Okay to switch?

[Ucantwin]

I am considering switching to aquaforest. I have a 4 month old tank and my sps corals are growing but the colors were fading because I was constantly having 0 nitrates. I started dosing potassium nitrate and raised no3 to 5ppm and colors are improving over the last couple weeks since dosing.

After seeing several tanks using AF I am wanting to try it but I am not sure if it is a good idea since my corals are not colored up and are recovering from low nutrient bleaching.

Is there a good time to switch to AF? Do I need to get my sps corals colored up first before switching?

 

[Aquaforest]

For start You Can start to feed Your corals:
AF Amino Mix
AF Build
AF Energy
AF Vitality
AF Power Food

Are you dosing some microelements?

I would like to encourage You to read Our GUIDE and Join to our Aquaforest Group at Facebook.

Regards,
Aquaforest

 

[plyle02]

Hello Ucantwin
The idea is to have low nutrient conditions, so this allows to use fish foods and coral foods to provide nutrition to your corals. Under these conditions, they will have a better opportunity to color. I do not think you should wait for the corals to color, the program with AF if used properly will provide total health and nutrition for your corals, so no need to wait for them to get healthy, Aquaforest will help to do just that We are here to guide you, but reading the user guide will help answer many of your questions. You will likely want to use the AF Probiotic based system. This will give you a range of products that will help with demanding sps corals. We are here to help if you have further questions. Regards,

 

[Ucantwin]

Okay so I am going to switch to aquaforest. I am a little confused on which salt to buy. Right now my po4 is .028 and no3 is 5 (I dose potassium nitrate to raise it). I have a bottle on nopox already, so I was going to use it to get down to the low nutrients required. Since I struggle trying to keep no3 in the tank, will the probiotic salt keep continue to keep my no3 at 0, when we actually need a little?

 

[plyle02]

There is a fine line between healthy nutrient poor tanks, and unhealthy nutrient poor tanks. Most AF users strive for .2ppm NO3 and 0.00 PO4, this allows the user to feed a heavy bioload without concern of elavated nutrients, but maintaining ample food supply to fish and corals. That said, I personally prefer NO3 @ or under 5ppm, I am usually 1ppm on Salifert. The nitrate available in my tank comes via heavy frozen food feedings, and that of the entire supplement dosing from Aquaforest, mentioned above. Depending on your bioload and your skimmer performance, using AF Probiotic Reef Salt, and AF Pro Bio S(Bacteria) and AF NP Pro(carbon source), together may keep your nutrients low. However, with a larger bioload, like myself, I utilize siporax and matrix as additional medias to colonize bacteria, which aids in reduction of N&P. This media is unrelated to AF, but many users like it because they can use little live rock and still have the biological aspects. I also use AF stacking method, which includes using 3 additional medias available in the AF Probiotic lineup. I use a zeolite reactor, but any fluidized reactor will work. I place in the bottom AF Zeo Mix, then on top of that I place AF Carbon, and on top of it I place AF Phosphate Minus. The set rate flow rate is so that the Phosphate Minus tumbles gently, but not to escape the reactor. This setup is simply changed out every 4-6 weeks based on your tanks bioload, I change every 4 weeks. Having this in the lineup is kind of my way of perpetually controlling nutrients and keeping them low, this allows me to feed my very fat healthy fish several times per day, I have 5 anthias... The fish poo then becomes a food supply to my corals. I use LRS Reef Frenzy and alternate with PE Mysis. Additionally, I use AF Amino Mix, AF Energy, AF Vitality, AF Build, and AF Powerfood. Running products from Red Sea in conjunction with AF will not guarantee success, as they are not formulated together. Personally if you switch, I would discontinue the dosing of NO3 as well. Hope this helps Cheers!

 

[Ucantwin]

My concern is keeping no3 at .2. I don't use the nopox, I just happen to have a bottle. I feed my tank LRS reef frenzy three times a day but I notice my nitrates still fall to zero if I am not dosing the potassium nitrate. I am wanting to use the full line of AF, which I believe is components 1,2,3 plus the five addition supplements you listed. Is this correct? When my nitrates fall to 0, do I leave it or dose the nitrate?

I am just trying to make sure I understand before diving in.


Thank you so much for your time an effort educating people about aquaforest!

 

[plyle02]

The idea is that we are now looking at running inherently low nutrients, with the benefit of nutrition in mind, on a constant basis. Break the mindset of testing and being concerned with over testing and results. Observance and understanding trends unfolding in the reef is what this program promotes. There is really no specific directions, you have to be keen and know your nutrient intake and how the system processing those nutrients. The addition of the AF Pro Bio S and NP Pro are what give the user this control. This is why you start 1/2 dose, and go from there, using testing as a tool, not as a precedent. The single largest mistake I see in the hobby is those who are concerned more with keeping levels based on testing, resulting in starving the tank. Based on user feedback, the AF Probiotic lineup is not near as harsh as the NOPOX from RS or other systems. My feedback is that the system is actually gentle and forgiving. Cheers

 

[GarrettC]

hello i started using aquaforets products a week ago salt and 123+ additives and gfo i want to add the a 3 gfo carbon and zeo lite in a reactor like you were talking about plyle02 what do you use inbetween each??
and can i just use AF pro bio s since i am running bio pellets witch would be carbon source right??
i plan on geeting all the coralfood and fish food to in the next week my po4 if 0.00 with hanna and no3 is is .75-1ppm with red sea

 

[plyle02]

GarretC,
I just use a thin sponge that is standard with 2LF reactors to separate the AF Carbon and Phosphate Minus. The AF Carbon just sits directly on top of the Zeo Mix. The Pro Bio S alone should be ok, however, as your pellets degrade, you may need to start using the carbon source, which is NP Pro. That or if you see the NO3 begin to rise. With low nutrient values like you have indicated, AF Aminomix will certainly help with corals, especially if they are light in color. Cheers