I have a new tank almost built, and was wondering how to start from day 0 using Aquaforest products. My other tank is a Triton setup and thought it would be nice to see a comparison between the two.
Reading the guide:
Dissolve the salt, add nitrification bacteria and filter media (I was going to do the dead shrimp)
Then Component 1 2 3 when I begin to get coral added to tank (Can not find it anywhere in stock)
Then Use the Supplements listed to feed fish and coral.
The tank has a Refugium is that ok, or should I convert it to be media reactors now and not use a Refugium in the tank?
The water changes do not bother me as I have it setup as a AWC change. But I noticed the salt is once dissolved has a short span, is their any way to extend this? Or just mix it before the change?
Sorry for all the questions, just want to do it right
More information regarding the system will help in making recommendations. AF products can support use of a variety of systems, that said, if you were to run a fuge system, many facets of the Probiotic Method would be moot. Researching the Probtiotic Method will target the system that is based on bacteria, not alage to control nutrients. So, use of your fuge area with biological media like AF Life Bio Fil, will allow more homing for bacteria. Think of Comp 123 as a solution to satisfy the chemistry needs. This is only needed once you determine that alk is being consumed, once you dial in the alk part of Comp 123, dose equally to the other parts of the system. As far as cycling a system on AF, I would implement biological media straight away, dose AF Bio S, not Pro Bio S, to cycle the system, the user guide explains this. Shrimp not needed in this application. Hope this helps
This is a new tank build, 100 Gallon long (GHL Lighting) with a 50 Gallon Sump. Based on what I read, I am going to do three reactors in the Fuge area so I can run AF Life, Carbon and Phosphate Minus.
I was going to introduce the media straight away(AF Life BIO Fil in a reactor), use Probiotic Reef salt, with AF Bio S. for the cycle. I was not going to run Carbon or Phosphate Minus unless needed? Or should I start them during the cycle process? I thought after the 14 days?
The Skimmer is a Royal Exclusive Mini 180, and the return pump is a Royal Exclusive Red Dragon pump that I can go up to 12x turn over. I was going to set it to between 7-9 times an hour.
The tank is going to be a heavy SPS, and fish. Some LPS but dominate on the SPS side, and one clam.
This plan sounds good, however, I would start the tank with AF Reef Salt, cheaper on the wallet, and during setup and cycling, there is no advantage of using the Probiotic Salt, in fact, a waste in my opinion, as nothing will benefit from the advantages of the more premium salt. After cycling and when you begin water changes, then transition over to Probiotic Salt, you could even use remaining Reef Salt at a 50/50 ratio, or alternate during regular water changes. I agree, run Life Bio Fil during setup, nothing else. You do not need to push the cycle with a shrimp, unless you want, the Bio S is a bacteria designed for cycling. Keep in mind that Life Bio Fil is quite effective in a reactor, for this I moved to passive in my system, just too effective for my setup. Control the effluent out of the reactor with Life Bio Fil down to very little, then ramp up as you begin adding live stock, of course through test monitoring as well Sounds like a sick setup, keep me posted and let me know if you have any additional questions!!! Cheers
My Tank cycle is doing well, but I noticed something and wondering if I should correct it.
My Alkalinity is very low it at 5.2 to be exact. I verified this with 4 testers and the LFS. Should I us the KH Buffer and bring this up? Not sure it would be so low with nothing inside the tank to consume it. I used the AF reef salt.
