I was kind of thinking that, but thanks for clarifying. Maybe something to try down the road when I have outgrown my current nano.

I didn't know that there was going to be a little vial of stuff to dose with this salt. I didn't take the pails straight into the house and instead left them in the garage for a couple of days. If it froze it thawed out very quickly but I don't know if I had an impact on the contents. Having said that I don't understand the benefit of dosing nitrifying bacteria if my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate parameters are all 0. That would indicate to me that I already have enough.

You don't need to dose those freebies. Its just a way of poking the consumer, asking them to use it. Just a marketing scheme :razz:

If you levels are all in check and you and the tank inhabitants are happy, using probiotics will just be another unnecessary headache for you to have. Probiotics works, natural filtration works and there are many other methods that works; you just have to choose whichever works best for you and your tank :smile:

That particular freebie, BioS, is not probiotic bacteria, it is nitrifying bacteria and would be good to use for someone that's just starting their tank. The NP Pro that comes with the probiotic salt is not nitrifying bacteria, it is probiotic bacteria (the same that feeds off biopellets) which lower nitrate and phosphate.

Instant Ocean often has a tshirt in the bucket. That doesn't mean you have to wear it. :)

Even though I run a natural system, I was going to try the sample, but now I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's not something I want to get my tank addicted to. Reverting to natural strains of bacteria might cause a problem when the sample runs out.

Myka it's Pro Bio S in the bucket not Bio S so it's probiotic bacteria. Also NP pro is not a bacteria it's a carbon source so you would need to use Pro Bio S in conjuction with it. NP Pro is a different carbon source then their original product Pro F and apparently stronger. I ordered Pro F to use with Pro Bio S but may eventually switch to NP pro.

Oops. I got them mixed up. Thanks for clarifying.

i just opened my box, no freebie for me....

must be just in the buckets

I've been seeding my siporax with the Pro Bio S and have done a few water changes with the Aquaforest reef salt and the corals seem to be responding well.

I've also just received these Aquaforest products which I began dosing and putting online yesterday:

Coral A
Coral B
Coral E
Coral V
Coral food
Reef mineral salt

I'm still waiting for the NP PRO and component strong which are due to arrive by the end of the week.

They probably include those freebies only with the buckets as an apology for the struggle that you have to go through every time you try to open the lid. First world reefing problem but I simply can't get over this! :twised:

I swapped mine into an instant ocean bucket right away.

i didn get instructions on the bag, is is still half cup per gallon?

There should be a measuring cup provided with a 5 liter and 10 liter marking but to be more accurate it's roughly 160grams per 1 gallon to reach 1.026

So roughly 800 grams per 5 gallon bucket.

i didn't get it either. cheaped out and got the 25 kg bucket.

thanks dcw1sfu

Best thing to do is buy a cheap kitchen scale that's what I use the measuring cups not quite as accurate. Just use a refractometer to confirm salinity.

The Probiotic Reef Salt is back in stock on Amazon.ca - I ordered a bucket. :)

Got my boxes of the reef salt but haven't opened them yet

Did you blend the salt before mixing? I have the same batch number and I'm getting the following readings at 35ppt:

Ca 420
Mg 1410 (new kit)
kH 6.7 (tested against the standard solution)
K 360

I may have purchased an old (but not expired) potassium test kit and it seems it could be reading low. This could be a problem since I've been dosing K to try to bring the level up to 400.

I've always thought that stratification was a myth, but perhaps not. I'm going to blend the salt before my next water change and see what happens.

Looking around I see that Salifert has discontinued the potassium test kit, presumably there was/is issues. All the other brands are a royal PITA. I think I'm done with potassium testing and dosing.

It's not discontinued , apparently Salifert had some problems sourcing one of the chemicals used in their Potassium kits , so rather than continue to sell them using an inferior product , they temporarily stopped production. Rumour has it they will be back on the market soon which is great news , because as you said all the other brands are a PITA , and the Salifert K kit was the best in the market.

I did mix the salt really well between two buckets prior to making the water i tested as I transfered it to an old instant ocean pale. I then make up the 5 gallons and tested the water after 20 mins mixing.

Who knows.

Probio f or np pro
 

Hi
Anyone know of any Canadian source for probio f or np pro? Amazon.ca doesn't have np pro and they have listed the probio f as unsure if it will be restocked... Got everything else I need from Amazon.
Cheers

I heard the official AquaForrest Canadian distributor will be located in Toronto very soon. (10min drive from our door)

:)

I heard the same thing. Hopefully they can provide the products for similar pricing as Amazon.

I just picked up 2 bottles of the NP Pro as well as component strong from salty supply and got it delivered to my PO BOX across the line. They do however also ship to Canada.

Thanks...was trying to avoid paying in USD... Exchange is rough atm... Should have posted sooner we could have split shipping costs.i also have s box in Blaine may have to go that route
Wondering how long it will be until we see a Canadian distributor...
Cheers

We'll hope for the best but Amazon's shipping rates are tough to beat, on heavy boxes and pails of salt.

The guys selling on Amazon are making very small margins.

I doubt we will be able to match them.

Amazon stocks are falling. We see how long the margin difference last

Well, Amazon makes enough money to justify a $4 BILLION deficit in shipping costs every year. ;)
http://www.statista.com/topics/846/amazon/

There is no way you guys can compete with that. If our Canadian distributor has any sense, he'll make a deal with Aquaforest that requires Aquaforest to end their relationship with Amazon.ca. Why would vendors push a product that has established pricing that he can't compete with? :)

I know for a fact Aquaforest is not going to end that relationship.

Sounds like u guys may be stocking these products?? Any ideas on timeline for them to be available?
Thanks

Would have to garentee a minimum volume of sales for them to even consider

Aquaforest is shooting themselves in the foot then. The only Aquaforest sales you vendors are going to get is from people that don't know they can get it cheaper on Amazon.ca and/or people that are willing to pay more to support to support you.

I'm wondering from a business perspective, why would you want to promote a product that will always run the "risk" of someone discovering it on Amazon.ca and ditching out on you? Why not promote similar products like Fauna Marin, Zeovit, or Tropic Marin where all vendors are on an even playing field because those salts are not available for a stupid low price on Amazon.ca?? From a business perspective it makes more sense to promote products that you can a) get a good margin on, b) be competitive.

For these reasons, I think Aquaforest is shooting themselves in the foot by not ending the relationship with Amazon.ca (and Amazon.com) and relying Canadian (and US) reef distributors instead. You don't see other brands doing this - like Tunze, Ecotech, Apex, etc. I'm interested to see how it pans out in the next couple years for Aquaforest. However, I'd much rather support our Canadian retailers than Amazon. :)

If the salt goes to retailers it will double,and then some. Just like reefers best.
Then people stop buying it in favour of cheaper salts on the market. Stores then sit on stock that they have trouble selling and inturn no longer order it from aquaforest.

Seen it here in Edmonton. As reefers best hit $140 a box.

So how is aquaforest loosing out in the long run.

I think I can get the reason behind Aquaforest going through amazon. Amazon can move a large volume of their product and when a manufacturer is getting into a new market, a lower margin and a greater exposure to the new market sounds more reasonable than a larger margin and being competitive. No retailer can move as large of a volume that Amazon can due to reasons stated above already. And manufacturers love a secured volume of sale and although supporting local businesses is important for us, it means nothing to them since they are not from here. To them, the number of products sold matters and who sold it does not; and no retailer (well other than Walmart I guess but they are not in this business) can guarantee volume like Amazon can.

I am all for supporting local businesses and I am ready to take a damage of 10-20% if I get something locally instead of waiting for the thing to arrive at my door step (I have to pick up at the local delivery point anyways) but I can see the reason behind the market strategy of Aquaforest. And honestly, it is working really well for them. Even few months ago, no one was aware of this brand and look what happened when Amazon got them in stock :razz:

Because the number of hobbyists that are buying online is miniscule compared to the number of people walking in through LFS doors. We're all blind around here thinking that "everyone" shops online. They don't. It doesn't make sense to me for retailers to push the Aquaforest product, so Aquaforest relies on online marketing. They will be missing out on a huge number of hobbyists.

I don't know, maybe it's a good business model, we'll see how the cookie crumbles. :)

Saskatchewan may very well be different. But here in Edmonton more and more hobbiest are going online due to massive increases in prices in Edmonton.
The difference in a lfs in Edmonton compared to a online or lfs(online) in Ontario can be 250%.


I've seen lfs here raise prices 25% days before a sale, raise prices due to decrease in sales and to cover lost livestock.
While I understand the dollar has a big effect on rising prices. The few examples were prior to the collapsing dollar. Lfs here are literally pushing people to shop online

There is no need for Canadian Vendors to worry what their customer will see Online as Canadian Vendors will easily have better Retail Pricing on AquaForest Salt than Amazon…they just won't be able to ship boxes or buckets of this salt to your door for the same total price you would pay if said customer ordered it through Amazon Prime.

In my opinion Amazon was a big bonus for AquaForest products. Amazon has created a bit of a demand for products that were never used before but now, for some reason, have hobbyists thinking they need Aquaforest Salt to succeed. Really??

That's crazy! Not here, nor at any of the shops I visited while in Ontario, nor BC.