Transition from Triton Other Methods to Aquaforest

[Peter K]

Hi all,

So I am properly sick of not being able to purchase Triton additives because they are always out of stock and having two sets of milk jugs leak in the boxes when I receive them is not making me very loyal at this point. I currently do not follow the "triton" method but us their other methods for ca/alk/mg and trace elements. My tank is mixed but is probably 50% sps, do you think there would be a large shock from switching from triton additives to aquaforest additives flat out or should I transition over a period of a week or so? Thanks in advanced!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi all,

So I am properly sick of not being able to purchase Triton additives because they are always out of stock and having two sets of milk jugs leak in the boxes when I receive them is not making me very loyal at this point. I currently do not follow the "triton" method but us their other methods for ca/alk/mg and trace elements. My tank is mixed but is probably 50% sps, do you think there would be a large shock from switching from triton additives to aquaforest additives flat out or should I transition over a period of a week or so? Thanks in advanced!

If you alter the dose as needed to maintain alk, I would not expect any shock at all.

 

[Peter K]

Awesome that's what I was hoping, that would be the only thing I would be changing; my filtration and carbon dosing etc. would all remain the same. I'm happy with vinegar dosing (courtesy of your posts/articles), water changes, and my refugium so I wouldn't be doing the probiotic method of AF. Thanks Randy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Good luck and let us know how the transition goes.

 

[FishEd]

Hi all,

So I am properly sick of not being able to purchase Triton additives because they are always out of stock and having two sets of milk jugs leak in the boxes when I receive them is not making me very loyal at this point. I currently do not follow the "triton" method but us their other methods for ca/alk/mg and trace elements. My tank is mixed but is probably 50% sps, do you think there would be a large shock from switching from triton additives to aquaforest additives flat out or should I transition over a period of a week or so? Thanks in advanced!

I am about to do the same, have not had a good experience with full triton. How did the transition work out for you? How much triton were you dosing daily, and what is your AF dose? Im assuming your using components 1,2,3+? I appreciate any feedback, thanks...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am about to do the same, have not had a good experience with full triton. How did the transition work out for you? How much triton were you dosing daily, and what is your AF dose? Im assuming your using components 1,2,3+? I appreciate any feedback, thanks...

What issues did you observe?

 

[FishEd]

I am having problems with my macro algae. It keeps going thru a cycle of growing and dying off causing no3 and po4 issues. Also I believe the added elements for the macro are building up, when macro dies off, and it's causing added problems, High levels of iron and zinc. Lost alot of corals from stn, sps amd lps. Was thinking of either switching to triton other methods or AF. AF seems to be more readily available.

 

[Peter K]

The transition was extremely smooth, if anything I started seeing better colors under AQ in about a month then I ever ever saw with triton. I was not on the full triton method, however, but I do dose vinegar and have both a refugium and chaeto reactor for nutrient export.

I started off at about 3/4 of Aquaforest recommended dosage and am now up to their full dosage recommendation. It only took about 1 week to have the dosage dialed in completely. I have found aquaforest to be about 1230512340x easier to make fine adjustments too because of the exponentially larger amount you are dosing compared to triton (I don't have a fancy dosing pump that can do parts of a ML). My alk has sat at 9 for about 4 months and has not budged since I locked stuff in, on triton I could not find the magic number and my alk was jumping .2-.3 every few days no matter what I did. I also have had no issues with mg or ca depleting / raising faster than alk and I dose all 3 components the exact same. My ICP tests have all come back in the green since being on aquaforest, I do supplement potassium separately.

Quick thing I have noticed; for part 1 /3 there will be some brown residue that will settle at the bottom of your container. I have found no issue with it but usually clean it out once a month or so, so don't be alarmed if that happens to you.

 

[FishEd]

What issues did you observe?

My macro algae keeps going thru a cycle of growing and dying. A few months back I trimmed a little too much, I guess, and everything went crazy. No3 went from 0 to 25 and po4 from .01 to 3. Iron and zinc also went thru the roof according to icp test. Lost a bunch of sps frags within a couple weeks and lps looked bad. Now I can't get nitrates below 10 and po4 below 1.5. All corals that were holding on are starting to fade. I was thinking to switch to either triton other methods and dose no3 po4 reducer, or to AF that seems to be more readily available.

 

[FishEd]

The transition was extremely smooth, if anything I started seeing better colors under AQ in about a month then I ever ever saw with triton. I was not on the full triton method, however, but I do dose vinegar and have both a refugium and chaeto reactor for nutrient export.

I started off at about 3/4 of Aquaforest recommended dosage and am now up to their full dosage recommendation. It only took about 1 week to have the dosage dialed in completely. I have found aquaforest to be about 1230512340x easier to make fine adjustments too because of the exponentially larger amount you are dosing compared to triton (I don't have a fancy dosing pump that can do parts of a ML). My alk has sat at 9 for about 4 months and has not budged since I locked stuff in, on triton I could not find the magic number and my alk was jumping .2-.3 every few days no matter what I did. I also have had no issues with mg or ca depleting / raising faster than alk and I dose all 3 components the exact same. My ICP tests have all come back in the green since being on aquaforest, I do supplement potassium separately.

Quick thing I have noticed; for part 1 /3 there will be some brown residue that will settle at the bottom of your container. I have found no issue with it but usually clean it out once a month or so, so don't be alarmed if that happens to you.

Awesome, thanks for the feed back. I just started dosing the -np pro and pro bioS to get my no3 and po4 down. After that is stable, i am going to make the switch.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am having problems with my macro algae. It keeps going thru a cycle of growing and dying off causing no3 and po4 issues. Also I believe the added elements for the macro are building up, when macro dies off, and it's causing added problems, High levels of iron and zinc. Lost alot of corals from stn, sps amd lps. Was thinking of either switching to triton other methods or AF. AF seems to be more readily available.

Have you measured high iron and zinc, or is this a guess? Are you dosing a lot of it?

 

[FishEd]

Have you measured high iron and zinc, or is this a guess? Are you dosing a lot of it?

High iron and zinc according to icp test. Have not dosed anything other than Triton. Before Triton was using kalk and auto water changes and tank was doing great. I couldn't leave well enough alone.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

High iron and zinc according to icp test. Have not dosed anything other than Triton. Before Triton was using kalk and auto water changes and tank was doing great. I couldn't leave well enough alone.

When you say dosing triton, did that include iron and zinc supplements from them?

How high was the iron and zinc?

I wouldn't assume it is from dying macroalgae. If the values are too high, I'd look for a possible metal part, such as a screw dropped in the sump, etc.

 

[FishEd]

Sorry, only dosed core 7, no supplements. Iron was at 6.695 ug/l zinc was 25 ug/l. I went thru the sand with a magnet, pulled everything out of the sump, and check all the equipment. Couldn't find anything rusting. I forgot to add that when phospates rose and corals started dying off my alk hit 9.1, so basically i was over dosing c7 elements. From what I've researched online extra iron is added to c7 to help promote algae growth. I assume other elements are added aswell, just not sure what they are.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry, only dosed core 7, no supplements. Iron was at 6.695 ug/l zinc was 25 ug/l. I went thru the sand with a magnet, pulled everything out of the sump, and check all the equipment. Couldn't find anything rusting. I forgot to add that when phospates rose and corals started dying off my alk hit 9.1, so basically i was over dosing c7 elements. From what I've researched online extra iron is added to c7 to help promote algae growth. I assume other elements are added aswell, just not sure what they are.

That level of iron (7 ug/L) is no concern. Red Sea actually recommends 150 ug/L as an optimal level.. I don't see any reason to keep it that high, or for you to raise it, but it is not so high it is hurting anything. I usually dosed to about 1-2 ug/L and then let it fall till the next dose a week or so later.

I do not know if the zinc is a concern or not. It is elevated, but perhaps not high enough to be any issue.