Acan Plus
 

I am not a company. I am a hobbyist.

That makes a big difference. A company's way of doing things would be to use
the cheapest ingredients possible and stretch it with fillers, so they can
make the biggest profit.

I do this because my love for LPS corals, espeically my acans. I don't make
coral food for the money. In fact I do not make any money off selling this
food. Whatever I make goes back into buying the ingredients. I don't get
paid for the labour, time and effort that goes into the production of the
food.
My personal goal is, and always will be, to make the highest quality food to
promote the greatest amount of growth and just have healthy beautiful corals
PERIOD. I believe the growth and size of my corals speak for themselves.

I am not going to BS anybody by using cheesy marketing slogans or promote my
food using words like "roids", "ultra" and "ultimate". I am not a wrestling
promoter, you know...
Or showing a video of dropping a pellet onto an "Ultra Acan". I can drop any
kind of pellet on an Acan and of course it will eventually eat it. That does
not say much about the quality of the food and how it will promote the
health and growth of your corals. But isn't that the whole point in feeding your corals?

Certain people endorsing Fauna Marin should get their facts straight. Acan
Plus is NOT a "simple cocktail of other already marketed products". I should
know, because like all coral owners, I used to try all those products in a
desperate attempt to keep my corals healthy, but only with poor results.
That's when I decided to do some research and make my own coral food from scratch.

There is nothing "simple" about my food. It takes me an average of 6 hours
to make 12 bottles of Acan Plus. There are over 10 different ingredients in
Acan Plus (soon will be 13 as I am working on a new formula).
It took me a long time to find out what the corals prefer to eat, which
ingredient entices them or stimulates their growth.
I also only use the highest quality ingredients available. For the record
there is NO Artemia, NO Zooplankton or Phytoplankton powder in Acan Plus. Most
coral products contain these because they are cheap fillers.

Somebody said "ANYTHING could be in there."
Wrong. I don't just put anything in my food. Every single ingredient has been
tested extensively for its nutritional value to promote the greatest amount
of growth. Keep in mind that I put the same food I'm selling into my own
tank every day and I am definitely not putting "just anything" in there.

I have been working on this food for years now. I do not disclose anything
on how I process and make the food, because I am not giving big companies
like Fauna Marin tips on how to copy me.
I have already seen Fauna Marin referring to their new acan food as "Ultra
Acan Plus" and using my description and text almost word for word.
Should I just hand them my recipe as well?

Jason you have worked hard on this. It is an incredible product and I am proud to promote it.
Kevin

I myself would prefer to use a product that is made locally and by a fellow reefer. You have work very hard on this and you should be proud of your accomplishments. Keep up the good work Jason.

There will be many people out there that are going to be skeptical because they don't know what it is made of but can we say that we know EXACTLY what is in some of the brand name store bought foods made by big Corps, I think not.

Jason,
You have an incredible product that I stand behind personally 100%! I use your Acan Plus for my LPS at home. Be Proud!:wink:

Cant we all just get along.

I use your product in my tank and have seen great results with it. I have used Fauna Marin and seen the same results as well. Both good products and its nice to see it locally made.

The problem I have with your write up is this. In one breath you say your not in it for the money.
"My personal goal is, and always will be, to make the highest quality food to
promote the greatest amount of growth and just have healthy beautiful corals
PERIOD. I believe the growth and size of my corals speak for themselves."

Yet in another breath you complain about another company trying to copy your product. Of course its going to happen. You think Mr. Ford didnt see it coming with the automobile?

Personally I enjoy sharing information with other hobbyists whether they be someones private tank or major company. It only benefits the hobby when people share their experience, what works for them, what doesnt and so on. Its only when people try to hide what has been working from everyone else that this hobby with fall. Unfortunately I am seeing more and more of it as time goes on. I am not saying go hand your recipe paper out to Fauna or any other company, you have already done that by make your product available to the public.

IMO you should be proud a big company like Fauna Marin sees you as such a big threat they need to try to use your product to sell theirs. Acan Plus has seen such great results with just word of mouth along with posts here from buyers. Why not just enjoy your success instead of complaining?

Not to mention a little competition keeps businesses honest. Put out a good product for a good price and you will reap the rewards. I am sure you know this already with Acan Plus.

Now if this is a shot at someone or someones company maybe you need to take your drama off canreef. We have seen enough of it in the past year to get our fill.

Id be in,

Knowing a hobbyist made something with their own time is a huge bonus.

I try to buy all by fish "second hand" instead of mass importing form dealers. Just because the lack on control and quality.

Hobbyist take there time and care of their fish.
Stores and retailers dont. I dont want to sound harsh, I do respect the fact people have to make $.

Now relating this back to this home made coral food. Manufactures need to make some money. They use fillers weird additives..ect..
Anything that is mass marketed start to loose their quality. (BTW i dont want to start an argument, This is all just My oppnion)

If this homegrown goodness
Id love to try some,
Where do I get this and will it ship to ontario?

Your being struck with criticism because your circumventing scientific method, what else would you expect besides resistance?

I hate to be critical but I'm confused at the nature of your post, are you trying to inform me about your product or bash the competition? Or both?? (Whats wrong with just getting along?)

Making statements like this:
Drive me CRAZY! You're sitting there telling me your food is the best and I should trust you because your test's say so but you won't share your bloody tests! What is "extensive testing" and would you please also elaborate when you state:
If you want Acan+ to stand out from the rest it's going to require some transparency and your current excuse for a blank ingredient list isn't cutting it. If Fauna Marine truly wants to steal your ingredient list let them, you already stated you don't do this for the money so clearly they can't compete with your prices.

The problem with stating an opinion that's wrong on the internet is that it causes people to argue with you... Such opinions that "Hobbyist take there time and care of their fish.Stores and retailers dont" belongs in the previously stated wrong opinion folder.

I'm going to bed, erroneous statements make me drowsy.

Would you agree the internet is LARGELY baised on opinion?
Youtube, facebook, blogs, even wiki.

Do you agree MOST internet fourms are just people opinions on a subject?

Do you agree the MAJORITY of Canreef Aquatics threads are about asking or giving opinions?

Do you also agree that MOST of these threads have little to no scientific proof or evidence?


I dont mind you calling me out, Im just deadly sick with a cold and dont really feel like typeing nor thinking.

Sorry about your head,
Take an advil.


Cant belive I actually started this, With my 9 post count :P , LOL

Hehehe... Dude, you opened a whole can o' worms on this one.

I totally get ya on not wanting to do it for the money and not wanting to post the recipe for the big guys to take. I was in the same situation a year ago with a water desalination technology I developed. I was only doing it to help others, especially those in need. I don't really care about the money. But a very wise business man explained to me that the best way to reach the largest market possible it through a business model where I DO make money (and hopefully a lot of it =P) as I will have the liquidity to drive my prices lower, produce more at a lower cost and reach a larger distribution network. I suggest you do the same... but do it for the love of the hobby and not for the money... make that a focus of your business plan (which you should write up!) and you will set yourself apart from everyone else.

That being said, I understand the arguements that others make about not knowing what goes into it. I specifically have a rule that I don't put anything into my tank that I don't know the ingedients of. This is the reason why I don't use Zeovit. I have no idea what Pohl puts into his magic sauces, so it doesn't touch my tank (especially when he charges a STUPID premium for them). This has actually driven me to research what his ingredients might be and I might actually be creating my own "zeovit" system this summer if I can find the time. Trust is a serious issue in this business, as it is in most industries.

It's tough. You need to find a balance between transparancy (to keep the trust of us scrutinizing customers) and keeping the secret to yourself. If anything else, you should let the product do the talking and people won't care what goes into it... hell, it could be pixie dust and people wouldn't care if it did the trick. Instead of having threads defending your product, have threads that promote it... tried and true testiments to how good it is. For example, I have a Candycane that have been suffering for months and I'm convinced that it's nutrition causing the problem. If I could easily get a hold of your product I'd gladly do a thread doing a trial of Acan+ on my corals and hopefully show a major rebound... problem is, I don't really have the time or money to spend trying to track it down and have it shipped to me (that's just the way customers are, unfortunately)...

Be a business for the common reefer and make the big guys afraid. Find that balance between transparancy and secrets and you'll succeed. Don't be defensive, be offensive.

PM me if you ever wanna talk shop.

Cheers and good luck dude!