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Old 04-14-2006, 12:00 PM
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"How does the Reef-resh system enhance an already perfectly balanced and set up tank?"

It is simple. System RF works by the removal of unwanted nutrients and the input of proper additives that will benefit corals.

The following are indisputable FACTS and not "claims" of our product:
- You are introducing novel bacterial strains that induce the formation of biofilms with some of the pre-existing bacteria
- These biofilms want to grow and need to consume nutrients to do it. This is the nature of bacterial micro-colonies. It is the way that bacteria spreads on your kitchen counter. It is the way that bacterial infections spread in your body. They need to eat.
- Biofilms trap nutrients in their upper layers to grow. This is how they feed. In particular, some of the strains we have selected have a preference to consume organic phosphates and nitrates.
- As these particular biofilms grow they will "shed" off some of the layers. Not all biofilms shed (especially ones in the human body), but with certain bacterial combinations in their make-up, they do.
- The sloughed off layers are either skimmed out or fish/corals will eat them.
- Having an extra entity in your aquarium that consumes these nutrients is guaranteed to lower your nutrient levels. It would not be possibly for these biofilms to sustain themselves if they did not consume nutrients.

If you are further interested, there are thousands of microbiology references that will tell you the exact mechanisms of marine biofilms. Two of our employees have post-grad degrees in microbiology, so if anyone has extremely technical questions I can direct them to Tyler or Ji Hyun.

Lastly, the addition of RF-Plus and RF-Acids is what you use to provide amino acids, vitamins and nitrate/phosphate-free coral nutrition. RF-Plus took over 6 months to develop properly. These products are highly concentrated and incredibly important to the coloration of SPS corals. If you doubt the importance of these components, a quick search on google will bring you a decent amount of starter reading material.

It is unfortunate that so many "snake-oil" products have been release in this industry. It has made many hobbyists very skeptical of any aquarium product - especially unconventional products like System Reefresh. I am a hobbyist myself, so I know exactly where you come from. When I first got into the hobby in 1996, I was conned by my LFS into wasting hundreds of dollars on useless products. At Polyp Lab, we are trying to develop a reputable name for ourselves. Releasing a snake oil product into an already infested market would not be a wise way to go about it.

We have received very good feedback on our System RF product line and I personally love reading the comments and answering questions you guys have sent over emails. We have some very intelligent reefers with open and inquiring minds in Canada. You guys are truely amaze me.

Something that I should note that has been called to my attention, the label on the RF-Fuel package is not as clear as we would like it to be. Just to clarify, RF-Fuel should be dosed every day in the amounts listed.

A more thorough explanation of the dosing regime is available on our website at www.polyplab.com/instructions.html


And lastly, to answer Stircrazy's other question:
There are a large number of hobbyists in North America who do all of the things we suggest (such as water changes, running carbon etc) who still do not have the coral health/colouration/appearance that they are looking for. I'm sure there are a handful of people who use this forum who could attest to this. Our product does not guarantee a flourescent rainbow garden in your aquarium, but it most certainly helps it along the way!

Oh and thank you for the correction on the salinity units =)
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Old 04-14-2006, 12:09 PM
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Jaws you are right.

Phosphate levels in an aquarium can not be detected properly with salifert, hagen, aquarium pharmaceuticals etc. kits.

Although fairly expensive to use (and not completely necessary), the only way to get proper phosphate reading is by the use of either

Hanna Colorimeters
Merck Phosphate Kit

I believe the Merck phosphate kit has been rebranded by some aquarium company so it may be more readily available in that version. (I'm not sure of which company rebranded it, we use the original Merck versions at the lab).
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Old 04-14-2006, 12:46 PM
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I use a Hanna colorimeter to test phosphates in my tanks and can attest to the inaccuracy or I guess inablility of the Salifert and other readily available test kits to test for PO4. I was shocked when I first got the Hanna to realize how much PO4 was actually in my systems that didn't show up on the Salifert.
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Old 04-14-2006, 03:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Polyp Lab
Jaws you are right.

Phosphate levels in an aquarium can not be detected properly with salifert, hagen, aquarium pharmaceuticals etc. kits.
yup something we have been saying for about a year now and we still waist the money on them hehe.

anyways thanks for the reply and I guess the other question I would be interested in seeing either tried out or maybe it already has been, but Jaws asked it at the end of the post you replied to.

"My question is, theoretically, if you didn't have optimal tank conditions, and still had some nutrients in your tank that was causing algae growth, should it not still export the excess nutrients and help starve the nuisance algae?"

I guess it is what happens if you don't follow the requirements religiously, Like for my self when I am posted to ship I sail for up to 4 months at a time, now I can have some one do basic stuff a couple times a week but water changes and daily dosing are out, heck I don't even feed my fish daily, I go every second day so a daily anything is going to be a pain. Am I just not destined to use any produce like this or are they a little forgiving?

Steve
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Last edited by StirCrazy; 04-17-2006 at 04:32 PM.
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Old 04-15-2006, 12:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Polyp Lab
Jaws you are right.



I believe the Merck phosphate kit has been rebranded by some aquarium company so it may be more readily available in that version. (I'm not sure of which company rebranded it, we use the original Merck versions at the lab).
Deltec USA sells the high end phosphate kits. Some where in the neighborhood of a $100 in Vancouver.

Doug
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Old 04-15-2006, 06:11 AM
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OK well all I see here is text, somebody has to have some before and after pictures by now
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Old 04-15-2006, 06:42 AM
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Very nice tank Rich!

Doug
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Old 04-15-2006, 06:50 AM
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Im with Rich... lets see those before and after shots.
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Old 04-15-2006, 08:27 AM
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I definitely need to spend money on a new camera! Gotta slow down on the tank though! I will do up a 2 week report here in the next few days. I am still impressed with the product...nitrates are still undetectable and growth has maintained the same levels. The bacterial mats are thriving in the refuge and noticed some on the rock. Not that pretty though! They are not noticeable in the tank at least! At first I wondered what these slimey mats were. My skimmer cup is filling up every 3 days compared to five!
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Old 04-16-2006, 02:15 AM
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.

Last edited by cprowler; 05-30-2007 at 04:50 AM.
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