Amino Acid confusion....

Reef kid · Mar 7, 2016

ok guys, I know there are about five million threads on this topic but they all left me confused. What are the general thoughts on dosing aminos. Also of those of you who do, which ones do you use. I like the looks of the Nyos the best but am open to any ideas. Let's see if this can get cleared up for me lol. I'm only looking into this in the first place because my nutrient levels are actually pretty low and despit good parameters my sps aren't growing as fast as I'd like.

cameronh · Mar 7, 2016

jent · Mar 8, 2016

I use red sea energy a/b. But have not used others for comparison. That said I don't plan to stop.

Sabellafella · Mar 8, 2016

Ive used elos/redseas/acro power/and currently ME corals but its not out for sale yet, the red sea reef energy is alright if your never feeding your tank since it slaughtered my nitrate and phosphate levels(ontop of me feeding acans) so i stopped. Went to elos and it was awesome, very concentrated and used it for 2 years untill i wanted to make the switch to acropower. On the other hand acropower spiked my phosphates and gave a white film on my glass/pumps/tubing ect.. And as of now using ME corals considering its only a few listed ingredients and have ben having positive results. Its basically my nitrate supplement. Moral of the story is, if you dont have a large bioload and arent feeding much aminos are a good supplement for providing food. ive had positive results in the matter of weeks,all of this way done for my lps nems and zoas, i was already happy with my colors on my sps

jetmaker · Mar 8, 2016

MeCoral.Com has me amino out now.

reefwiser · Mar 8, 2016

Aquaforest Coral V

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 8, 2016

IMO, aminos can be useful in aquaria where the nitrate is kept very low since it is a nitrogen source and may help corals get needed nitrogen. Some (such as aspartic acid) may also be useful even in higher nutrient situations since calcifying corals typically need to get it from an outside source (but that doesn't necessarily mean a supplement, it might mean food).

FWIW, I don't dose amino acids or keep a low nutrient tank, but if I did, I'd probably experiment with them.

Reef kid · Mar 8, 2016

My nitrate is at 2.6, so not super low but down there. Me amino sounds awsome and if someone near me sold it I would buy it. The crazy thing is I have a decent bioload for my tank but run a turf scrubber that keeps my nitrates down with minimal water changes

Diesel · Mar 8, 2016

Your No3 is on the good side, don't lower it just test daily that it stays there.
Just feed the fish quality food and do your weekly water changes.
Make sure your Po4 stays in check too.
SPS doesn't grow fast and if you try to push it your are going to break the rules.
Having SPS to thrive it's a little more than having nutrients.
Your ALK, CAL and MAG need to be in perfect balance for a long time before SPS start to realize that they have a happy home.
Frags may not grow for months and just encrust with the rate of 1mm per month......... and that's normal.

Big E · Mar 8, 2016

I wouldn't bother with them if your nitrate is 2.6 With this level it's very likely you're getting more than enough amino acids from the foods you feed your tank.

Elegance Coral · Mar 8, 2016

I use SeaChem Reef Plus, vitamin and amino acid supplement, but not often. I only use it if I'm nursing a sick coral back to health, that's to week to feed, , or in a frag tank type set up with very few fish, and little feeding. I would not use it in the typical home reef display with a sand bed and generous feedings. In such a system, the only noticeable responce is likely to be a rise in nutrients, like others here have noted.

Reef kid · Mar 8, 2016

Ok, thanks for all the advice guys, do you think nitrates at 2.6 would count as unltra low nutrient considering I don't do a ton of water changes

Reef kid · Mar 8, 2016

Diesel said:
Your No3 is on the good side, don't lower it just test daily that it stays there.
Just feed the fish quality food and do your weekly water changes.
Make sure your Po4 stays in check too.
SPS doesn't grow fast and if you try to push it your are going to break the rules.
Having SPS to thrive it's a little more than having nutrients.
Your ALK, CAL and MAG need to be in perfect balance for a long time before SPS start to realize that they have a happy home.
Frags may not grow for months and just encrust with the rate of 1mm per month......... and that's normal.

Thank diesel, this would explain a lot haha, I just need to realize sps take a while. Thanks! I run phosguard to keep phosphate down, in fact a month ago I was at .1 till I threw some of that in there.

Diesel · Mar 8, 2016

Reef kid said:
Thank diesel, this would explain a lot haha, I just need to realize sps take a while. Thanks! I run phosguard to keep phosphate down, in fact a month ago I was at .1 till I threw some of that in there.

You doing great!
Keep those question coming and ask a lot, only than you're on your way to success.
Do you have a build thread already where you can all this document?

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks.52/

Reef kid · Mar 8, 2016

Diesel said:
You doing great!
Keep those question coming and ask a lot, only than you're on your way to success.
Do you have a build thread already where you can all this document?

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks.52/[/QUOTE

Here, I haven't done a great job on updating it though, I should get some new pics, for example I got rid of the Kenya trees...mostly ugh haha https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-75.229997/

Reef kid · Mar 8, 2016

Can someone explain why my profile pic changed without me doing anything to Jason fox signature corals...

Aqua Lab Aquaria · Mar 8, 2016

2.6 nitrate is extremely low nitrate. You should be aiming to keep it between 5-10ppm in my experience.

radar_17 · Mar 9, 2016

Diesel said:
Your No3 is on the good side, don't lower it just test daily that it stays there.
Just feed the fish quality food and do your weekly water changes.
Make sure your Po4 stays in check too.
SPS doesn't grow fast and if you try to push it your are going to break the rules.
Having SPS to thrive it's a little more than having nutrients.
Your ALK, CAL and MAG need to be in perfect balance for a long time before SPS start to realize that they have a happy home.
Frags may not grow for months and just encrust with the rate of 1mm per month......... and that's normal.

That's encouraging. I just jumped into the Acro world. Have had 3 little frags for about a month now. They still have their color, and two of them have their polyps out most of the time, but no observable growth yet. I have had other SPS (various montis, and various birdsnests) start growing pretty quickly, so was starting to wonder. Thanks!

Diesel · Mar 9, 2016

Aqua Lab Aquaria said:
2.6 nitrate is extremely low nitrate. You should be aiming to keep it between 5-10ppm in my experience.

Why 5-10?

Aqua Lab Aquaria · Mar 9, 2016

because nitrate is necessary for optimal coral health and vigor; zooxanthellae require it. I also maintain a mixed reef so keeping it towards the nutrient poor side tends to not produce great results overall.

Even SPS dominant keepers will tell you that you need some nitrate. 2.6 is definitely on the low side.