i started dosing reef fuel, i beleive it is a newer line of products from seachem. from the label it appears to be an essential elements/AA supplement. it has a lot of the same "ingredients" as the kent essential elements bottle and it also has omega 3 and something else i beleive (not at home right now). my tank was pretty low on nutrients and now i am getting good growth under 20k's. its like 8 bucks for a decent size bottle too. Also about 2 weeks ago i came home and my skimmer freaked and was over flowing into the sump, to my suprise the corals were loving it. i tested everything the next day and all was good so i don't know if it had any negative affects or not.
I DOSED nitrate, and all can say is WOW!
- Thread starter Marklu
- Start date
surfnvb7
Premium Member
I can totally believe this. I used to have a planted tank years ago, and they have a method of dosing nitrates (KNO3 I think) to make the plants grow and out-compete the algae for the macro-nutrients.
it works like a charm! i had plants growing like crazy. only trick is you need to do consistent water changes to keep the micro-nutrient levels down.
I never had the guts to do it in a reef though.....as big water changes could trigger a mini-cycle.
But zero nitrates (or nitrogen) can probably explain why I have poor growth, colors, and hardly any chaeto growth.
it works like a charm! i had plants growing like crazy. only trick is you need to do consistent water changes to keep the micro-nutrient levels down.
I never had the guts to do it in a reef though.....as big water changes could trigger a mini-cycle.
But zero nitrates (or nitrogen) can probably explain why I have poor growth, colors, and hardly any chaeto growth.
fernandokng
New member
What do you do to keep your nitrates so low to begin with?
I'm not even really sure. When i first started my tank, I had read so many horror stories about nitrate that i decided to make sure that i have never had any. I grow chaeto, use filter socks (I change them every other day), used purigen, did religious water changes, and even dosed vodka because i thought my lack of growth was because of EXCESS nutrients that my test kits weren't picking up (Po4 was my main concern for this one). So up until maybe 6 months ago i had been going in the wrong direction, following a bad lead. What a waste of time...
Peter Eichler
New member
To draw a conclusion that we should be dosing amino acids based on that study citedarticle is false and misapplied. Corals are able to synthesize their own amino acids and studies have shown that even if corals are capable of drawing amino acids from the water it would only provide a small amount of their needed nitrogen. This and other studies support that all that is needed is some food, some bacterial growth on the coral, and zooxanthellae, the coral will do the rest.
With those that dose amino acids in ULNS there could be a few things happening. A very large portion of the amino acids dosed to an aquarium probably aren't even reaching the corals before they're consumed by bacteria and other single celled organisms or removed by a protein skimmer. What does get to the corals could certainly help colors in nitrogen starved corals, but so could dosing any other nitrogen source or simply not being so aggressive with stripping the water of nitrogen sources in the first place.
skippyreef
New member
We could add more fish and feed the reef in order to provide protein and by extension AA and Nitrate to nourish the fauna at all levels.
dudley moray
sisternofuselessknowledge
i don't know if it was the nitrate or the potassium that did this for you but i do have an open mind !
oldreefer76
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15225205#post15225205 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyyyguy
the ONLY thing I am truly 100% positive on in this hobby is that I spend more money than I should on it
Oh So True:beer:
CleveYank
20 Years and Over
I've noted that chemicals come in food grade, reagent grade etc.
Stump grade to be used as an additive to my systems would make me more than cautious. Any number of what the mfg believes to be inert (for the labeled and applied legal applicaiton that is more than likely on the package) may become ert in saltwater. Who knows? Also who knows what impurities of a heavy metal variety that could build up and nuke the system are present in the stump grade stuff?
And making a statement that the nitrate worked for being the growth trigger without having a test of the Potassium before you dosed before and after is really just speculation. And what other possible changes were happening etc? And not doing a comparative test with two identical systems with equal amounts of livestock, water volume and equipment makes the result again speculative (test v control better approach) and really just a lucky crap shoot at the best description. So many things have been stumbled upon in science it's not even funny. However, 1 observation in 1 system without a comparison is just bad method.
But, Glad it worked out so far and you didn't shock anything for losses are a bummer.
Stump grade to be used as an additive to my systems would make me more than cautious. Any number of what the mfg believes to be inert (for the labeled and applied legal applicaiton that is more than likely on the package) may become ert in saltwater. Who knows? Also who knows what impurities of a heavy metal variety that could build up and nuke the system are present in the stump grade stuff?
And making a statement that the nitrate worked for being the growth trigger without having a test of the Potassium before you dosed before and after is really just speculation. And what other possible changes were happening etc? And not doing a comparative test with two identical systems with equal amounts of livestock, water volume and equipment makes the result again speculative (test v control better approach) and really just a lucky crap shoot at the best description. So many things have been stumbled upon in science it's not even funny. However, 1 observation in 1 system without a comparison is just bad method.
But, Glad it worked out so far and you didn't shock anything for losses are a bummer.
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This is good. I'm glad there is skepticism. Critical thinking is how we grow and develop new and better ideas.
As far as nitrate vs potassium and growth goes, I have dosed potassium chloride in an attempt to increase growth and color in the past with zero results. I believe most of the top reef chemists around here are still doubting the benefits of potassium or if it even becomes deficient in normal reef aquarium. Perhaps more nitrogen needed to be present for the potassium to be effective. Who knows. But I do know that it is either A) nitrate or B) both nitrate and potassium together got the job done, but not C) only the potassium.
As far as nitrate vs potassium and growth goes, I have dosed potassium chloride in an attempt to increase growth and color in the past with zero results. I believe most of the top reef chemists around here are still doubting the benefits of potassium or if it even becomes deficient in normal reef aquarium. Perhaps more nitrogen needed to be present for the potassium to be effective. Who knows. But I do know that it is either A) nitrate or B) both nitrate and potassium together got the job done, but not C) only the potassium.
