Tanks based on Aquaforest Products:

[bowen1022]

Nitrate has now dropped to around .2ppm. Fed heavily for the last two days and it seemed to decrease?? Im going to test phosphates when I get done with my final today and might retest nitrate. I havent dosed Pro Bio S in two days and havent carbon dosed in 5. Since I only have one fish, Im thinking I am going to have to pick up some Seachem flourish nitrogen or stump remover to get these up. I have also noticed that I dont have excellent growth. Could this be because nitrates are so low or is it more of an ALK and Calcium thing? Sorry for all the questions guys I have just recently begun to dig deeper into reef chemistry rather than just the basic Ca, Alk and Mg

 

[Acronuts]

I would set all 3 of them to what you have your comp 2 at. Ifnits 5 ml then 5 ml. Make sure you test daily for alk, to ensure its dropping. Once its below 8 then start increasing slowly, making sure you always have it below 8 in NSW range. Specially if your running probiotic method, you tank will be ULNS in no time.

As of yesterday's testing Alk is finally steady at 8.4 for the last 3 days. Should I continue to try to get it down further to 7?

On another note what temperature is a good one to have while dosing AF products? I currently run with a chiller at 77 degrees. Is this too high or too low?

 

[jsker]

As of yesterday's testing Alk is finally steady at 8.4 for the last 3 days. Should I continue to try to get it down further to 7?

On another note what temperature is a good one to have while dosing AF products? I currently run with a chiller at 77 degrees. Is this too high or too low?

I have found the between 7.8 and 8.5 is a good range for alk. I try to keep mine at 8.2 or about there.

I run my system at 78.3 to 78.4 and there is really no specific temperature to dose at.

 

[The Coral Guy]

Pretty nice looking tanks. I've been using the salt, but have been mixing it with another salt that carries a higher alk. I'm thinking on going straight aquaforest for my next batch to see the results.

 

[jsker]

Pretty nice looking tanks. I've been using the salt, but have been mixing it with another salt that carries a higher alk. I'm thinking on going straight aquaforest for my next batch to see the results.

also add the 1+2+3+ and then you will not have to dose the alk in the salt mix

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

@Aquaforest we need to have more AF users post their reefs here and on the forums!

 

[micorals]

Just finished week one of full AF products, corals and fish look great. I'll be glad to contribute to the thread.

 

[jsker]

Just finished week one of full AF products, corals and fish look great. I'll be glad to contribute to the thread.

Congratulations

 

[120reefkeeper]

I'm tweeking a little bit here! Let me see some Aquaforest tanks! I need my fix!! [emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]

 

[Perry]

Here is a recent video I made Still learning, forgive me for that, lol

 

[Tbabcock]

Stunning video Perry.. can you share some history with us. How old is the tank and how long on aquaforest? My tank is almost a year old and i have been on Aquaforest for 6 of the 12 months. All of my coral are grown from frags so still nothing like the size of your colonies. I see good color but kinda slow growth but that could be because my tank is still young. I am in the process of getting things together to build my new 90 and i plan to start this with nothing but Aquaforest.

 

[120reefkeeper]

Awesome video @Perry ! You did an awesome job ! Looks like you have some very happy corals!

 

[rlman41299]

I would like some input from fellow reefers who have been using AF products for a while now. I have been using AF for about 2 months now and these are what I use. Reef salt, Amino acid, reef build, pro bio S, np pro, energy and vitality oh and also Kalium.
I noticed lately that my sps have been taking more of the color green. Some other colors that I have before like pink have totally vanished, red are fading, my Oregon tort have turned greenish instead of deep purple. Pretty much all sps are taking on the color green. It is a 120g system and I am only dosing 3 drops of each following recommended dosing schedule on AF schedule. Any one care to shed some light? Thanks

 

[cbear44]

Nice Perry!

For those thinking of starting - I'm 6 weeks into a new 180G "mostly" AF start with dead rock and sand. So far so good. Bioload is currently light with 3 fish and 11 frags (2 SPS, 6 LPS and some softies). I did the recommended start with BioS for 14 days while the rock was in the sump.

Filtration is 10L siporax and 4L of Matrix started with BioS and 50# of pukani. Not using NPpro/ProBioS and the Nitrates are 0.2 and phosphates undetectable for past 3 weeks. Running BRS GFO and Carbon. Skimming dry with Reef Octopus 200. Again I started with very well cured rock with phosphates removed with Lanthanum before it ever went in the tank which I think helped.

Using Instant Ocean Salt (280G total volume). ALK started at 8.5 and dropped over week 3-4. Started dosing 1+2+3+ and am still dialing in. At about 15mL once daily now and holding at 8.1 dKH. GHL Doser 2.1 is the bomb!

Corals were happy but not great growth. Started ABEV about a week and a half ago and growth is very apparent. Feeding tentacles all out at night and I'm feeding.

Had a diatom bloom that went away week 5. Starting to mix in probiotic reef salt with water changes.
Next additions are a 2nd sea swirl for better flow coverage and a profilux 4 aquarium controller that I'm really excited about. And of course more corals and fish (have 3 in QT)

Questions for those with experience:
1) Is there a reason to start NP-Pro/ProBioS at this point? I'm not trying to chase numbers to get the nitrate further down. I guess the question is if it will help coral growth? I hear a range of "issues" with NP-Pro/ProBioS from time to time. NoPOX curious.
2) For ABEV - is there a method to the dosing schedule? I'm dosing build (B) daily per their instructions and doing BA - BEV alternating. I might switch to a BE - AV alternating schedule. Is that what most people do?
3) What is the thought on AF Power Food? I'm going to give it a try - currently using Reef Chili.

 

[120reefkeeper]

I would like some input from fellow reefers who have been using AF products for a while now. I have been using AF for about 2 months now and these are what I use. Reef salt, Amino acid, reef build, pro bio S, np pro, energy and vitality oh and also Kalium.
I noticed lately that my sps have been taking more of the color green. Some other colors that I have before like pink have totally vanished, red are fading, my Oregon tort have turned greenish instead of deep purple. Pretty much all sps are taking on the color green. It is a 120g system and I am only dosing 3 drops of each following recommended dosing schedule on AF schedule. Any one care to shed some light? Thanks

From what I've heard when coral start going green etc it has more to do with lighting than anything else.

 

[120reefkeeper]

Nice Perry!

For those thinking of starting - I'm 6 weeks into a new 180G "mostly" AF start with dead rock and sand. So far so good. Bioload is currently light with 3 fish and 11 frags (2 SPS, 6 LPS and some softies). I did the recommended start with BioS for 14 days while the rock was in the sump.

Filtration is 10L siporax and 4L of Matrix started with BioS and 50# of pukani. Not using NPpro/ProBioS and the Nitrates are 0.2 and phosphates undetectable for past 3 weeks. Running BRS GFO and Carbon. Skimming dry with Reef Octopus 200. Again I started with very well cured rock with phosphates removed with Lanthanum before it ever went in the tank which I think helped.

Using Instant Ocean Salt (280G total volume). ALK started at 8.5 and dropped over week 3-4. Started dosing 1+2+3+ and am still dialing in. At about 15mL once daily now and holding at 8.1 dKH. GHL Doser 2.1 is the bomb!

Corals were happy but not great growth. Started ABEV about a week and a half ago and growth is very apparent. Feeding tentacles all out at night and I'm feeding.

Had a diatom bloom that went away week 5. Starting to mix in probiotic reef salt with water changes.
Next additions are a 2nd sea swirl for better flow coverage and a profilux 4 aquarium controller that I'm really excited about. And of course more corals and fish (have 3 in QT)

Questions for those with experience:
1) Is there a reason to start NP-Pro/ProBioS at this point? I'm not trying to chase numbers to get the nitrate further down. I guess the question is if it will help coral growth? I hear a range of "issues" with NP-Pro/ProBioS from time to time. NoPOX curious.
2) For ABEV - is there a method to the dosing schedule? I'm dosing build (B) daily per their instructions and doing BA - BEV alternating. I might switch to a BE - AV alternating schedule. Is that what most people do?
3) What is the thought on AF Power Food? I'm going to give it a try - currently using Reef Chili.

The pro bio s and np pro are a
Highly-concentrated solution for natural phosphate & nitrate removal.
Probiotic bacteria transforms phosphate and nitrates to a biomass
They also Significantly reduce organic sediment accumulating in the substrate.

I dose the build and energy daily and the amino mix and vitality every other day. So one day I dose 2 of them (B,E) the next day I dose (ABVE) . Daily dosing of the pro bio s and np pro.

The AF power food is excellent! I use it daily! Great stuff!

 

[rlman41299]

From what I've heard when coral start going green etc it has more to do with lighting than anything else.

lighting remained the same. Ecotech radion gen 3 pros with t5 supplement. Same schedule ever since even before the switch. All started after switching to AF products

 

[fragit]

Parameters today
Temp 79
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.2
Nitrate 0.6
Phosphate 0.037
Alk 7.1
Calc 430
Mag 1320

Been dosing 1 drop PRObio and NP Pro in the morning. And 4 drops build, energy, vitality and aminos every other night as directed. Feeding a little less as I'm back to work. Not much macro in the fuge which I think is why my nitrates are finally starting to show. Also dosing less bacteria is helping. No other changes to the system. Waiting until after Christmas to add any more livestock.

 

[120reefkeeper]

lighting remained the same. Ecotech radion gen 3 pros with t5 supplement. Same schedule ever since even before the switch. All started after switching to AF products

Sorry I couldn't be of more help on this. That's all I've got. Maybe someone else has had issues?? I haven't heard of anyone having this problem specifically with AF products.

 

[Perry]

Not sure why corals morphing to green, maybe post some pics of the corals and the tank setup. Also, maybe with your lighting, perhaps if you up the white a bit you may see a change. I understand same lighting and nothing has changed, but maybe it would not hurt. I recently played around with bulbs and as soon as I blued things up and removed ABS bulbs, I have already seen color shifts. It couldn't hurt to try, but with led, go slow