Ulns systems and coral feeding supplmentation

[jzaso]

Who else is feeding -supplementing there ulns systems?
And what product are you using?

I have started a regime using redsea reef nutrition A&B and in the last month
of feeding have noticed improved color, pe, and growth.
Just curious to see if anybody else has seen improvements with supplement/feeding.
BTW I use less than half the recommended dose-I find the green glow a bit unnerving.

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[dbl]

I will follow along as I too just started the Red Sea regimen. Too early to tell anything but am curious of others experiences.

 

[jzaso]

I will follow along as I too just started the Red Sea regimen. Too early to tell anything but am curious of others experiences.

dbl, are you running the full program and at what level (mature-accelerated) and when did you start ? just trying to compare notes and experiences.
I jumped to to the reef nutrition program reason being foundation/nutrient programs were already there -I believe my lack of no3-/p04-made the reef nutrition program a alternative to dumping fertilizer in my tank-well maybe I am dumping fertilizer in!! hopefully a more refined and specific fertilizer!! going to get a triton test done to confirm some # then maybe go to the reef colors program-I like what I see short term hopefully somebody with some long term experiance with any of these or similar programs chimes in-I have noticed a slight drop in alk since I started this- 7.6dkh from rock steady 8.2 may be coincidental or acidification from supplements??? I will post up system/water params and dosages and some pics weekly-

 

[jzaso]

Just thought of something maybe that slight alk drop is due to a increase in coral uptake=growth??

 

[dbl]

Jzaso:

Please understand, this is my maiden voyage into aquaria, and my reef is only about 7 months old. I am far, far, far from knowing what I'm doing! That’s the primary reason I wanted to follow your thread - to get some input from you and others. I have a 120g mixed reef (LPS, SPS, Softies). I didn’t do it intentionally, but I ended up with a ULN system and I’m very happy with it.

As expected, I was beginning to have a hard time keeping the alk, calc, and mag levels high enough. I had a calc reactor I was going to hook up, but decided to go with a dosing system instead. Upon that decision, and after extensive research, I decided to jump on board with the Red Sea Reef Care Program.

I only started a couple of weeks ago and have slowly raised the foundations to where they should be (or at least where I think they should be). Next step for me is to start the energy and color programs. I do not intend to use the algae management at this time because (knock on wood), I have not had any algae issues. I’m using the system based on the accelerated growth protocol.

I’m happy to share dosages/etc. once I get everything going and it will be interesting to compare results with you and others, who will hopefully chime in here as well.

 

[kevensquint]

My system is ULN by design, it just stays that way almost no matter what I do. However, a sterile tank is not necessarily a happy place for SPS. I think the trick is to keep the nutrients low by avoiding accumulation. But, adding plenty via, fish stocking and food. Energy in, energy out, very little hanging around in the water.

 

[Lucifa68]

My system is ULN by design, it just stays that way almost no matter what I do. However, a sterile tank is not necessarily a happy place for SPS. I think the trick is to keep the nutrients low by avoiding accumulation. But, adding plenty via, fish stocking and food. Energy in, energy out, very little hanging around in the water.

hey man, what size is your system???? happy to another canadian reefer

 

[joekool]

I had great success with the rs colors a b c d program. It brought back some nice colors. I no longer us it but it worked well. More fish really helped out my system. It's amazing what more fish poo will do for your corals.

 

[lionfish5740]

Lately I've been adding sodium nitrate to raise my undetectable levels of NO3. Since I've pulled it up to 2-3ppm my corals are looking better and growing faster.

When my NO3 was undetectable I was dosing RS Reef Energy 3-4 times per week and it kept my corals from bleaching but the growth was noticeably slower than it is now. I still use it 1-2 times per week shortly before adding coral food to the tank just because I still have some. Think I'll hold off on buying more right away to see if there is any difference when I run out.

I keep my levels pretty constant. My parameters are
Temp 75.4
pH 8.14
Cond 35.1
Calcium 445
Alk 8.2
Mag 1345
Nitrate ~2-3
Phos 0.04

 

[jzaso]

Well it has been a very busy couple of weeks-need to post up some results!!
Interesting that since I have started this I now have detectable no3/po4 levels and growth and color have hit overdrive!
A bit about this system ulns by design 90g sps dsb dt 20g- socked sump sc 302 skimmer phos reactor(phosguard media) led lighting
very light bio-load (5 fish) -part of the problem I know- but after a few decades of fighting the results of high nutrients I prefer to deal with the results of low nutrients IMO easier to adjust levels up than down. I maybe in effect just "over feeding" with these supplements but I think this maybe a more controllable method of nutirent addition. systems houses large acro/stylo/poc/sertipora colonys as well as 1/2 dozen or so frags fresh cut added a the start of this program just to monitor growth between the established colonys and the frags-heres some params from 01/18/15
Temp 80.8F
Mg 1390/1370
Alk 8.2/8.4
Ca 410/415
Sg 1.0263
N03 2/3
p04 .03/.02
redsea test kits/"hanna egg"/saifert
Present dosages 4ml ea. A&B daily
going to continue regime and watch n03/p04 closely for excessive rise
Will be starting reef colors 01/26 pending test results
Going to run reef energy for two more weeks then post some before and after pictures

 

[hart24601]

I dose acropower, add nitrates, feed rod's food to the fish along with 4x per day autofeed with neptune's CD pellets, feed the corals almost every night with a mixture of oysterfest, baby brine, docs egg brew, golden pearls, small reef frenzy and spot feed the LPS once or twice a week with large reef frenzy.

 

[jzaso]

I dose acropower, add nitrates, feed rod's food to the fish along with 4x per day autofeed with neptune's CD pellets, feed the corals almost every night with a mixture of oysterfest, baby brine, docs egg brew, golden pearls, small reef frenzy and spot feed the LPS once or twice a week with large reef frenzy.

Whoa -I,m def under feeding-what would you consider a good coral food to compliment that reef nutrition A&B ? acropower?? see if you had dsb in there probably would,nt have to dump all that stuff in there...bahhahaha...just kidding just kidding!! you have some beautiful corals!! and a jam up system!! when you add "nitrates"what are you using?? I need to get current with the newer supplmentation/export systems

 

[hart24601]

Whoa -I,m def under feeding-what would you consider a good coral food to compliment that reef nutrition A&B ? acropower?? see if you had dsb in there probably would,nt have to dump all that stuff in there...bahhahaha...just kidding just kidding!! you have some beautiful corals!! and a jam up system!! when you add "nitrates"what are you using?? I need to get current with the newer supplmentation/export systems

Reef nutrition A/B is an amino acid product so acropower wouldn't be the best. Oyster eggs or baby brine shrimp would be the best for SPS. Either DT's (my fav) or oysterfest. The size, 50 micron, is good for many types of SPS. It's all about the particle size. With a mixed reef that is why I feed a small amount of a big variety of different foods, most of them have slightly different particle sizes down to 1 micron for the smallest golden pearls- of course don't feed more than your export system can handle!

I only dose nitrates when I notice the coral getting really pale and after I test to confirm nitrates are undetectable. I use calcium nitrate.

 

[jzaso]

I have heard good things about DTs glad you confirmed that pretty sure I need upgrade my feeding- demands are higher and the the old regime not cutting it,-and looking into maintaining some type of readable nitrate level -probably the root problem to begin with-?

 

[hart24601]

Oh yea! If you can't see detectable nitrates that is where I would start. I see clear improvement in corals pretty fast after dosing if they were totally undetectable.

 

[jzaso]

hart24601 can I ask what your using for testing your n03/po4 think my rs kits ok?

 

[hart24601]

I use the Hanna ultra low range for phosphorus, although I don't really need it, generally when the corals start looking a bit brown I know the GFO is ready for recharge. NO3 I like salifert. Having the low range and high range all in one is nice. I have not used red sea kits so I am afraid I can't really comment on them but they look really nice, at least the one with the wheel to look through the 2nd vial looks really slick. The nitrate pro? Looks accurate enough, really just undetectable is too far and a little color is enough IMO so the rs pro should be fine.