Aquaforest probiotic method

[Jordon]

Just wondering if anyone else is having similar experiences, but I use the following:

Probiotic Salt
Components 1+, 2+, 3+
AF A, E, B (but have recently stopped dosing these as I have had brown algae issues)
Pro Bio F (again stopped dosing *see below for details)

Anyways I recently stopped dosing the A, E and B as I was having some brown algae issues, and looking to have this clear up a bit before continuing.

*The main thing though is the fact that i have been running this program since June and only dosed Pro Bio F for the first 2 weeks and noticed my Nitrates being unreadable (actually 0 - OR under 1) so decided it was working all too well to reduce Nitrate. For the record I always had below 5 nitrates usually, and a low bio load, but I can't for the life of me get them to increase!

Are the probiotics in the salt enough for me? I figure if i increase my livestock (fish) I may need to dose Pro Bio F, but I have since nearly doubled my feedings and nitrate still hasn't budged.

I'm not complaining per-se, but it is definitely keeping my SPS from colouring up, as they are a bit pale.

[Potatohead]

If you don't need it, don't dose it. I would stop dosing and feed more and see if you can get your nitrates to the 2 - 3 range, you may need more fish to do it.

[Jordon]

I have a 20g with 2 clownfish right now. I have a Royal Gramma in QT right now that will be added at the end of the month after meds.

Hopefully that helps. I feed 2x cubes per week as well as Reef Roids and Pellets about 3x/day for my hungry clowns.

Must just be my small tank and low bioload. I would feed more, but I don't see any extra food being eaten. My clowns and LPS barely eat everything I give them already (I like fat fish okay!)

[brisco]

Is there any advantage of using the AF probiotic salt if I don't use any other AF product and don't carbon dose? Perhaps just use their reef salt?

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by brisco

Is there any advantage of using the AF probiotic salt if I don't use any other AF product and don't carbon dose? Perhaps just use their reef salt?

Just use regular. The probiotic is designed to be used with ProBioS and NP Pro which is their version of No3PO4X. They also don't include as many trace elements in the probiotic because it's assumed you'll be dosing their stuff with it.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

They also don't include as many trace elements in the probiotic because it's assumed you'll be dosing their stuff with it.

Where did you get this information? I haven't heard this before. The AF lineup can be used with either the Probiotic Salt or the Reef Salt. They recommend the Probiotic Salt for SPS reef to help maintain ULNS, and Reef Salt for LPS reefs or other tanks where there are more nutrients than in ULNS.

Originally Posted by Aquaforest

Probiotic Reef Salt contains Probiotic Bacteria, Culture medium for them, Amino Acids and vitamins for Corals.

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by Myka

Where did you get this information? I haven't heard this before. The AF lineup can be used with either the Probiotic Salt or the Reef Salt. They recommend the Probiotic Salt for SPS reef to help maintain ULNS, and Reef Salt for LPS reefs or other tanks where there are more nutrients than in ULNS.

On the Facebook page.

We're saying the same thing two different ways basically, since PBS and NP Pro are basically carbon dosing to get ULNS... Although if you look at the AF product guide you can certainly use regular Reef Salt with SPS, I do myself. To me it sounds like you're confusing trace elements with nutrients which are not the same thing.