30 second Ultralith challenge

[Sebae again]

Ever ooh and ah over the corals in Ocean Aquatics display tank? I have .I walked in one day and noticed Harold squirt something into the tank and walk away. My first thought was that looked too easy so I asked Harold what he had put in the tank. He told me it was the Ultralith system and explained it to me in about all of 2 minutes. I thought if it can make their tank look like that ,it could surely do something for mine. At first the cost worried me but Harold assured me I didn't have to buy everything so I purchased the following;
Ultralith media $22.99 1 litre
Ultra-Bio $44.99
Ultra Bak $21.99
Ultra Min $22.99
total $112.96

The Ultra- bio will last me about 2months
the others will last me 5-6months
This is for my 90 gallon mixed reef tank 20 gallon sump

On a nightly basis I use 8 drops Ultra-Bio
5 drops Ultra Bak
5 drops Ultra Min
This takes no more than 30 seconds a night and costs about $30 a month

To start the system, I dumped out my phosphate reactor and added 1/2 litre Ultralith media and let that run at about 70 gallons/hr for1month. After 1month I added the other 1/2 litre. I'm aproaching 2months and everything is looking great.
noticable changes; - diatoms disappeared
- water be came crystal clear within 2 weeks
- had a small amount cryno -now gone
- only algea on glass but only because I dose pyto which easily comes of with a swipe of a Mag float
- Increased polyp extension and brighter colours in
acros
2weeks after doing water changes my tank looks like I've just cleaned it.My wife asks me why I do water changes when it looks so clean!
I don't use any carbon ,phosphate remover or,UV.I haven't done anything different in terms of maintenance . I have actually added 4 more fish to the tank and increased the feedings!
This has worked for me with these dosages and routine for my tank with a heavy bioload.
Do I recommend this? - Absolutely! / Reasonable cost?-Yes! /Easy-Yeah,30 seconds a day. You should check it out.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Interesting. I'll have to read up on this some more. Thanks for the info!

[surgeonfish]

Sounds similar to Reef resh and Zeovite. There tends to be a lot of mixed opinion regarding how well these products work - mostly testimonials. I am glad it is working for you. I have tried the Reef resh for 2 months with no real improvements. Thanks for the info. I will also have to research it and may consider giving it a try. Hopefully, I will have similar results to yours.
cheers,

[muck]

Did you take some before and after photos Sebae? If so can you post them please?

[Skimmerking]

but yes its all works however, if you stop using it over a certain time. Your corals will react to in a negative display. like Zeo andthe other supplements. Just be careful with the stuff....

[albert_dao]

but yes its all works however, if you stop using it over a certain time. Your corals will react to in a negative display. like Zeo andthe other supplements. Just be careful with the stuff....

False concerning Zeovit. I stopped dosing supplements at the store for two months a while back and the tank never declined. It didn't look as pretty, but it never regressed to a point worse than where it started.

It's kinda like using premium gas on your car. You don't need it, but your car sounds better, gets better mileage, and revs harder when you do use it. If you happen to stop, everything's back to normal again.

[marie]

but yes its all works however, if you stop using it over a certain time. Your corals will react to in a negative display. like Zeo andthe other supplements. Just be careful with the stuff....

I quit using reefresh after 2 months and my tank looked better, it took 6 months, but it definitely looked better then it did when i was using reefresh :razz:

[Skimmerking]

a friend of mine in ontario , received a reef roids or something like the Zeo vits and he has a 1 months supplies that he won. after he found out the the 1 month supplies is only good for a 100 gal tank and he had a 180 gal tank and used it up fairly quick. But after he went thour it all the tank that he had crashed very badly.

[Chowder]

I have been using the Ultralith system for about 3 months now . I really like what I am seeing now in my tank. I find it a really easy dosing product and not to expensive at all. I started with the beginner kit OA offers for my 65 gallon about 80 g total volume .Instead of the bottle of bio I have the ampules and dose the whole thing once a week. After three months I am out of BIO but have half the bottles of BAk and MINS left. I would suggest if you are interested in trying it to read this thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1026821
It tells some of the problems people are having and how they fixed it and general posts of people who like it. I myself have had one problem where I was getting some hair algae starting in my main tank. I found out on the site you are not supposed to run a refugium on the system. Dumped the refugium and all the algae went away. I am pleased with the Ultralith system and what it has done for my tank. Sorry I have no photo's of my tank before and after.
Thanks , Chris

[Mik_101]

Did you take some before and after photos Sebae? If so can you post them please?

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/content/65/Current-Product-Testing/

There are pictures of the tank and progression pictures and the ultrallith system Wendell uses.

[Sebae again]

Sorry, I have no photos. Ulralith is made of zeolite rock. Reefresh is a different system so it can have different effects. If you take a look at the OA tank, especially in person you can understand why people are in support of this system. Like many other things,it's important to follow directions and have a little patience. I myself noticed good results in 2weeks and exellent results within 4 weeks. This is in a 90 gallon with 10 fish in it so results could very depending on bioload.

[andresont]

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/content/65/Current-Product-Testing/
Weekly Operating Costs: $18.94 (Assume 1 ampoule a week and 7 mL of Ultra Min S and 7mL Ultra Bak and 10% of Ultra Lith per week, 200 mL of UltraCarb)

[vanreefer]

I am not dosing at full recomended doses.. I dose 1.5cc of the min(s) and the Bak, and 1cc of ultraorganic... I have noticed substancially better coloration and PE and water quality is crystal clear... This is on ~210gal

[Mik_101]

Is the Ultralith system worth the money. Is it a good thing to use?

[Sebae again]

For my 90 gallon @ $30 a month it's worth it after spending several thou to set it up and stock it. It would be like buying a new car and not doing oil changes.

[revgeoff]

I'll pick up everything and try it on my 120gal reef starting late this month (after holidays). I'll make sure I take pictures and post them as well as keep track of dosing. Just don't laugh at my bioload. Yes I do need those triggers in my reef tank.

[bv_reefer]

-just gonna stick with the trace elements, don't wanna dump all that other stuff in my tank, especially after hearing what happened to asmodeuses friend

[Mik_101]

-just gonna stick with the trace elements, don't wanna dump all that other stuff in my tank, especially after hearing what happened to asmodeuses friend

You got to try other stuff for the tank. Myself I am going to start to use the ultra lith system my self well I'm not going to invest as much into the ultra lith system as some do but get a few additives from the ultra lith system.

[bv_reefer]

No thanks, trace elements like strontium,iodine,calcium, and magnesium and I should be fine.

[marie]

No thanks, trace elements like strontium,iodine,calcium, and magnesium and I should be fine.

To be honest you don't even need some of those. I had an amazing tank that was just a 75g, vho lights, no sump, a prism pro HOB skimmer, 3 maxijet 1200s, and a heater, the only additives I used (besides regular water changes) was kalk.
For you right now (especially with limited income) I would stongly suggest the k.i.s.s. method (keep it simple stupid) that i used for years. It gives you a chance to learn the hobby from the ground up so to speak, you can try all the fancy toys later when you have money to throw away

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/medium/220P9160230.jpg

[wayner]

Nicely done Marie, Bang on.

[marie]

Here is my 50g tank, 3 maxi jet 900s, vho lighting, bak-pak skimmer and heater, kalk and occasional water changes.
This was my easiest tank to care for, nothing seemed to phase it, if i forgot to do water changes for a couple of months? It didn't care. If I forgot to add kalk for a week? It was all good :lol: . Of course at this point it had been set up for 5 years

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/2752fdd6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/c1e45688.jpg

[fishface]

so i've just started trying ultralith and what i've noticed so face is a bit of mixed bag. i've dosed in a 120 with a 25g refugium/sump on the first day i ampule of the bio, 1 ml ultrabak and 1ml ultramin. then after reading the horror stories i cut it back to 3 drops of the bak in the last 2 days. what i've seen so far is that algae on the glass has dropped off a bit, water is starting to clear up but some of my corals are hatin' it. pagoda cup which is normally fully extended is shriveled, open brain has also gone somewhat skeletal and mushrooms have shrunk to about 50% normal size. sps seem to all be fine, perhaps even have better PE. not sure what to make of this stuff so far...anyone have any similar experiences?

[Sebae again]

I haven't experienced any of the bad symptoms you've discribed .I assume you are using the Ultra Lith media ( zeolite rock ) in some sort of reactor. I myself use the Ultra Bio in the 50 ml container so I use drops daily instead of the ampule .The corals that are affected , are they in the location of your dosing? I add mine a drop at a time in front of a Koralia powerhead to dispurse it at night before I turn the lights off. Did you use a phosphate remover before starting the system? I have a hang on refugium with minimum chaeto in it. In a previous post there was a RC link to a conflict with a fuge. Maybe take a look at the link. You could try " cutting " the additives with salt water from your tank and then dose that back into the tank. Is your skimmer working well? Mine was pulling out more than normal for the first while. Softies and mushrooms like nutrient rich water. Feed well ,skim well.

[fishface]

i do have the ultralith media as well in, it's in a phosban reactor. as for location i'm dosing, it's in a super high flow area of my sump so it gets well diluted before it even reaches the display tank. and i have checked out the rc thread, that's what made me cut back the dosage on day 2. i'll do a waterchange today and just see what happens...not quite sure if i'm willing to continue this if i cannot keep a mixed reef.

[Sebae again]

H mmmmm. I have a mixed reef. Maybe Jhkchris or Vanreefer could have some input . I noticed Vanreefer is using Ultra organic as well