Which amino acid brand is king?

[olonmv]

I’ve started dosing A4R and have it dialed in and now am in the hunt for some amino acid supplementation. I just am not sure on which brand to go with. My tank consists of mainly softies and LPS with a small bit of SPS. Is there a particular “all around” brand or are they pretty much all the same?

 

[Frogspon]

Selcon

 

[olonmv]

Selcon

I am reading and from what I’ve read, selcon is more of a vitamin soak vs an amino acid supplement. I’m not opposed to selcon for my fishes but will it benefit my corals in supplementing AA?

 

[Joe31415]

I've had really good results with CoralAmino. A week or two after I started dosing it, my euphilias were noticeably 'inflated' and all the little 'dots' the cyphastrea frags began to look like little flowers.
My zoas have been dying off, but I think that's unrelated.

 

[mwil79]

I just switched from ReaSea AB+ to AquaVitro Fuel due to the fact that it also adds trace elements since I end up not changing water all that often. Only been about 2 weeks but so far so good.

 

[Hydrored]

You will get many answers, for me is the KZ aminos. The concentrate a little goes a long way, I dose half every other day. AB+ always gives me cyano no matter how little I dose. Coral Amino I like but the response from KZ is crazy.

 

[GHOSTLY]

ive seen decent results with acropower. Keep in mind I also dose phyto, calcium, liquid coral food, and aminos so its different

 

[olonmv]

I've had really good results with CoralAmino. A week or two after I started dosing it, my euphilias were noticeably 'inflated' and all the little 'dots' the cyphastrea frags began to look like little flowers.
My zoas have been dying off, but I think that's unrelated.

Honestly, I’m on the fence between acropower and brightwell. But I’m also open to others. There just so many options and I like hearing them all before making a decision. Dosing A4R took me a while to decide on even after I had made my own alkalinity. Now I got a gallon of the stuff just sitting on my shelf lol.

 

[olonmv]

I just switched from ReaSea AB+ to AquaVitro Fuel due to the fact that it also adds trace elements since I end up not changing water all that often. Only been about 2 weeks but so far so good.

A4R supplements my trace elements as well as dosing the 3 bigs. Will add RS AB+ to the list of possibles. Thank you.

 

[olonmv]

You will get many answers, for me is the KZ aminos. The concentrate a little goes a long way, I dose half every other day. AB+ always gives me cyano no matter how little I dose. Coral Amino I like but the response from KZ is crazy.

I have the same issue with cyano when I dose reef roids. Then again I may have been adding too much. KZ is that the name or an abbreviation? I will too look into this. Thanks!

edit: wowzers!!! 10ml costs $16 USD!!!! Can this be diluted with RO? Says 1 drop per 25 gallons in dosing instructions. I run a 13.5 evo so I’d need 1/2 a drop of concentrate OR dilute a 1:1 part to reach the one drop requirement for my needs.

 

[olonmv]

ive seen decent results with acropower. Keep in mind I also dose phyto, calcium, liquid coral food, and aminos so its different

Whoa! That’s a lot of dosing. I currently just dose A4R and do daily feedings of frozen brine and mysis. Hoping that AA dosing will be a game changer!

 

[amazongb]

I am reading and from what I’ve read, selcon is more of a vitamin soak vs an amino acid supplement. I’m not opposed to selcon for my fishes but will it benefit my corals in supplementing AA?

That's correct, however, I started using Selcon to treat a fish with lateral line disease, and noticed my corals' polyps were extending more than normal during fish feeding. I now use it all the time.

 

[Joe31415]

AB+ always gives me cyano no matter how little I dose

That's interesting. My cyano (tank still in the ugly stages) finally disappeared. While I know the Tuxedo Urchin ate a lot of it, I suppose it also happened around the same time I stopped using AB+ (left the whole bottle out of the fridge for like a week or two). It was a good reason to fully switch to CoralAmino. As fun as it is to pour in the AB+, the CoralAmino made for noticeable results. Plus, I kinda like the smell of it.
Like I said, I've had good luck with CoralAmino, but I also have Oyster Feast, Reef Snow, Reef Roids and Coral Chili on hand. Any one of which I toss in if I happen to think of it (instead of CoralAmino that day).

 

[olonmv]

That's correct, however, I started using Selcon to treat a fish with lateral line disease, and noticed my corals' polyps were extending more than normal during fish feeding. I now use it all the time.

I think I’ll be getting onto the vitamin soak boat next but for now I’m gonna focus on a AA supplement. My fish seem happy and fat, a lil over a month ago I purchased a mandarin that had a very visible lateral line….it has since gone almost completely away since feeding him frozen brine and mysis. Wish I would have known about selcon then. Would have saved me a ton of worries. Thanks for the insight!!!

 

[elysics]

Has anyone demonstrated a difference between any of them? Are any of them more than time release ammonia dosing with a bit of a stimuolative effect thrown in?

 

[Little c big D]

What is it you're growing. I've yet to start amino but I do dose A4R, as I think we have discussed it before. I also feed reef roads every other day broadcast one day and spot feed the next. Alternating how I do it. Mostly for the nutrients. I'm 0 po4 and no3. I read somewhere that A4R works like carbon dosing also so it could be eating nutrients. Haven't looked further into that yet.

I went off track there, sorry. I was looking at the polyp lab amino but I'm interested to see what you go with and how it works.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I have the same issue with cyano when I dose reef roids. Then again I may have been adding too much. KZ is that the name or an abbreviation? I will too look into this. Thanks!

edit: wowzers!!! 10ml costs $16 USD!!!! Can this be diluted with RO? Says 1 drop per 25 gallons in dosing instructions. I run a 13.5 evo so I’d need 1/2 a drop of concentrate OR dilute a 1:1 part to reach the one drop requirement for my needs.

I have a bottle of the KZ Sponge power and it goes a LONG way. One eye dropper drop per 25g, those bottles last a really long time.

 

[olonmv]

Has anyone demonstrated a difference between any of them? Are any of them more than time release ammonia dosing with a bit of a stimuolative effect thrown in?

Was hoping that BRS had done an investigates video. Couldn’t find one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not sure it matters which amino acids are dosed. They are all a good source of N.

IMO, it is possible that aspartic acid may be better than the others, for reasons I outlined twenty years ago:

Aquarium Chemistry: The Chemical and Biochemical Mechanisms of Calcification

All reef aquarists are versed in the fact that such organisms remove calcium and carbonate from the water column in order to provide materials for calcification. Exactly how calcification takes place, however, is rarely considered.

reefs.com

"Interestingly, the apparently large need for a particular amino acid (aspartic acid) to synthesize these proteins is satisfied by external sources, not by either the coral itself or the zooxanthellae. For this reason, it might be interesting to see what added aspartic acid does to calcification rates in reef tanks."

 

[olonmv]

What is it you're growing. I've yet to start amino but I do dose A4R, as I think we have discussed it before. I also feed reef roads every other day broadcast one day and spot feed the next. Alternating how I do it. Mostly for the nutrients. I'm 0 po4 and no3. I read somewhere that A4R works like carbon dosing also so it could be eating nutrients. Haven't looked further into that yet.

I went off track there, sorry. I was looking at the polyp lab amino but I'm interested to see what you go with and how it works.

Not anything in particular, just wanna give my livestock the best opportunity to thrive. Yes, we discussed the A4R dosing and made the decision to go with it on a dosing pump!!’