Skimmer, Carbon etc.

What do you feed your corals?

What products do you use to dose Cal, Mag and Alk.

Ok, so Tank is roughly 300litres including sump.
Running Phos minus and rowa carbon in separate reactors and occasionally I will add a drop of Zeo Coral vitalizer, only because I have it, but haven't used that for a couple of weeks. Weekly water change of 20litres.using Red Sea blue bucket.
And I have AF Cal, ALk and MG, which I haven't had to use much as it's been pretty stable just through water changes.
Skimmer is a Skimz 181 seems efficient enough.
have some live rock in the sump.
Have LED Illumagic lights which I'm thinking of changing to maybe T5 or the Hydra 26HD.
and run 2 tunze 6095's. That's about it.

[farbs]

What brand of test kits are you using?

Red sea pro for nitrate
Hanna for phosphate, but not the phosphorus one just the regular Phosphate.

Cal and mag is red sea pro and Alk is salifert.

[GoVols]

farbs,

With your Nitrates and Phos. being at 0. That's too low for Phos.

But the general guide lines of Bio Pro s and NP Pro is one drop each per every 100 liters of the total water volume that's in your system.

If it were me I'd want those two params. a tad higher.

JMO...

Maybe (plyle02) "Perry" can jump on here with a lot better guidance than I can give. He's the AF product guru!

[jpas]

farbs,

With your Nitrates and Phos. being at 0. That's too low for Phos.

But the general guide lines of Bio Pro s and NP Pro is one drop each per every 100 liters of the total water volume that's in your system.

If it were me I'd want those two params. a tad higher.

JMO...

Maybe (plyle02) "Perry" can jump on here with a lot better guidance than I can give. He's the AF product guru!

I don't think you are really at zero phosphate, you will need to use the ulr range Hanna checker to see what your actual phosphates are when you are running an ultra low nutrient system

[farbs]

I don't think you are really at zero phosphate, you will need to use the ulr range Hanna checker to see what your actual phosphates are when you are running an ultra low nutrient system

I do agree with that statement, unfortunately don't have a ulr hanna at the moment, might invest in new year when more funds bcome available.
But nitrates still a no show. three consecutaive tests with brand new red sea pro as I didn't trust the old one and still not a hint of colour?

Anyway because of this I went out and got the foods, Af Amino, build energy and vitality.
Will start with 1 drop and see how I go.
What do you think?
Also just changed out my phos minus.

[GoVols]

I do agree with that statement, unfortunately don't have a ulr hanna at the moment, might invest in new year when more funds bcome available.
But nitrates still a no show. three consecutaive tests with brand new red sea pro as I didn't trust the old one and still not a hint of colour?

Anyway because of this I went out and got the foods, Af Amino, build energy and vitality.
Will start with 1 drop and see how I go.
What do you think?
Also just changed out my phos minus.
Yes,
If your talking about Pro Bio S and NP Pro start with 1 drop each daily and watch for any changes like mild cyano, "slowly" increasing and keep watching.

If you see something like a mild case of cyano coming on drop the dosage back for awhile.

[GoVols]

Ok, so Tank is roughly 300litres including sump.
Running Phos minus and rowa carbon in separate reactors and occasionally I will add a drop of Zeo Coral vitalizer, only because I have it, but haven't used that for a couple of weeks. Weekly water change of 20litres.using Red Sea blue bucket.
And I have AF Cal, ALk and MG, which I haven't had to use much as it's been pretty stable just through water changes.
Skimmer is a Skimz 181 seems efficient enough.
have some live rock in the sump.
Have LED Illumagic lights which I'm thinking of changing to maybe T5 or the Hydra 26HD.
and run 2 tunze 6095's. That's about it.
One suggestion...

Try the AF Component 1+ 2+ 3+ (3 part dosing liquids)

Once you lock it in you will love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GoVols]

FYI, You probably already know.

Keep your ph no higher than 8.0dkh while carbon dosing with the NP Pro or any other form of carbon dosing. Your 7.5 is good.

[farbs]

Thanks for all the tips, I actually meant these products:
http://aquaforest.eu/en/product-category/suplementy-i-pokarmy/

I just thought that because my nitrates were so low maybe that's why I'm not seeing much colour in my sps. So maybe some form of foods in the the form of amino's and such might help.

Will hold off on the Pro bio s and np pro as unsure if it will work if if my nitrates are truely zero, don't really want to create more problems and I'm kinda new to the whole carbon dosing thing

[cbear9494]

I'm not an expert but if you are running so low on nitrate and phos I'm not sure why you would add NPpro and Probios at this point at all. It does sound like adding the ABEV supplements would be where I would start.

There are lots of bad experiences adding probioS too quickly or switching to that from other carbon dosing methods of really high nitrates. I think your tank is in balance so I wouldn't muck with it on the nitrate/phos management side.

Consider 1+2+3+ but it sounds like your corals may be starving.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[farbs]

I'm not an expert but if you are running so low on nitrate and phos I'm not sure why you would add NPpro and Probios at this point at all. It does sound like adding the ABEV supplements would be where I would start.

There are lots of bad experiences adding probioS too quickly or switching to that from other carbon dosing methods of really high nitrates. I think your tank is in balance so I wouldn't muck with it on the nitrate/phos management side.

Consider 1+2+3+ but it sounds like your corals may be starving.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Will see how I go with the ABEV for now and take it from there.
Cal, Alk and mg uptake is very slow at the moment and able to keep in check with a weekly water change. Hopefully the corals just need a good feed

[basser1]

Since I have fish and I feed them daily, I don't think supplemental feeding is necessary, i.e. amino acids, vitamins, etc. Or am I wrong in this thinking?

[GoVols]

Thanks! Will see how I go with the ABEV for now and take it from there.
Cal, Alk and mg uptake is very slow at the moment and able to keep in check with a weekly water change. Hopefully the corals just need a good feed
If you use the AF liquid Component 1+ 2+ 3+ your intake will go up.

It has the Big 3 and all the micro elements your corals need.

[cbear9494]

Since I have fish and I feed them daily, I don't think supplemental feeding is necessary, i.e. amino acids, vitamins, etc. Or am I wrong in this thinking?


If you have ultra low nutrients (e.g. Nitrate and phosphate) the AF method recommends providing nutrients with ABEV. Starving them is not good. The corals extend their tentacles at night so that's when they need extra food potentially not during the day when you feed fish. Look at night.

Lots of discussions on how and how much to feed corals. Some recommend a few times week at night to maximize growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GoVols]

If you have ultra low nutrients (e.g. Nitrate and phosphate) the AF method recommends providing nutrients with ABEV. Starving them is not good. The corals extend their tentacles at night so that's when they need extra food potentially not during the day when you feed fish. Look at night.

Lots of discussions on how and how much to feed corals. Some recommend a few times week at night to maximize growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm good with my Red Sea "Reef Energy"

But thanks!

[plyle02]

Hi Guys,
Would just like some info on how to start with Aquaforest.
My tank is roughly 300 dimensions litres 3 x 2 x 1.5 plus sump
And my param:
Nitrate 0, been 0 for a long time
Phos 0, but have some nuisance Algae
Cal 410
Alk 7.5
Mag 1370
Tank has been running for about 4 yrs.
I beleive I use the pro bio s and NP Pro.
I guess my question is whith such low N and P will It still work. Sorry for the dumb question. And what dose would I use?

I have a few acros which are growing and have great polyp extension just not a lot of colour
Any way thanks in advance.
Oh Im in Australia and I beleive the pro Bio s is hard to come by down here. If anyone in aus is using it, where did ya get it?

Hello,
Seems your parameters are in range, this is good using the Probiotic Method. With low parameters yes and no on dosing. You still want to use to a degree as the Pro Bio S(bacteria) needs to seeded within the confines of the tank, and the NP Pro is the food or carbon source for the bacteria to thrive. This is of course if you want to use this system. It is not necessary from a nutrient standpoint, and maybe the best approach would begin use of the supplements first, perhaps you can employ the method in the future, should a nutrient concern outside of your current regime occur. You could start the use of Energy, Build at 1/2 dose and each opposite night, dose Vitality and Amino Mix to the tank with lights out, again using 1/2 recommended doses. The AF Power Food would also be good to dose after lights out, each night if you want, so long as nutrients stay within check. From a chemistry standpoint, you could use Component 123 to satisfy all mineral and trace mineral needs in 3 separate dosable containers, similar to balling method. Because trace minerals are in the mix at proper ratios to mineral absorption, you may likely see a growth spurt as well as coloring, due to trace minerals targeting certain colors in SPS corals. Hope all is well and Happy New Year!

[plyle02]

Since I have fish and I feed them daily, I don't think supplemental feeding is necessary, i.e. amino acids, vitamins, etc. Or am I wrong in this thinking?

This can be true statement, if you have nutrients, meaning N&P testing that it is present, then maybe not to dose Amino Mix and Energy, as there is already nutrient source and perhaps the dosing may not be consumed, thus leading to a nutrient rise which would fuel algae growth. Personally, I use very seldom, Amino Mix, reason why is that I use high quality fish food which has aminos, and probiotics in it, feeding 2 times per day provides plenty of the by-product of nutrients for coral food. So to me, unless I see colors fading, in my routine, Aminos are sort of redundant to my feeding program, so again, not something I do every other day. Cheers

[farbs]

Hello,
Seems your parameters are in range, this is good using the Probiotic Method. With low parameters yes and no on dosing. You still want to use to a degree as the Pro Bio S(bacteria) needs to seeded within the confines of the tank, and the NP Pro is the food or carbon source for the bacteria to thrive. This is of course if you want to use this system. It is not necessary from a nutrient standpoint, and maybe the best approach would begin use of the supplements first, perhaps you can employ the method in the future, should a nutrient concern outside of your current regime occur. You could start the use of Energy, Build at 1/2 dose and each opposite night, dose Vitality and Amino Mix to the tank with lights out, again using 1/2 recommended doses. The AF Power Food would also be good to dose after lights out, each night if you want, so long as nutrients stay within check. From a chemistry standpoint, you could use Component 123 to satisfy all mineral and trace mineral needs in 3 separate dosable containers, similar to balling method. Because trace minerals are in the mix at proper ratios to mineral absorption, you may likely see a growth spurt as well as coloring, due to trace minerals targeting certain colors in SPS corals. Hope all is well and Happy New Year!

Thankyou so much!
Will start with ABEV and go from there.