Brightwell Aquatics AA?

GreenSpottedPuffer · #1 12-02-2009, 01:17 AM

Anyone using the brightwell amino acids? How do you like them?

My tank is at NO3 0 and PO4 0 now (tested many times as did LFS). Didn't really want to go quite that low but I guess that is the point of carbon dosing. My corals are obviously getting quite pale.

Started the AA today. Just curious what to expect if anyone else is using it?

Great price compared to the ZEO products.

Delphinus · #2 12-02-2009, 01:24 AM

Sorry but my memory is poor. What carbon dosing routine did you do?

(No experience with the Brightwell Aquatics stuff, sorry..)

GreenSpottedPuffer · #3 12-02-2009, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Sorry but my memory is poor. What carbon dosing routine did you do?

(No experience with the Brightwell Aquatics stuff, sorry..)

Not your memory, I just don't post about my tank anymore

I dose vodka along with Microbacter 7. Basically the same routine as "sunny x" from reef central (if you know his tanks which are AMAZING).

It's a bit of an experiment to see how it goes long term. I wasn't thrilled with zeo and figured if this works for a fraction of the cost, it may be worth it.

I am debating using the Brightwell Aquatics carbon source BUT I have heard its very weak. Apparently you can dump in a bunch of the stuff and not even get a bloom (not that you want one but it shows how weak it is).

BTW, on my lightly stocked solana, my maintenance dose is .1ml. I got the nutrients right down to 0 with just .2ml dose. You really have to be careful dosing if the tank is already low nutrients like mine was.

bigblack · #4 12-02-2009, 03:11 AM

stuff is weak, better off going with zeovit aas much better deal for the amount you have to pay vs dose as i went thru a bottle in two months with no excess signs of algae whereas with the zeovit aa's now i think it will last me more then a year and they work better too, i too found reefbiofuel to be super weak, i've worked my way up to 6ml a day dosing on my 100gal w/o any blooms our side effect, whereas with vodka i'm dosing 0.6mls which is my maintenance dose, huge difference if you ask me. MB7 i'm still using, dosing about 1 ml every 3 days.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #5 12-02-2009, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigblack

stuff is weak, better off going with zeovit aas much better deal for the amount you have to pay vs dose as i went thru a bottle in two months with no excess signs of algae whereas with the zeovit aa's now i think it will last me more then a year and they work better too, i too found reefbiofuel to be super weak, i've worked my way up to 6ml a day dosing on my 100gal w/o any blooms our side effect, whereas with vodka i'm dosing 0.6mls which is my maintenance dose, huge difference if you ask me. MB7 i'm still using, dosing about 1 ml every 3 days.

Great, thanks! I will see how it goes.

mitchelljared · #6 12-15-2009, 05:43 PM

I just switched to using the Brightwell Aquatics Reef Code A and B for my calcium and alk supplements about 4 days ago, before using Kent products. I also started using Restor (which has aminos, omegas, etc). I know it's way too early to see a change yet...everything looks good thus far. I'll keep you posted in a few weeks if anyone's interested if there is a difference.
Looking at the website and the rack in the LFS, I can see a few other products of Brightwell's I'd like to try.
Just curious too, I read that you're not supposed to use Microbacter7 as a stable way to reduce nutrients longterm? Think that's on the Brightwell website.

untamed · #7 12-15-2009, 05:59 PM

I also haven't posted much on my results with carbon (VSV) dosing....mostly because I haven't really seen anything significant to report on.

I dose 6ml per day of VSV mix (Vodka, Sugar, Vinegar). My nitrates were always near zero and continue to be so. The VSV has not made any measurable impact on phosphate, which is also usually very low (.05 - .1ppm).

I was hoping it would reduce the problems I have with cyano, but that hasn't really changed at all. A day of darkness every month or so is the only way I can keep cyano in check.

I also add MB7...but only 1x per week. I don't think I'll continue this much longer. I've also been daily dosing Brightwell's Coralcolour, which I will also stop doing when the bottle runs out.

To your original question though... I'm dosing zeo/Pohls AA and haven't tried the Brightwell AA at this time.

Anyway...the tank seems happy at this time, so I'm stuck doing what I'm doing until something changes.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #8 12-15-2009, 09:24 PM

I ended with some problems once my tank hit .03 PO4 and 0 Nitrates. Corals started to look terrible and some started to bleach. I think it was just too quick of a change.

I ended up stopping all dosing other than 2 part for the past week and a half or so and things are much better now. Some corals are slower than others to recover but all seem to be getting better.

It was a good lesson. Don't dose anything, especially carbon without testing daily and don't start unless you really need to. I had no real good reason to start.