Red Sea Coral Programs- informative videos and great stuff/ Please read post before posting

[RavePartyReef]

Fellow reefers, as we all agree, this hobby is always advancing, and our job is to use this boards to share experiences and try to help make our tanks achieve their maximum potential(and reward us with many smiles) along the way. I've been a Salifert guy, and believe testing and supplementing can help me attain a better tank. Salifert has been the standard of testing when one is serious about knowing what water is in their tanks. I shopped for some ca,mg and alk tests yesterday and when didn't find Salifert, started to look into what was available. That is when I found the huge line Red Sea had, and it seems they have put lots of money I to this new line of coral programs.
Interested, I decided to buy the "Reef Foundation" kit and intrigued with the diverse line of products, also bought the "Colors Program".
I can say the foundations program kits are very good, and after testing for Ca,Mg and Alk, came with very similar results with my Salifert test kits that were running out. They seemed to have tightened the kit quality with tritration and it all things seemed pretty good.
At a price lower than Salifert, I was pleased to have tried it and truly appreciate when we are given options to carry out the best practices for our tanks.... With the colors program. It tests for Fe/I2/K and although I'm not going to get into what should be dosed or not, I find it great that I was able to get a reading of those elements in my tank. The kits also claim to have high accuracy which is something interesting.
I looked for videos and came across these series(5 videos) that even though have the intent to sell the products, are very informative and can truly help many of us understand better a correlation between some elements, light and other factors that can never be over studied IMo.
Now, one request:
This post is intended to HELP hobbyists like myself, that have been reefing for a while and even though have had success with their tanks, DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING. So those that post in every topic they see and give their expert opinion criticizing everything and saying we are doomed with a time bomb in our hands, please find somewhere else. This is to inform, help, and make everyone closer to learning whats at stake here...

Here is the first of the videos...make sure to watch all five and give your opinion...thanks

Red Sea Reef Care - Introduction (episode 1/5) - YouTube

 

[RavePartyReef]

Funny that it is said we can get growth or color, but usually not both at the same time due to some factors...I had never heard that. Anyone finds this interesting?

 

[Davinci]

you can get both but you can focus on one or the other depending on your water quality. you can get more growth, but less color or vice versa.

 

[mike007]

So glad to see that someone besides me have researched Redsea products. I have posted info on this site and got some negative reviews. These products are excellent and have proven themselves to me. There info on their website is second to none. I have used other name brand supplements but these have proven to be the best i have ever used. My water parameters have never been better. Please be open minded and check there products out. Aleast check out their info on the website.

 

[Jlobes]

i have been using the red sea "reef foundation" kit lately...and have been very satisfied/pleased. It is fairly easy to use, has quality parts, and seems as accurate as a salifert. good to see others using them also.

 

[mayday610]

I just ordered the full line of red sea test kits yesturday. I thought that they did a good job with the videos on their site. They give a decent amount of information without overwhelming someone new to the hobby. I have heard good reviews for red sea and bad as well. Same as with other companies. Some times bad or inaccurate batches make their way past quality control. Doesn't hurt to have a couple brands on hand at times to cross reference if one feels their numbers are off. In all honestly, i'm looking forward to seeing how red sea matches up against the test kits i currently are using!

 

[mayday610]

I just ordered the full line of red sea test kits yesturday. I thought that they did a good job with the videos on their site. They give a decent amount of information without overwhelming someone new to the hobby. I have heard good reviews for red sea and bad as well. Same as with other companies. Some times bad or inaccurate batches make their way past quality control. Doesn't hurt to have a couple brands on hand at times to cross reference if one feels their numbers are off. In all honestly, i'm looking forward to seeing how red sea matches up against the test kits i currently are using!

* am using not are using... :xd:

 

[RavePartyReef]

I'm glad others here are finding Red SEA tests as good choices. I also like the videos, and found them very informative, and as mayday610 stated, does not overwhelm new hobbyists. I wish experts in the hobby could make videos, and even sell DVDs discussing with detail issues common in reefing, and ways to get past them. we at many times ask for opinions in boards, but never leave knowing what should be done for sure. Getting off topic a bit, I was reading about supplementing some elements to reefs and contrastingly to what is said in the Red Sea's videos, it would be hard to be done. We hear a bottle of a certain mineral can be poured as recommended to a tank and that element would be absorbed by the corals in it...but I read at a reef magazine last night an article by dr Tim Havonec(dr Tim) in which he said it is very difficult to get minerals to be stable at liquid form, and that in most cases is not absorbed at all by corals...he mentioned they all go to the bottom of the tank along with our dollar bills. He recommends good salt water changes often. Sooooo, the Red Sea products have no credibility? What's with all the colors a,b,c and d? At times I just find the hobby very frustrating, because along with technology, I believe there are ways opening possibility for new procedures that can get us to better tanks. In other words, the usual "do water changes often" is not enough for me t get corals to excel, there must be other things that could lead to improvement in let's say coloration for example...but where is the credibility of these big labs we spend lots of money on? Who's right and who's wrong? Is Dr Tim full of it? Or is Red Sea's scientists idiots?

 

[mayday610]

Personally i believe that powder products are better. There is some truth in liquid suppliments being in part unusable, but to say that they can't be absorbed,, not so true. Lets be honest, if the suppliments out there didn't work at all, no one would buy them and the companies would be no more. Also it is said that liquid suppliments are higher in "other things" that we don't want in our systems. I say that all we can do is try different things and come up with our own conclusions. Scientists may be smart, but they also can be quite dumb. If a person has a personal bias before going into an experiment then their results may just back up what they " assumed to be true " all along

 

[RavePartyReef]

Personally i believe that powder products are better. There is some truth in liquid suppliments being in part unusable, but to say that they can't be absorbed,, not so true. Lets be honest, if the suppliments out there didn't work at all, no one would buy them and the companies would be no more. Also it is said that liquid suppliments are higher in "other things" that we don't want in our systems. I say that all we can do is try different things and come up with our own conclusions. Scientists may be smart, but they also can be quite dumb. If a person has a personal bias before going into an experiment then their results may just back up what they " assumed to be true " all along

I agree. The point I'm trying to get is, when something is in discussion, a new supplement, or whatever, when there is doubt or uncertainty, it all goes back to, don't add anything, just do water changes. People normally like to be assured of things, and when they don't know something, they go back to where it is safe. ..I know what wc's do and agree the importance and do them myself, nor do i believe in magic in a bottle. I am after things that improve my tanks. I buy lots of protein supplements and other things that help me workout at the gym(hang there and follow my train of though). The fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar market. Some big companies came out a while ago with a creative that was claimed t do something great. After research, it came to the public the technology for that product came to be available some years after and that brand was sued. My point is, in this hobby, we can't, just like fitness, prove something is indeed there or will lead to what is stated. It could be all snake oil, like many play around but it's true... Dr Tim says this, then Cris Brightwell that, and at the end it could be all bottles filled with nothing...we pay lots of $ and get played like clowns?

 

[RavePartyReef]

Sorry, the product I mentioned by the fitness company is creatine. This **** ipad changes it all around all the time

 

[Dowtish]

I love the series of videos on youtube. And I really like their new test kits. Very well thought out. I currently am using the reef energy product. But I dont dose it near as much as suggested. My tank is not capable of digesting that many vitamins and aminos without my phosphates building up. I think once all of my SPS colonies grow out, that will change.

 

[mayday610]

unfortunately, unless we are the ones personally creating these products we just have to play the game. And its true we will never know exactly whats in what unless we are qualified to test products ourselves... and i don't know about you, but if i'm that qualified and knowledgeable, i'd be creating my own additives! I think just the factor of consistency is a big problem with products. I make sure to test my salt with every bucket i get. Multiple times i have seen different numbers in different batches of salt all coming from the same company. I have even had a bad batch and thus the reason i test now. Do i turn away from my salt supplier because of this?? No, because over all they have a good product and for the most part i'm as satisfied as i'm going to be. Those who have the money to play around with different products in different tanks can come to their own conclusions. Those who don't have the cash to spend can only hope they are making a good decision based off others opinions sadly... I haven't quite woke up yet so i hope im making cense. And i do full get your points Rave, just venting off some of my own thinkings

 

[RavePartyReef]

I love the series of videos on youtube. And I really like their new test kits. Very well thought out. I currently am using the reef energy product. But I dont dose it near as much as suggested. My tank is not capable of digesting that many vitamins and aminos without my phosphates building up. I think once all of my SPS colonies grow out, that will change.

Nice! I was curious about the energy product too. I was intrigued when he stated lots of the foods commonly fed to sps cannot be digested....I think he mentioned roitifers, and since they are freshwater, not so great of a choice. Interestingly that got me skeptic about lots of stuff. Seachem In Vitro line has a best selling product named "Fuel". All minerals listed are present I. chrorella which is a fresh water algae. It claims it helps corals regain color and grow. But again, from the video I heard him say some algae are not digested by sps? So putting chrorella in my tank will help after all?

 

[RavePartyReef]

unfortunately, unless we are the ones personally creating these products we just have to play the game. And its true we will never know exactly whats in what unless we are qualified to test products ourselves... and i don't know about you, but if i'm that qualified and knowledgeable, i'd be creating my own additives! I think just the factor of consistency is a big problem with products. I make sure to test my salt with every bucket i get. Multiple times i have seen different numbers in different batches of salt all coming from the same company. I have even had a bad batch and thus the reason i test now. Do i turn away from my salt supplier because of this?? No, because over all they have a good product and for the most part i'm as satisfied as i'm going to be. Those who have the money to play around with different products in different tanks can come to their own conclusions. Those who don't have the cash to spend can only hope they are making a good decision based off others opinions sadly... I haven't quite woke up yet so i hope im making cense. And i do full get your points Rave, just venting off some of my own thinkings

You are making sense! No worries. Jillian Sprung(sorry if misspelled) from two little fishes started coming with new products, and now has a full blown line of supplements...the thing is if you read the bottles, they are copies of the usual Kent's, brightwell's... In other words, it all goes back to nowhere. I buy lots of reef magazines as I am nuts with the hobby(you should be able to tell by now) and am starting to doubt the proof of these articles written by guys with product lines. Dr Tim used to be a good source, with knowledge and I would give him credit. Now what he writes veers towards what he sells, but is that right? Most guys we read articles about change the "facts" all the time, but who the hell do we believe these days?

 

[mayday610]

You can believe me and buy from me! I've got an impressive mystery suppliment that i package in used soda bottles with a magic marker written label! I'm thinking about putting it on the markget for 20 bucks a bottle, want to be my first sucker? lol Guaranteed to make a noticable change in your corals and fish! ( Not saying its a good change) but i'll keep that in the fine print!

 

[J-Dog]

I'm going to try the color program and see if it works for me. Hopefully it does and I'm not just throwing money away. I will keep everyone updated and might even post before/after pics.

 

[mayday610]

That would be awesome J-dog!

I think also some things that give products a bad rep is the user not understanding what the product is doing to the water chemistry. Adding certain elements have effects on certain other elements as well. I think if the person doesn't take into consideration these changes and compensate with the correct other additives, the use of a certain product can give it a bad rep. Our water can only hold X amount of elements so adding A and B can effect the amount of C, D, or E... I think if a person figures out what changes are happening and why, they can make many of the products out there work for them. It just takes work on the tank owners part, and not just following the "general directions" on the product label and assuming everything is going to be ok.

 

[RavePartyReef]

I'm going to try the color program and see if it works for me. Hopefully it does and I'm not just throwing money away. I will keep everyone updated and might even post before/after pics.

Sounds great. After watching the videos, I find their products to be pretty freaking impressive. The dosing also seems to be simplified, meaning you will have clarity on how much you need to add to achieve x of y. I tested for iron(Fe) and my results came zero. I have a green slimer and a mystery acro that came to my tank with a light lime green. Iron supplementation is something that some people are doing with some results. Greens get greener since iron helps with photosynthesis. Call me nuts and gullible but im almost sure my green slimer picked up some green.... But forget my comment for now, and lets wait until I have proof with pics.