Dosing aspartic acid

My coral are growing very slow. They seem to need some food. My params are good with no detectable NO3 or PO4 by Salifret. I can't even get my ricordia to grow. I have ordered aspartic acid and will try that. The bacteria feeding also sounds good. I will follow that also and may give it a try if aspartic acid does not give results.

Thanks for all the info Jeremy.
 
chark said:
My coral are growing very slow. They seem to need some food. My params are good with no detectable NO3 or PO4 by Salifret. I can't even get my ricordia to grow. I have ordered aspartic acid and will try that. The bacteria feeding also sounds good. I will follow that also and may give it a try if aspartic acid does not give results.

Thanks for all the info Jeremy.
Click to expand...

NP! I'm always glad to pass along any info or experience that might help other reefers. It probably makes me look like a bad reefer because I most often share my bad experiences to help people from making the same mistakes I did. Fortunately for me, I really do have a successful and healthy tank and the mistakes are usually only here and there. The mistakes I make are usually when I get excited about something working well - I usually then overdue it based on that ever so burdensome thought of "Gosh. If that little bit made that positive of a response then I wonder if I can get even better results with more???". That little thought seems to get me every time!! LOL!! Aspartic acid dosing, elevated alk levels to induce more growth, light intensity, excessive filtration, etc.... The "what if" or "potential for better" is always nagging at me. Maybe at some point in my life I'll be content to settle for good results and not always strive to get the "absolute optimum" or "maximum capability" kind of results.

Jeremy
 
are any of you dosing other AA's as well?? I imagine not, as the initial point was to save money.

I dose a couple different types of aminos currently, but this has my interest for sure. Just ordered some.

I wonder why someone hasnt bought this stuff in bulk, put a hobby label on it and started charging $50 for a tiny bottle of the stuff??? Or HAVE they? :D
 
flyyyguy said:
are any of you dosing other AA's as well?? I imagine not, as the initial point was to save money.

I dose a couple different types of aminos currently, but this has my interest for sure. Just ordered some.

I wonder why someone hasnt bought this stuff in bulk, put a hobby label on it and started charging $50 for a tiny bottle of the stuff??? Or HAVE they? :D
Click to expand...

Im sure it will only be a matter of time. Each bottle of the L-Aspartic Acid cost only about $5 bucks and you get 100g. With dosing a small scoop (magnesium test kit spoon) up to 1/8 of a tsp for a 100gal system, that bottle is going to last you for a LOOOOONG while...:spin1:
 
flyyyguy said:
I wonder why someone hasnt bought this stuff in bulk, put a hobby label on it and started charging $50 for a tiny bottle of the stuff??? Or HAVE they? :D
Click to expand...

Look at all the AA products on the market that cost $40-$50 per bottle. The companies probably spend $5 per bottle on a handful of aminos like aspartic acid (and all the bottles of various AA's make hundreds of their bottles of their concoction) and then they re-label it as "a highly researched marine aquarium AA supplement with a special mix of amino acids created with a perfect combination of various aminos which will turn your tank from drab to popping in just 24 hours!! Gosh, I read so much marketing crap on aquarium products I just laugh when I read it now. Take a look at the zeo supplements. The special mixtures and secret ingredients are likely nothing more than the same stuff we buy for 1/10th the price from I-herb. The catch is we just need to do a little reasearch and learn about what we're wanting to dose. Take some time to learn a little and it saves you all kinds of $$$. If you can't tell, I hate the marketing garbage, outlandish claims, and often complete lies about what a companies product can or will do for a reef aquarium. Do a search for some of Randy's comments on Brightwell products if you want to read some interesting "factual" information that shows how pathetic and incorrect marketing claims can be.

Jeremy
 
I'm using 2 small teaspoonfuls every week. It's easy for melting when you make it to the power and hot water.

IMG_0002.jpg
 
jc-reef said:
Thanks...I actually did go back after I posted to read this thread again.

Well I just started my first dose last night. I took 1 scoop (blue scoop in magnesium test kit) and added it to 250ml of heated (almost boil) of RO/DI. I stirred and it disolved in a few seconds. I added more room temp RO/DI to the 250ml to aid in cooling and placed in freezer for a few minutes. I then slowly added to my DT.

I have about a net 100 gal total system, so the small blue scoop is less than what Randy's stated recommendation is. I plan on keeping the dose small and creep up to his 1/8 tsp per week recommendation. I may even divide the weekly dose in half and dose twice a week.

I will even take a few pics of some coral sampling during process to document growth rates.
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UPDATE

Its been 3 weeks since I started dosing L-Apartic Acid at 1 Mg test scoop (blue spoon) disolved in 250 ml of heated RO/DI. I have noticed quite a burst of 'encrusting' growth on my frags on frag rack or recently mounted frags. I haven't noticed much linear growth on the branches yet which might be the simple fact that I have mostly small frags or mini colonies. I plan on dosing 2 scoops per week starting next week (1 scoop every 3-4 days) to see if that will trigger more growth.

One thing I noticed like some of the others is my Mg levels dropped into the 1260-1290ppm range from a 1300-1350 start (between bi-weekly water changes). I ended up dosing DIY Mg (Randy's recipe 7.25 to 0.75) to keep my Magnesium balanced and will probably dose a little in my new salt water when I do water changes since the demand has increased. I dosed about 100ppm over a couple days an now it sits around 1380-1400. I will keep an eye on it and test weekly to observe coral demand.

Another thing I noticed too is that after about 1 or 2 days from dosing, my skimmer will go nuts and overflow. My guess is due to bacterial blooms? I end up lowering the skimmer level and shutting down the skimmer for a few minutes to let it settle and then fire it back up and it starts to work properly again.

The color is still maintained...although I have recenly added some LED strips to my lighting and some corals have 'deepened' in color. I would attest this to the lighting change and not the L-Aspartic Acid.

No algae growth whats so ever.

So far things seems pretty good. I will update in a few weeks after observing my increased dosing from 1 Mg scoop a week to 2 Mg scoops per week.

:cool:
 
I've been dosing for 2 weeks now. I've noticed lots of growth in my SPS and even in my LPS! I had a mini colony of candy cane coral that I almost lost when my tank crashed last year. Only one head made it through the crash and a few month's later a second head started coming back. Since I started dosing, the first head has almost fully came back and It's extending it's tentacles, It hasn't done that since my tank crashed. And the second head is half way back and it's also extending it's tentacles. Also, I've always had a nitrate problem. After three doses my nitrates dropped to a third of what they were (30ppm to 10ppm) As of my last test, it looked like nitrates were back on the rise.

I'm dosing 3 salifert spoons in 2oz. of RO water for a 150G tank. I dose every three days but I think I'm going to switch to 1 spoon everyday and see if that lowers the nitrates.
 
FishyBeaner said:
I've been dosing for 2 weeks now. I've noticed lots of growth in my SPS and even in my LPS! I had a mini colony of candy cane coral that I almost lost when my tank crashed last year. Only one head made it through the crash and a few month's later a second head started coming back. Since I started dosing, the first head has almost fully came back and It's extending it's tentacles, It hasn't done that since my tank crashed. And the second head is half way back and it's also extending it's tentacles. Also, I've always had a nitrate problem. After three doses my nitrates dropped to a third of what they were (30ppm to 10ppm) As of my last test, it looked like nitrates were back on the rise.

I'm dosing 3 salifert spoons in 2oz. of RO water for a 150G tank. I dose every three days but I think I'm going to switch to 1 spoon everyday and see if that lowers the nitrates.
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Sounds to me that the aspartic acid is likely serving as a carbon source which is inducing proliferation of denitrifying bacteria. That would be my hypothesis on the nitrate drop anyway.

Remember, more isn't always better!! I proved that with aspartic acid dosing and nearly crashed my entire tank. That was only from what I thought was a minor adjustment - going from dosing 1/4 tsp once per week to routinely dosing 3X/wk (180 gal tank).

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16937049&postcount=29

Jeremy
 
jlinzmaier said:
Sounds to me that the aspartic acid is likely serving as a carbon source which is inducing proliferation of denitrifying bacteria. That would be my hypothesis on the nitrate drop anyway.

Remember, more isn't always better!! I proved that with aspartic acid dosing and nearly crashed my entire tank. That was only from what I thought was a minor adjustment - going from dosing 1/4 tsp once per week to routinely dosing 3X/wk (180 gal tank).

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16937049&postcount=29

Jeremy
Click to expand...

yeah, That's what I was thinking too. I just tested my nitrates a few minutes ago and they are back up to 20ppm. As for the dosing everyday, I'm still going dosing the same amount but now instead of dosing 3 salifert spoons every 3 days(kind of, more like on tuesdays and fridays), I'm going to dose 1 salifert spoon everyday(I wont dose on sunday so that the same amount goes in the tank over a weeks time). I want to see if this will help with the nitrates. My thoughts are that having a steady supply of the carbon source will help with the denitrification process as opposed to a big source every three days. I'm not aiming for 0 nitrates, I want them around 5ppm. I've been keeping a very close eye on all my levels and nitrates are the only thing that have been moving down, and now up. I've been keeping a close eye on all my fish and coral too and as soon as either start to show signs of stress, I'm stopping this regiment, but so far everything is looking amazing. What I'm hoping is that the nitrates drop to 5ppm and then I will recalculate my dose to keep it there. So with that said, I am now going to be testing my nitrates every other day to see if the smaller more frequent dose has a different effect, as opposed to the "big" one twice a week.

Thanks for the heads up. I will proceed with extreme caution and post my results.
 
I will begin adding Aspartic Acid again on Sunday morning and see what growth is by x-mas. Most all corals that started STN from the June 26 move, have recovered to maybe 50% of their previous glory. The 'fuge has started flourishing and only time will tell if my previous glory of SPS will be reclaimed.
 
I know it's a little off topic, but I saw alot in here about how hard it is to dissolve aspartic acid. As a free acid it is quite sparingly soluble, but it wouldn't stay in that form at pH 8.4 anyway. Look for a powder that is sodium aspartate, it should dissolve much quicker and leave you with the same end product. I don't know from an aquarium standpoint, but that's how we handle it in the lab.
 
3 weeks at 3/4 tsp in solution for roughly 600g,here. Moderate amounts of vodka and vinegar( 26 ml vodka/64 ml vinegar have been in use for 21 mos) .

I have not really noticed much change at this point.
 
disc1 said:
I know it's a little off topic, but I saw alot in here about how hard it is to dissolve aspartic acid. As a free acid it is quite sparingly soluble, but it wouldn't stay in that form at pH 8.4 anyway. Look for a powder that is sodium aspartate, it should dissolve much quicker and leave you with the same end product. I don't know from an aquarium standpoint, but that's how we handle it in the lab.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I have found that heating up RODI in the microwave (prior to boiling) disolves the Aspartic Acid in about 30 sec while stiring with a spoon. Once disolved, I would then add room temp RODI to cool down and place in freezer for a few minutes to shorten the cool down period.

That is interesting (sodium asparate)...maybe that question can be brought up in the Chemistry Forum.
 
You're welcome guys! :)


Like Randy says in post #79 of that thread:

"Threads in the chemistry forum are never dead. The just become old timers, like some of our members."

:D
 
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