Aquaforest probiotic salt mix

[RJ Harris]

So who here uses it? Is it worth the price? What do you think of it? Thinking of switching but want to be sold on it before I try it. Post some pics and tell me what you think of the stuff. How is your coral growth. I have a lps and softie 125.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've not used it, but I'm not a fan of salt mixes with organics in them. You cannot store it after mixing, at least if you want the organics to remain.

 

[RJ Harris]

I don't really store my water anyways. I mix it right before my water change and then it goes right in. About how long is the mix time do you know? I usually mix a brute for a half hour and that's good. I'm using rc now

 

[XNavyDiver]

Im also interested in this also as I've been looking into the aqua forest line of dosing supplements as well. Just need to hear what users think.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't really store my water anyways. I mix it right before my water change and then it goes right in. About how long is the mix time do you know? I usually mix a brute for a half hour and that's good. I'm using rc now

I don't know how long it takes to mix, but if you use it the same day it is likely fine.

 

[johndoe]

I've not used it, but I'm not a fan of salt mixes with organics in them. You cannot store it after mixing, at least if you want the organics to remain.

i was just looking around at different salt mixes an came across your post , is organic an synthetic the same ? also r u saying organic synthetic salt can not be stored ??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

An organic molecule has carbon and hydrogen in it, such as ethanol. It is not part of a "normal" salt mix. Organic has nothing to do with synthetic or not (and definitely not the consumer term applied to pesticide free foods), although all salt mixes are at least partly synthetic. None can be just dried seawater.

Some mixes add organics to spur bacteria growth, or vitamins (which are also organic molecules) for other reasons.

In stored seawater, bacteria will consume any organics added to the water.

 

[johndoe]

An organic molecule has carbon and hydrogen in it, such as ethanol. It is not part of a "normal" salt mix. Organic has nothing to do with synthetic or not (and definitely not the consumer term applied to pesticide free foods), although all salt mixes are at least partly synthetic. None can be just dried seawater.

Some mixes add organics to spur bacteria growth, or vitamins (which are also organic molecules) for other reasons.

In stored seawater, bacteria will consume any organics added to the water.

sorry randy i feel a little confused with some of your answer , mostly " Organic has nothing to do with synthetic " , its not you its me , im just trying to understand , so are you saying organic is not the same as synthetic ? im using synthetic salt now , hw reefer , is this organic ? because i usually have 20 gal stored for water changes an for emergency all the time . always circulating

 

[jsker]

sorry randy i feel a little confused with some of your answer , mostly " Organic has nothing to do with synthetic " , its not you its me , im just trying to understand , so are you saying organic is not the same as synthetic ? im using synthetic salt now , hw reefer , is this organic ? because i usually have 20 gal stored for water changes an for emergency all the time . always circulating

You do not want to use the probiotic, for the reason the probiotic has a shelf life of 24 hours. I have beef using the reef salt with great success over the past 1.75 years. Keep is simple with the reef salt and dose the 1+2+3+ and life will be good with your system.

 

[johndoe]

You do not want to use the probiotic, for the reason the probiotic has a shelf life of 24 hours. I have beef using the reef salt with great success over the past 1.75 years. Keep is simple with the reef salt and dose the 1+2+3+ and life will be good with your system.

witch " reef salt " r u referring to hw reefer ? and what is 1 2 3

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

sorry randy i feel a little confused with some of your answer , mostly " Organic has nothing to do with synthetic " , its not you its me , im just trying to understand , so are you saying organic is not the same as synthetic ? im using synthetic salt now , hw reefer , is this organic ? because i usually have 20 gal stored for water changes an for emergency all the time . always circulating

An "organic" material is a separate additive to a salt mix. None of the ions in seawater that we discuss as reefers are organics. They are inorganic. Magnesium, calcium, nitrate, etc. are all inorganic ions.

Organics that might be added to salt mixes include vitamins, metal chelators, amino acids and a few other things.

Most salt mixes have no organic additives, but H W Marinemix does with the amino acids added, and maybe the unnamed "biocatalysts".

So if you use that mix, either use it right way, or keep it well aerated and realize it will grow bacteria that will eat the amino acids in it. Do not let it stagnate or hydrogen sulfide might be produced.

 

[johndoe]

An "organic" material is a separate additive to a salt mix. None of the ions in seawater that we discuss as reefers are organics. They are inorganic. Magnesium, calcium, nitrate, etc. are all inorganic ions.

Organics that might be added to salt mixes include vitamins, metal chelators, amino acids and a few other things.

Most salt mixes have no organic additives, but H W Marinemix does with the amino acids added, and maybe the unnamed "biocatalysts".

So if you use that mix, either use it right way, or keep it well aerated and realize it will grow bacteria that will eat the amino acids in it. Do not let it stagnate or hydrogen sulfide might be produced.

wow now i understand , well i guess ill be changing salt mixes , never knew that . any recommendations for me . i always like keeping at least 20gal mixed and ready

i does 2 part

 

[acer]

Was just at MACNA- several new salts - too many to remember for sure. However, I think this salt (Aquaforest) comes with or without the probiotic - the probiotic is in a separate container within the salt bucket. You are supposed to add the probiotic to salt mix just before it goes into the tank- it is kept in a separate container. Pretty sure it was this salt as i was asking about. There were several different salt that talked about "probiotics" - so I may be mixing them up - but the idea /concept remains the same either way. Anyhow - just my 2 cents, not sure I agree with the whole idea/concept of adding a live bacteria into our tanks. Certainly, I do not think a true live bacteria (Probiotic) weather it be a "good guy" or not will survive in any dry salt mix. If it is kept separate in its own container until the salt mix is ready to be put into the tank - then I guess the bacteria may survive if it is actually alive in the first place ( doubtful as it has no food, etc) - but why is it needed for our tanks to begin with?? What type of bacteria is it? The idea of taking a probiotic supplement for us humans is to help with digestion, possibly improving immune systems, etc. I know professional supplements for humans show the specific species and sometime even subspecies that you are purchasing- cow digestive tract lactobacillis acidophilis/bifidobacterium is not the exact same as the bacteria that humans have colonizing in their digestive tracts. So, to that end, exactly what type of "probiotic" are we taking about here in a salt for a saltwater aquarium?? Seems like a huge "can of worms" that could prove very detrimental to the tank.

 

[johndoe]

i was looking around and seen red sea blue bucket , i kinda like the parameters an price , might give it a shot

 

[litenyaup]

Used it for about 2 weeks and hated it. All coral started looking like crap and lost a few. Only thing that was different was the salt. I'm now using fritz and so far the coral is looking better but not back to what it was.

 

[Theo15]

Back to the basics for me I'm back to using instant ocean reef crystals , I switch salts and started having problems , because they have a higher concentration of elements I realized when I did water changes my alkilinity would spike and my corals would either die or recede over the next few days, it was a headache, I also tried the probiotic and it's garbage in my opinion ,the probiotic competes with critters and bacteria and I honestly didn't see much of a difference

 

[sneub]

Don't put too much thought into salts, Instant Ocean is what I use, keeps it simple for me.

 

[jsker]

witch " reef salt " r u referring to hw reefer ? and what is 1 2 3

I am using the Aquaforest reef salt and the components 1+2+3+ are AF's balling method products.

 

[johndoe]

I am using the Aquaforest reef salt and the components 1+2+3+ are AF's balling method products.

ooo ok thx

 

[johndoe]

Don't put too much thought into salts, Instant Ocean is what I use, keeps it simple for me.

it was the synthetic or non synthetic thats what i was wondering mostly , i am using synthetic salt but from what im hearing is you cant have synthetic sit around gotta use it within a day or 2 , i didnt know that , i like to have at least 20gal mixed an ready all the time just in case emerg or something . so im gonna switch to reg salt to be able to do this
im also dosing brs 2 part