Reefer's Moonshine!!!!!!

[Panama Brown]

Just curious who all here is on the Reefer's Moonshine Theory... I have been using it since August of 2020 and have had incredible growth and and colorization like never before! In the beginning I did find myself with elevated Nitrates due to no longer doing water changes. For a while I was riding 80ppm!!! Coral growth and colors were still insane. Over time I got my Nitrates down to .1 and colors have become even more insane! Especially with SPS, more specifically my Acros! Before I was on the R.M.T. I was having a hard time keeping Euphylia as well... Not exactly sure why but some Euphylia would do ok while others would slowly die off. I don't want to say that the method is a cure all for corals but it is pretty insane the difference this has made. I've enclosed a few pictures from my set up. I'm no longer scared to put high end Euphylia or SPS in my tank... If you too are on the method, let me see your tanks! Tell me your story... Thanks guys! Happy Reefing!!! Panama

 

[Saltyreef]

I like it. I just downloaded his manual.

Still trying to figure out the concept though.

Auto dose 2 part but cal and mag have to be special brands and then hand dose a handful of other micro and trace elements daily/weekly that you can get from him directly huh?

 

[Scorpius]

Not saying this method doesn't work, but will it still be around 5,10, or 20 years down the road.
I prefer water changes and heavily feeding my tanks. There will always be salt and food around for my tank.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Same concept but not method, I run two part dosing and Kent marine trace elements weekly dose. I’m about to send out my first ICP test and see where I am lacking or needing less of. I only top off with RODI with kalkwasser

forgot to post tank :

 

[Saltyreef]

Yea im running the brs hybrid balling method now but havent noticed any real change vs the DIY 2 part poisons ive been using for the last year.

 

[Tjm23slo]

I like it. I just downloaded his manual.

Still trying to figure out the concept though.

Auto dose 2 part but cal and mag have to be special brands and then hand dose a handful of other micro and trace elements daily/weekly that you can get from him directly huh?

Salty- the idea is to use what ever you want for big 3 dosing. Alk,Ca, MG. Brightwell is suggested based on purity of element or blend. No additional elements. Carx is fine, br is fine. Homemade fine.

the dailies are to keep a small amount available without over doing it. His level of the others are higher targets than others but assumption once your going well that these will be consumed to others target. Replenish to RM level deplete.

certain elements you will burn through while others you may only dose once or twice a year. The reason there are soooo many elements is that every tank consumes differently. The mixed like RS or Triton assume average consumption, but anyone that has run one of these certain elements can rise over time while others may be more depleted.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I'm going on 1.5 years. I had a "series of unfortunate events" that nearly crashed my tank. I credit Andre and the Reef Moonshiner's program for my turnaround and current success. Highly recommended.

 

[Reefnjunkie]

I did Andres Moonshine for about 8 months. I didnt see the results as some (or advertised) but there are to many variables IMO that will effect overall tank healthiness/growth.

The concept is solid I feel and I do still dose some of the elements combined with water changes- I dont feel (IME) water changes stress corals as his method says- Again IME/E there variables involved to consider to mitigate the stress while doing water changes.

 

[Panama Brown]

I like it. I just downloaded his manual.

Still trying to figure out the concept though.

Auto dose 2 part but cal and mag have to be special brands and then hand dose a handful of other micro and trace elements daily/weekly that you can get from him directly huh?

When I first started I was still dosing Alk/Cal using Oceans Blend. Just recently switched over to Kalkwasser for Alk/Cal management but mainly to raise PH... Andre primarily uses Brightwell for Mag,Cal, Strontium, & one more element that I cant think of off top of my head, however I don't feel it's absoluelty necessary to use Brightwell perse. So long as you're testing and dosing according to your test results all should be well....

I am dosing about 6 specific elements everyday to keep up with the tanks consumption based on the program. Doesn't take but a couple minutes to do each day and make it a part of my daily maintence. I personally have not ran any other types of methods that are very similar to this but I know this theory has done me wonders and really changed the game for me as well as several other friends within the hobbie. To each their own, right? I just don't see myself running another dedicated reef tank without this method.

 

[Panama Brown]

I did Andres Moonshine for about 8 months. I didnt see the results as some (or advertised) but there are to many variables IMO that will effect overall tank healthiness/growth.

The concept is solid I feel and I do still dose some of the elements combined with water changes- I dont feel (IME) water changes stress corals as his method says- Again IME/E there variables involved to consider to mitigate the stress while doing water changes.

There are variables for sure. Biggest for me was my nutrient export, originally, was not ready to handle the no water change theory, but have since found a good balance and have made proper changes to export excess nutrients. I don't completely disagree with your thoughts on the ability to mitigate stress from water changes because you're absolutely right, there are ways. But, for me, I felt like there were just too many variables that can cause things to go south with water changes. To me, the R.M.M. is the lesser of two evils lol.

Maybe I just didn't have a good method for my water changes, but making sure temp, p.h., salinity, etc were perfect all the while trying not to spill water all over the floor & spend the time necessary for everything that goes into water changes was just a big pain in the butt. Call me lazy, but it allows me more time to do other things within the hobbie to keep my tank pristine. IDK... To each their own. I love the theory!! Regardless, Happy reefing!!!

 

[Saltyreef]

It seems similar to the triton method with a slight tweak.....

 

[jake royston]

I’ve been looking into this method myself. Curious if anyone’s running it with an occasional water change. I’m assuming it needs the occasional top off, or water change to combat yellowing of water, build up of detritus/nutrients, as well as maintain salinity levels due to salt creep, skimmer pulling small amounts of saltwater over time, acclimating/dipping corals and fish, etc.

 

[Tjm23slo]

It seems similar to the triton method with a slight tweak.....

Triton has a defined process, tank setup, flow rates, and a defined dosing ratio which suggests many more water changes.

With RM, you chose your desired way to maintain the big 3 dKh, Ca and Mg. The tooling has calculations for corrections based on Brightwell -P elements but no requirement to use them. Next very rarely will you hear do a WC to correct. This doesn’t mean you can’t just suggests that the tank will correct over time and if certain element are rising then maybe you have some discovery to do with your equipment.

each element is individual vs Tritons 4 plus corrections. The theory of Triton is solid. But not all tanks consume at the same ratio. This is a major difference with RM. example my tank consumes a lot of iodine and barium, but very little of any other element. I dose these daily where others may make monthly corrections. I use to run Chaeto as a nutrient export, I’ve switched to bacteria dosing and coral growth. I didn’t pay attention and I had huge under side Chaeto die off and nutrient spike. Cleaned my sump and things got much better with ph. I’m not a person that does a lot of maintenance so the chaeto section became a nutrient trap.