Tropic Marine BIO-ACTIF Salt?

DD's was my favorite but after switching to TM Bio-Actif my tank has made some tremendous improvements and the corals are loving it and my wet skim-mate is horrible. The day time polyps on my corals have become very thick and the coloration continual's to improve, now this could also be attributed to the fact that I am also using the NP Bio-pellets also.:spin1:
 
Soulsigma,
Not to hijack this thread, but did you have any issues with the bio pellets and the new TM salt?

the reason I'm asking is although the bio pellets are working for me on the Nitrate issue (now and holding at 0.25 ppm), I continue to have an issue with them "mulming" up one of the 2LF reactors I have them in. Are you running the pellets in a canister filter, or fluidized reactor?

My concern with the TM salt is if it does indeed contain carbon sources, how would that react with the bio pellets I'm already using.

Stephen
 
Randy Holmes-Farley said:
For you folks saying the tanks never looked better, what specifically looks better, and how?
Click to expand...

I always thought my water was clear, but after the first water change the next day when I got home from work my water was crystal clear and the pretty blue tint from the phonix bulbs I use made everything look so pleasing to my eyes. After the six water change I thought something was wrong with my corals because they were look very thick with the day lights on but upon futher investigation the polyps had fully extended and was dancing in the flow and I never had that before untill I begain using TM Bio-Actif and now I am on my 8th w/c and my colors are beging to come to life and my fish apear to play in the waves of the MP 40s but this is just my observation of my tank:fish2:
 
stephencraig said:
Soulsigma,
Not to hijack this thread, but did you have any issues with the bio pellets and the new TM salt?

the reason I'm asking is although the bio pellets are working for me on the Nitrate issue (now and holding at 0.25 ppm), I continue to have an issue with them "mulming" up one of the 2LF reactors I have them in. Are you running the pellets in a canister filter, or fluidized reactor?

My concern with the TM salt is if it does indeed contain carbon sources, how would that react with the bio pellets I'm already using.

Stephen
Click to expand...

I am using the NP Bio-pellets in a fluidized vortex reactor powered by a Ehime 317gph pump ( this allows the pellets to gently tumble), with the out right in front of my skimmer pump. I have not experienced any problems as of yet and it may be due to the fact that it took the pellets 4 wks to kick in. Oh by the way my maidens hair is begging to die back but thats due to my tank being ULN now.
 
Hello Randy, hello all

I am the one who developed this salt but of course I can not tell what the organic ingredients are, may other manufacturers do their own research and maybe find even better organics. I am quite sure that the organic substances whe have added are some of the most common organic substances in reef waters, unlike ethanol and I think also acetate.

I just want to show up some facts. The book of Sorokin on Coral Reef Ecology is the scientific book on coral reefs I like best because of its multitude of facts and because it brings them in context.
On page 66 Sorokin states that the content of reef water in organic C is around 1 to 3 ppm. The carbon content of starch is ca. 44.4%. If all the organic carbon over the reef would be starch or similar substances there would be 2.25 to 6.76 ppm in the reef waters. Why shouldn´t it be a good idea to add organic substances that for sure can be found in reef waters in significant amounts? In my eyes we have added something that was lacking in synthetic sea salts and not something additional in comparision to natural reef waters.

Hans-Werner
 
Fantastic, glad to have you on here. Can I ask you one question, why is this salt so hard to find in the US? It seems like there is only one on-line retailer selling it.

Also, has TM done any studies with this salt to show it's effectiveness? And lastly, would I get similar results by using the TM Reef Salt + the Reef-Actif supplement?
 
Hans-Werner,

Nice to see you here again :thumbsup:

I think most people like to control DOC dosing separately to match changing conditions in an aquarium. Maybe I'm mistaken but the idea behind BIO-ACTIF is to add labile organic carbon source to accelerate bacterial production and thus nutrient export?

I agree there's nothing wrong with organics in a salt mix (I use HW Marinemix myself ;)) but I wouldn't try to build whole nutrient export system around water changes.
 
I think Tropic Marin USA has just started to distribute the BIO-ACTIF salt in the US. I am sure it will be more easily available soon.
We have done no studies like they are mandatory for medications but we develop the products in our aquaria and test them for some time in our own and other tanks. The declarations we do are based on the results of these tests.
The results you will get with PRO-REEF and REEF ACTIF may be similar. The BIO-ACTIF salt is optimized for the organic substances.
 
I just got the supplement and added it to my water change with regular TM pro. I hope it works as well as the pre mixed salt. Will post my results over the next month or so.
 
Tatu,

the basic idea behind the salt mix is a bit different. Since organic substances are an important component of natural seawater, especially over reefs, a saltwater within these organic substances should be closer to natural conditions than a saltwater without organics.

Organic substances can alter the solubility and bioavailability of trace elements and can even achieve a codegradation of refractive organic substances like yellow substances and organic toxins.

Hans-Werner
 
Hans Werner:

Do you have evidence that, in the absence of added organic matter in the salt mix, such organic levels are lower in reef aquaria than on natural reefs?

Or whether a reef tank using such a salt has more organic matter in it a few days after a water change, relative to a similar tank getting no added organic matter.
 
Last edited:
On page 66 Sorokin states that the content of reef water in organic C is around 1 to 3 ppm.

FWIW, Ken Feldman reports finding values for a reef tank that about match that without added organic matter:

" Seventeen percent of the water volume was changed weekly, and tank parameters were measured on a weekly basis as well; [TOC] = 1.4 ppm (1 hr after feeding) - 0.5 ppm (24 hrs after feeding)"

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature#idc-container
 
Hans-Werner

You Da Man...Double Thumbs Up Deutschlander

Sorry it does not translate but thanks I like the results...The proof is in the pudding.

Danka


Bill
 
Thanks, Bill!

Randy,

As you know for the measuring of organic carbon we would need special technology which we don´t have. The addition of organic carbon through feeding depends on the kind of feed and the amount that is fed. For example it seems to me that granular fish food does not contribute much to DOC. Besides this feed also add nitrogen and phosphates which speed up the degradation of DOC.

In the reefs there is DOC and POC that is more readily degraded by nearly any kind of bacteria and other that is only degraded by specialized bacteria with the necessary enzymes. We tried to support the latter ones. The introduction and initial support of this specialized microbiology is in my opinion one of the most important functions of live rock.

I am convinced that a better understanding of the dissolved organic substances will be a big progress for reef keeping and maybe also for the understanding of the natural environment and maybe we can make some people curious to take a closer look on it.

Finally all this doesn´t matter. We tried something and it did work and we made the same observations that are described in this thread, polypextension, better colors, clearer water, so it seems a good improvement and a good innovation to us. Now it is up to the reef aquarists to decide whether it really is an improvement and a good innovation.

Hans-Werner
 
Hello Hans- Werner

I am currently using Reef Actif, as the availability of the new salt is not available in my area.Would Reef Actif give similar results as TM BIO-ACTIF Salt?

Thanks

Kevin
 
Hello Kevin,

I think you will get similar results with REEF ACTIF and PRO-REEF although the BIO-ACTIF is optimized for the organic subtances.

Hans-Werner
 
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