Amino Acids: Are They Worth It?

[1Meshy]

Hey y'all, so I was adding Brightwell's CoralAmino for about a year and my corals absolutely loved it. I was dosing everyday at the time (about 12 drops everyday for a 29 biocube) but then lowered the dosage to only twice a week because I was getting a ton of algae on my rocks (this was about 3 or 4 months ago). Even with the lower dosage, I continued to get algae and it would get worse whenever I would dose.

Now I have changed my aquascape and have no more algae on the rocks (yay!), but whenever I dose, I start growing algae again and have to scrub the rocks a bit. I've since stopped dosing because I'm worried my new aquascape will get covered in algae too quickly.

So my question is this: should I continue to dose CoralAmino but just lower the dose significantly, or should I stop altogether and try something else? I've heard of AcroPower being a good amino acid supplement, but I haven't tried it yet. I'll also mention that I feed the corals reef roids every Thursday, and have recently picked up on trying out Reef Energy AB+ Plus (been dosing about 4mL everyday for a few days now).

I'm just looking to see what types of supplements and/or foods are out there that would help the corals grow and color up nicely without giving me *too* many algae issues.

I currently have two hammer corals, frogspawn, a few zoas and GSP, and some montipora digitata and birdsnest.

Just in case you want my parameters:

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - between 5 and 10ppm
Alkalinity - 9.8 dKH
Calcium - 450ppm
Magnesium - 1450ppm
Phosphate - 0.07ppm

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes. Very important part of tissue health and building blocks for coral

 

[1Meshy]

Yes. Very important part of tissue health and building blocks for coral

Thanks for the reply!

Ok, if I continue dosing then, how much do you think I shoud dose so I dont have a big algae problem anymore? And should I use CoralAmino or AcroPower?

 

[Spare time]

What algae are you referring to?


You don't need to dose them, and I don't think it really has any benefit unless you run a low nitrate tank. Corals get them from predation and zooxanthellae. Which corals benefit the most depends on what an individual species' zooxanthellae and microbiome can produce

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the reply!

Ok, if I continue dosing then, how much do you think I shoud dose so I dont have a big algae problem anymore? And should I use CoralAmino or AcroPower?

Acropower very good. I dose 1-2X per week. .5 ml per 10 gallons should keep algae down. Corals can absorb amino acids and other nutrients through the water column, due to the incredible biodiversity of corals, meaning that there is an array of possible ways the coral can consume them. On top of this, zooxanthellae can also absorb amino acids as a source of nitrogen, which can be used to create biomolecules which get transferred to the coral and used for growth.

 

[1Meshy]

What algae are you referring to?


You don't need to dose them, and I don't think it really has any benefit unless you run a low nitrate tank. Corals get them from predation and zooxanthellae. Which corals benefit the most depends on what an individual species' zooxanthellae and microbiome can produce

It's like a reddish-brownish algae.. If I'm not mistaken I think they may be dinoflagellates because they're kinda slimy looking and are pretty easy to take off the rocks and sand (it grows back fast though if I'm not maintaining the tank). I'll post pics tomorrow when the lights turn on, though.

I've heard some people say that amino acids don't work, and others have said that they've done wonders for their corals, so I really appreciate your input.

May I ask why you say they're not beneficial though? I'm still experimenting with this stuff myself, so any new knowledge is good by me!

 

[1Meshy]

Acropower very good. I dose 1-2X per week. .5 ml per 10 gallons should keep algae down. Corals can absorb amino acids and other nutrients through the water column, due to the incredible biodiversity of corals, meaning that there is an array of possible ways the coral can consume them. On top of this, zooxanthellae can also absorb amino acids as a source of nitrogen, which can be used to create biomolecules which get transferred to the coral and used for growth.

I see. I'll have to give acropower a try then and see if it does better than coralamino.

How long have you been dosing acropower? And how long did it take until you saw results?

 

[willieboy240]

Amino is the fine tuning of a reef system. You don’t need it. But if your trying to get that color and pop. Then you need it.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I am on my first reef system where I am not relying solely on stability through weekly water changes. I’m no chemist or marine biologist. But I know results when I see them.

I have always used Aquarium Solutions mag pro + salt. When I found out it was to be no more I bought multiple buckets. Salt has been a constant. But when I reset from fowlr to corals I spent two months on kalk in the ato plus dosing cal, alk, and mag to water changes. Growth was good, colors were so-so. I started dosing brightwell coral amino. Colors are fantastic and my Favia, lps, and Zola’s coloration and growth are off the charts compared to anything I have seen before. My sps colors are amazing, meteor shower cyphestrea has a neon green growth edge that I have never before seen on a meteor shower. Tri-color valida went from shipping stress brown and white to purple and green (I am still waiting to see that 3rd color…)in days after I started adding aminos. My stylo is the purplest I’ve ever seen. I have a boring stag horn that was brown now it’s purple with neon all over. Bubble gum digitata is purple blue, and high lighter yellow with the pinkest pink polyps.

Super anecdotal but I’m sold. I’ll never stop aminos now. I am adding edridges phyto blend now, feeding response is now off the charts and I can’t wait to see what it does to my little AIO.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

just do half the recommended dosage twice a week for now. Run a phosphate remover to help combat the algae and reduce light to 6-8 hours a day if you’re running longer than that currently.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I see. I'll have to give acropower a try then and see if it does better than coralamino.

How long have you been dosing acropower? And how long did it take until you saw results?

Been using 8 years and within a month saw a difference

 

[BiggestE222]

Hey y'all, so I was adding Brightwell's CoralAmino for about a year and my corals absolutely loved it. I was dosing everyday at the time (about 12 drops everyday for a 29 biocube) but then lowered the dosage to only twice a week because I was getting a ton of algae on my rocks (this was about 3 or 4 months ago). Even with the lower dosage, I continued to get algae and it would get worse whenever I would dose.

Now I have changed my aquascape and have no more algae on the rocks (yay!), but whenever I dose, I start growing algae again and have to scrub the rocks a bit. I've since stopped dosing because I'm worried my new aquascape will get covered in algae too quickly.

So my question is this: should I continue to dose CoralAmino but just lower the dose significantly, or should I stop altogether and try something else? I've heard of AcroPower being a good amino acid supplement, but I haven't tried it yet. I'll also mention that I feed the corals reef roids every Thursday, and have recently picked up on trying out Reef Energy AB+ Plus (been dosing about 4mL everyday for a few days now).

I'm just looking to see what types of supplements and/or foods are out there that would help the corals grow and color up nicely without giving me *too* many algae issues.

I currently have two hammer corals, frogspawn, a few zoas and GSP, and some montipora digitata and birdsnest.

Just in case you want my parameters:

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - between 5 and 10ppm
Alkalinity - 9.8 dKH
Calcium - 450ppm
Magnesium - 1450ppm
Phosphate - 0.07ppm

Like the BW AA but it’s caused me some cyano. But it really helps heal and jump start coral growth. Had stunted growth and burnt ends. Really resolved those issues.

 

[Goaway]

Acropower very good. I dose 1-2X per week. .5 ml per 10 gallons should keep algae down. Corals can absorb amino acids and other nutrients through the water column, due to the incredible biodiversity of corals, meaning that there is an array of possible ways the coral can consume them. On top of this, zooxanthellae can also absorb amino acids as a source of nitrogen, which can be used to create biomolecules which get transferred to the coral and used for growth.

My hammers have lost their gold and orange colors. Once the bottle of acropower arrives, I will return to this thread and give an update a few weeks after usage.
A friend recommended this, so I shall see.
Love the post, has me hopeful I can get my colors back.

 

[dvgyfresh]

My tank was looking OK not a ton of growth and some nems hiding in dark. After dosing AB + daily all nems are out and extending / all corals are fluffy and open. Now I’m an advocate went a whole year without dosing aminos due to scare of Dino’s. Not sure if related but after dosing my phosphate levels zeroed out so I have to dose phosphate now, nitrate around 25-40

 

[Spare time]

It's like a reddish-brownish algae.. If I'm not mistaken I think they may be dinoflagellates because they're kinda slimy looking and are pretty easy to take off the rocks and sand (it grows back fast though if I'm not maintaining the tank). I'll post pics tomorrow when the lights turn on, though.

I've heard some people say that amino acids don't work, and others have said that they've done wonders for their corals, so I really appreciate your input.

May I ask why you say they're not beneficial though? I'm still experimenting with this stuff myself, so any new knowledge is good by me!

I am not 100% sure if dinos can use them or not. If it is red, then it would be cyano which I think can use the aminos.


I want to clarify what I meant earlier. You can have corals without adding them and they can get aminos via other foods (prey). Aminos have the advantage in that they probably can be eaten by pretty much everything in the tank (at least from my understanding) vs other foods may or may not be small enough for some corals). I dose reef energy and vitachem in my tank (vitachem mixed with food). I also target feed LPS with flakes. I dose phyto too and occasionally spirulina. If you keep getting cyano with aminos, consider lowering the dose or trying a combo of other foods.

I have stopped and continued aminos several times. I can't say there was a difference because it is impossible to say in our tanks if the aminos are doing anything or if we are just seeing what we want to see. Wanting to believe something works is different than actually knowing the effects. I mainly dose it because I get wholesale prices and I like to enter as large of a variety of energy sources as possible.

 

[1Meshy]

I am on my first reef system where I am not relying solely on stability through weekly water changes. I’m no chemist or marine biologist. But I know results when I see them.

I have always used Aquarium Solutions mag pro + salt. When I found out it was to be no more I bought multiple buckets. Salt has been a constant. But when I reset from fowlr to corals I spent two months on kalk in the ato plus dosing cal, alk, and mag to water changes. Growth was good, colors were so-so. I started dosing brightwell coral amino. Colors are fantastic and my Favia, lps, and Zola’s coloration and growth are off the charts compared to anything I have seen before. My sps colors are amazing, meteor shower cyphestrea has a neon green growth edge that I have never before seen on a meteor shower. Tri-color valida went from shipping stress brown and white to purple and green (I am still waiting to see that 3rd color…)in days after I started adding aminos. My stylo is the purplest I’ve ever seen. I have a boring stag horn that was brown now it’s purple with neon all over. Bubble gum digitata is purple blue, and high lighter yellow with the pinkest pink polyps.

Super anecdotal but I’m sold. I’ll never stop aminos now. I am adding edridges phyto blend now, feeding response is now off the charts and I can’t wait to see what it does to my little AIO.

That sounds amazing! Are you having any algae issues at all? How much do you dose?

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

That sounds amazing! Are you having any algae issues at all? How much do you dose?

I wouldn’t call them issues. I do have algae, but not on my rocks. I let it grow on the back glass then scrape it off while it’s still a film. Even that has turned into a fish, invert, and coral feeding frenzy. The is a small bit that grown in the gravel but it shifts around with the inverts doing a great job on it and the rocks.

I did get a bacteria bloom early by following the dosing instructions. I ended up cutting the dose in half and I gave it every 3 days. I am now on a half dose every day. I will probably leave it that way.

 

[Pico bam]

Ive tried a couple amino acids so far. Redsea ab+ and aqua vitro fuel. Id say results really depend the tank for some reason and how closely your looking. I dose ab+ for a couple months seen little to nothing change. Went back to aqua vitro and remembered why I dosed the stuff in the first place. Look for coloration, mainly polyp extension and growth to tell if its working. The sweepers coming back out on my space invader are a sign that its doing something. With ab+ I get yellow/ green water for a few minutes oooohhh cool. Nr ;Meh;Yuck....bought 5L of this stuff:mad:

 

[1Meshy]

just do half the recommended dosage twice a week for now. Run a phosphate remover to help combat the algae and reduce light to 6-8 hours a day if you’re running longer than that currently.

Alright, I guess I can do 6 drops of the CoralAmino every Monday and Friday then.. Have you ever user acropower by any chance?

 

[1Meshy]

Like the BW AA but it’s caused me some cyano. But it really helps heal and jump start coral growth. Had stunted growth and burnt ends. Really resolved those issues.

Ahaha, I feel it. It helped my hammer coral immensely with its growth rate, but has also caused me cyano issues as well