Tanks based on Aquaforest Products:

[bowen1022]

As @fragit stated a couple of post previous the Pro bio S should be refrigerated. @Perry and others I would like your input

I little back ground. We had a previous conversation and I understood that I would keep my Pro Bio S at 78 degrees and below i would be fine not refrigerating it. So I has the wild idea to dilute the Pro bio S and try to auto dose it in to my system. I also have a nano power head stirring the mixture. Since doing this I have had a tank crash and lost a few corals. This is my fault for try something new

Here is my questions
What effect does the Pro bio S have when overdosed? I always have to watch my phosphates and nitrates since I feed heavy.
What effect does the Pro bio S have if the bacteria is not stored in the refrigerator?

Another question
I also diluted the NP Pro fro the reason the supplier did not have a 2000ml dosing size of the NP Pro so I diluted the 50ml Np Pro with 2000 ml of ro/di.

I also run a small amount of bio pellets.

Have at it

edit: I am also dealing with mad red cayno again

Jsker!
Sorrry to hear about the tank crash:/ but at least you know what happened and know not to do it again.

As for diluting the solution, I had thought about it as well but I always think that the products were not intended to be used that way so I just don't. I wish someone would chime in about that it would be great!

I don't remember if the AF guide says if bio pellets are ok to use with the probiotic method or not. I would assume not especially if you're using zeo as well. That could have driven your nutrients down fast with the auto dosing.

As for the cyano I struggled with it for a while so I stopped dosing everything except Bio S and stirred up the sand bed everyday. I have since started dosing everything again but NP Pro (I think this is the source) and have been clean ever since. A lot of people think that the Aminos are what caused cyano but I'm dosing them and don't see any at all. I hope to be able to dose NP Pro again but I don't want to see the cyano come back..

I don't know if any of this helped but I'm just sharing my experiences. Good luck!

 

[jsker]

Jsker!
Sorrry to hear about the tank crash:/ but at least you know what happened and know not to do it again.

As for diluting the solution, I had thought about it as well but I always think that the products were not intended to be used that way so I just don't. I wish someone would chime in about that it would be great!

I don't remember if the AF guide says if bio pellets are ok to use with the probiotic method or not. I would assume not especially if you're using zeo as well. That could have driven your nutrients down fast with the auto dosing.

As for the cyano I struggled with it for a while so I stopped dosing everything except Bio S and stirred up the sand bed everyday. I have since started dosing everything again but NP Pro (I think this is the source) and have been clean ever since. A lot of people think that the Aminos are what caused cyano but I'm dosing them and don't see any at all. I hope to be able to dose NP Pro again but I don't want to see the cyano come back..

I don't know if any of this helped but I'm just sharing my experiences. Good luck!

Very helpful post. I kind of want to throw my experiment out for comment and if some other crazy person decided to do this they can read my experimental results so far.
I am just running the reef salt and I am very happy over all with the result of Aquaforest line. What I will do is get the corals healthy again with AF.

 

[fragit]

I need some help here. My tank as I noted before is young3-4 months. I have 6 SPS and 1 LPS frag, 3 fish snails and a hermit. I had been dosing BRS 2 part and keeping alk and calc steady at 8dkh and 400 respectively. Dosing 3 drops NP Pro and ProBioS in my total 160 gallon system. Did one water change with probiotic salt in the life of the tank. Last weekend I got my order in for the full line up. I did a 10% WC with pro bio salt, started the 3 component and began dosing build and energy and aminos and vitality every other night as directed. Changed my media reactor with new zeolites, carbon, and phosphate minus. It took a little bit getting the components dialed in but things are now stable. I'm adding 160ml daily of all which is keeping my alk at 7.8dkh, calc at 440, and mag at about 1300. That seems like an awful lot to me for an essentially empty tank. I started the line up last week. Since then all my SPS have shown polyp retraction and some fading color. My birds nest is really angry. One of my Acros I can't tell if it's bleaching changing colors or starting to have some tissue loss. But before I started last week it looked awesome. Had great polyp extension and really nice color, now it's the total opposite. I thought maybe my nitrates were high. I stopped with the supplements and just dosed NP and PRObio. Checked Nitrate today with a Sera( I know not the best but what I could get today) and it showed zero. I have a Hana phosphate checker and Red Sea nitrate kit coming next week. Another strange thing is that where as all my SPS seem not to happy my Hammer is doing great. Any suggestions on what to do from here?

 

[120reefkeeper]

Well like you said your tank is young. Probably not the best thing to have SPS in so early IMHO, but that's beside the point. [emoji4]

Essentially the components 1,2,3 are not for raising Alk,cal or mag but to maintain them.

Question if you were to stop dosing the component +2 (alkalinity)what would your alkalinity fall in a day??

Your most likely seeing fading color due to a nutrient deficiency. With zero nitrate you'll need to feed heavier.

What's your phosphate at? If you have an imbalance between the two then this could be your issue.

Do you see any signs of cyano bacteria?

 

[120reefkeeper]

Jsker!
Sorrry to hear about the tank crash:/ but at least you know what happened and know not to do it again.

As for diluting the solution, I had thought about it as well but I always think that the products were not intended to be used that way so I just don't. I wish someone would chime in about that it would be great!

I don't remember if the AF guide says if bio pellets are ok to use with the probiotic method or not. I would assume not especially if you're using zeo as well. That could have driven your nutrients down fast with the auto dosing.

As for the cyano I struggled with it for a while so I stopped dosing everything except Bio S and stirred up the sand bed everyday. I have since started dosing everything again but NP Pro (I think this is the source) and have been clean ever since. A lot of people think that the Aminos are what caused cyano but I'm dosing them and don't see any at all. I hope to be able to dose NP Pro again but I don't want to see the cyano come back..

I don't know if any of this helped but I'm just sharing my experiences. Good luck!

I had some cyano for a bit.... I just dialed back on the np pro and bios. I'm supposed to use 4 drops but I went to 3 drops and it disappeared.

 

[jsker]

I am agreeing with @120reefkeeper I am thinking you nutrients are too low. The ideal phosphates are a trace to .02 and nitrates from 3 to 5. This is one reason I am running the reef salt, is that I did not want to run a ultra low nutrient system.
My thoughts would be cut the NP Pro down and same as Pro Bio S

 

[fragit]

Well like you said your tank is young. Probably not the best thing to have SPS in so early IMHO, but that's beside the point. [emoji4]

Essentially the components 1,2,3 are not for raising Alk,cal or mag but to maintain them.

Question if you were to stop dosing the component +2 (alkalinity)what would your alkalinity fall in a day??

Your most likely seeing fading color due to a nutrient deficiency. With zero nitrate you'll need to feed heavier.

What's your phosphate at? If you have an imbalance between the two then this could be your issue.

Do you see any signs of cyano bacteria?

Thanks for the response @120reefkeeper, I'm not sure what my alk would fall to. I will do an experiment to find out. Just to be clear I'm not trying to raise it just keep it stable. I dosed 80mL this morning and tested an hour later it was 7.8dkh. I checked it about an hour ago and it was like 7.6dkh. I will start feeding heavier as suggested, I actually have already. What about increasing my dosing of build, energy, vitality, and aminos? Will that help to increase nutrients? I don't know where my phosphates are, my Hanna checker will be here sometime next week. I have no cyano. I need to clean the glass every 3-4 days.

 

[fragit]

I am agreeing with @120reefkeeper I am thinking you nutrients are too low. The ideal phosphates are a trace to .02 and nitrates from 3 to 5. This is one reason I am running the reef salt, is that I did not want to run a ultra low nutrient system.
My thoughts would be cut the NP Pro down and same as Pro Bio S

I thought that the priobiotic salt allowed for heavy feeding and additions of the aminos, vitality, build and energy supplements. I will cut down on dosing the NP pro and pro bio to see what happens over the next couple days. I realize that Sera test kits are not the best. But it was convincingly zero nitrates. Would using the probiotic salt and supplements really drop my nutrients that quickly?

 

[120reefkeeper]

Thanks for the response @120reefkeeper, I'm not sure what my alk would fall to. I will do an experiment to find out. Just to be clear I'm not trying to raise it just keep it stable. I dosed 80mL this morning and tested an hour later it was 7.8dkh. I checked it about an hour ago and it was like 7.6dkh. I will start feeding heavier as suggested, I actually have already. What about increasing my dosing of build, energy, vitality, and aminos? Will that help to increase nutrients? I don't know where my phosphates are, my Hanna checker will be here sometime next week. I have no cyano. I need to clean the glass every 3-4 days.

You know every tank is different. I do a lot by observation. I know this doesn't help you lol but it's like a cook trying to explain his lack of following a recipe to the letter.

With my tank I'm supposed to use 4 drops of np pro and bio s.... I use 3

With the energy I use 3 not 4
With build I use all 4
With vitality and amino mix I use 2 every other day not 4
I feed heavy on the coral food and fish food.
If my colors start to fade I either feed more or I cut back for a day on the np/ bio to maybe 2 drops that day...
It's really kinda touch and go for me.

I've had a lot of success with Aquaforest products and some absolutely sick growth!

Patience and persistence.... meticulous testing and you will get in tune to the heartbeat of your tank . [emoji4]

My build thread

The 120 has been Re-Fired!!!
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/The-120-has-been-Re-Fired!!!.233775/

 

[120reefkeeper]

I thought that the priobiotic salt allowed for heavy feeding and additions of the aminos, vitality, build and energy supplements. I will cut down on dosing the NP pro and pro bio to see what happens over the next couple days. I realize that Sera test kits are not the best. But it was convincingly zero nitrates. Would using the probiotic salt and supplements really drop my nutrients that quickly?

Short answer.... YES! Lol

I went to 0-0 in 2 weeks I'm now UNLS riding the line or as I call it riding the lighting [emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji298]️[emoji95][emoji298]️[emoji95][emoji95][emoji298]️[emoji95]

 

[fragit]

You know every tank is different. I do a lot by observation. I know this doesn't help you lol but it's like a cook trying to explain his lack of following a recipe to the letter.

With my tank I'm supposed to use 4 drops of np pro and bio s.... I use 3

With the energy I use 3 not 4
With build I use all 4
With vitality and amino mix I use 2 every other day not 4
I feed heavy on the coral food and fish food.
If my colors start to fade I either feed more or I cut back for a day on the np/ bio to maybe 2 drops that day...
It's really kinda touch and go for me.

I've had a lot of success with Aquaforest products and some absolutely sick growth!

Patience and persistence.... meticulous testing and you will get in tune to the heartbeat of your tank . [emoji4]

My build thread

The 120 has been Re-Fired!!!
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/The-120-has-been-Re-Fired!!!.233775/

I will read your thread in its entirety this weekend. Thanks for the tips! If you were in my shoes would you keep dosing aminos etc?

My build thread

120 peninsula build

 

[120reefkeeper]

Yes I would i think I would dose half the amino mix and half the vitality. Keep the build at full amount and drop back on the np pro and bio s 1 drop. Do that for a couple of days and feed heavy. Get that phos checker lol! Oh and a good nitrate test kit. [emoji4] I'd suggest salifert for nitrate and the Hanna ULR phos checker . If you can swing it get the Hanna Alk checker also. I think brs has them on super sale right now.

Let us know how it's going [emoji4]

 

[jsker]

I thought that the priobiotic salt allowed for heavy feeding and additions of the aminos, vitality, build and energy supplements. I will cut down on dosing the NP pro and pro bio to see what happens over the next couple days. I realize that Sera test kits are not the best. But it was convincingly zero nitrates. Would using the probiotic salt and supplements really drop my nutrients that quickly?

Short answer.... YES! Lol

I went to 0-0 in 2 weeks I'm now UNLS riding the line or as I call it riding the lighting [emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji298]️[emoji95][emoji298]️[emoji95][emoji95][emoji298]️[emoji95]

I will read your thread in its entirety this weekend. Thanks for the tips! If you were in my shoes would you keep dosing aminos etc?

My build thread

120 peninsula build

I like running higher nutrients, and running great until a started messing with mother nature too much. @120reefkeeper hit it, if you want to run lower, run the probiotic and if you want to run higher, run the reef salt

 

[fragit]

I like running higher nutrients, and running great until a started messing with mother nature too much. @120reefkeeper keep hit it, if you want to run lower, run the probiotic and if you want to run higher, run the reef salt

Well I have a giant bucket of the probiotic so I'm kinda stuck with that for a long while. Besides feeding and not dosing PB/NP what can I do to increase nutrients?

 

[120reefkeeper]

I like running higher nutrients, and running great until a started messing with mother nature too much. @120reefkeeper keep hit it, if you want to run lower, run the probiotic and if you want to run higher, run the reef salt

Exactly.... just like @jsker said . You want to run UNLS like me then full probiotic method.

Higher nutrients reef salt.

My suggestion.... come on and ride the lightning if you dare!!!! Rofl!! [emoji298]️[emoji298]️[emoji12][emoji298]️

But you do realize I'm crazy right!!?? [emoji12][emoji298]️[emoji12][emoji298]️[emoji12]

 

[120reefkeeper]

I would still dose the np pro and bio s .... just reduce the amount just a touch . [emoji12][emoji12]

 

[jsker]

Well I have a giant bucket of the probiotic so I'm kinda stuck with that for a long while. Besides feeding and not dosing PB/NP what can I do to increase nutrients?

I was and am still toying with the idea that I could run the probiotic instead of reef salt to bring down my high nutrients instead of running the bio pellets and the rest of the products to control my P04 and No3's

 

[fragit]

Yes I would i think I would dose half the amino mix and half the vitality. Keep the build at full amount and drop back on the np pro and bio s 1 drop. Do that for a couple of days and feed heavy. Get that phos checker lol! Oh and a good nitrate test kit. [emoji4] I'd suggest salifert for nitrate and the Hanna ULR phos checker . If you can swing it get the Hanna Alk checker also. I think brs has them on super sale right now.

Let us know how it's going [emoji4]

I Will try it out! I ordered the Hanna ULR, went with red sea for the nitrates and I kinda like the Red Sea alk so I'm gonna stick with that for now. I will keep you folks updated. Gotta go feed the fish again!

 

[jsker]

I Will try it out! I ordered the Hanna ULR, went with red sea for the nitrates and I kinda like the Red Sea alk so I'm gonna stick with that for now. I will keep you folks updated. Gotta go feed the fish again!

Good deal, I am ordering salt this week and thinking of going probiotic for the salt. Once again here I go experimenting

 

[North Borders]

I'm currently using blue bucket Red Sea and dosing 2 part with BRS dosers. Interested in switching to this. Would you just phase it in slowly using the probiotic salt? Like 10% water changes weekly for a while? Would you dose the 1+2+3+ right off the bat or add that in later as the system cycles more and more over to full AF salt water?