thedude Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 All, Recently, the new trend in high end SPS keeping is to utilize some type of probiotic filtration method. This originally was only accomplished through the Zeovit method (www.zeovit.com) but quite honestly, the technology behind doesn't make any sense to me, and there is way too good a chance of nuking your tank. Another factor is the hefty price tag. I've come across two new companies marketing new products and wanted to let you all take a look at them as well. The first product is called Prodibio and all information and sales are going through www.robsreef.com . Marc Levenson (Melev) of DFWMAS is currently experimenting with this method and I'm very curious to see it's effects in his tank. The second is called System Reef-resh and is distributed by a Canadian company at www.polyplab.com. They also have a high quality soft coral food that I should be receiving any day now. Check them out as I think they are quite possibly the next filter additive. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Well I've heard good things about system reefresh so I bit the bullet and ordered the complete package. Due to a little mishap with my starboard, all my corals are completely browned out and I'll let you know how I like the growth and color that this stuff adds. BB mishap was that when they say silicone the starboard to the bottom of the tank, they mean it. I took mine up to find huge yellow sponge colonies and 1/2 icnh layer of crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 This the thread on RC discussing Reefresh http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=826607 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Do you have it in the store yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 11, 2006 Author Share Posted May 11, 2006 NO the distributor won't call me back. I don't know if they're too busy or what but it's super annoying. I doubt we'll carry the refresh in store unless I find it to be amazing. I would like to carry the reef roids but the verdict is still out on how much I like them. I'll report all of my findings back to ya'll. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 17, 2006 Author Share Posted May 17, 2006 Got them in and started dosing them today. According to Polyplab's website this should run my tank for over a year! Nothing really to report yet but I will say that all kinds of small life went nuts in my tank when I fed reefroids. I had worms crawling out everywhere! Dosing schedule is as follows: Everyday: (Before lights on) -2 drops RF Genesis (dormant bacteria strain) -1 mL RF Fuel (bacteria fuel) (After lights off) -2 drops RF Amino Acids (amino acids specific to coral building) -2 drops RF Plus (SPS specific food) Every week the only thing that changes is how much of the of the RF Fuel I use. Seems to be very straighforward and I can't wait to see some results. Also www.finsreef.com was great to deal with and called me today to make sure I got the package. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 So should I just go ahead and order them from the site or wait until you can get some in the store? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Gabe, Just go ahead and order froms finsreef. They have free shipping on the roids anyway and I don't see us carrying them anytime soon. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 thanks. Just ordered some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammondegge Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 i am watching john icon_rr.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatic-J Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 blob7.gif blob7.gif blob7.gif blob7.gif blob7.gif blob7.gif Just got back to the store and John just fed some of the tanks with Reefoids and OH my! I did not know that meat corals even had polyps!!!! What ever kind of steroids are in this stuff is unbelievable. I could acually here the corals singing whaaaaaa!! No kidding. Also I could see this thing growing right in front of my eyes. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Day 1 Report: Water is clear, but my water is always clear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 John, do you store this stuff in the refrigerator? Do you have any concerns for the contents aging and losing potency, that is, do they have an expiration date? As you know, I have a 30g tank also, and since you have enough for a year, I'm wondering if it will degrade in quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 20, 2006 Author Share Posted May 20, 2006 Everything is refrigerated except for the fuel portion. The fuel smells like acetic vinegar of some type and has been reported to taste the same (I did NOT taste it). The bacteria, acid, and coral food are all refrigerated and I'm not really concerned about them going bad over time. If something like that should occur, I'm sure I could just talk to David at polyplabs and get it replaced. Day 4- Water still crystal clear, corals are showing more polyp extension and are slowly regaining color from my barebottom pseudo meltdown. Skimmate production has not changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 Day 8 update - Fuel dosage increased to 1.2 mL *Corals show new growth and have recovered from pseudo crash. Color still lacking *Skimmate production has not changed in quantity but the skimmate is different. Less chunky and different smelling *Water is crystal clear *Coralline algae and pod population have exploded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 I just dosed with the reef roids the other day. It wasn't a mind blowing reaction, but you could definitely tell that the ricordea, mushroom, and xenia liked it. Strangely one of my star polyp colonies closed up. Maybe their mouths were full and they were trying to swallow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 Yeah it's a very very weird food. I haven't really ever seen anything like it before as I've never seen a huge feeding response from soft corals. Try targeting some or your zoas, they have a crazy weird feeding reaction. Each mouth gets like a little nipple on it confused5.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 So tommorow will be two full weeks into the treatment and I'm still impressed. Growth is increased, color is increased, the pod population has exploded, and the skimmate volume is now greater and less chunky. I'll be gone vacationing in St. Croix until June the 11th and my roommate will be dosing the tank. Very scared about leaving it for this long but I'm sure it should be fine. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Tomorrow will be 4 weeks into the system and the results are still great. My roommate did a great job dosing the tank for me while I was gone and the only thing I came back to was fantastic growth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 So nice to see that it is indeed possible to leave town without stuff dying in the tank - hope I have the same fortune when I go away at the end of the month. Is your skimmer still cranking it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 The skimmer is still cranking it out but had some major issues due to me not calling you to check it Mike. I think in effect it was off for at least a week as the collection cup was completely full. It's rocking and rolling now though and I hope to have everybody back to speed in no time. And I did lose one coral but not completely. For whatever reason, the blue selago frag I got from Clint (fishypets), which has been in the tank almost 4 months and laid down a nice base, RTN'd sort of. The biggest branch has a huge dead spot right in the middle of the branch but the top portion and the bottom portion continue to live. Very very weird as their are even single polyps in the dead spot still living and nothing else in the tank was affected. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 So here we are at week five and I'm still liking this filtration/feeding method. The frag that suffered damage while I was on vacation continued to worsen so I snapped it off and the base is recovering nicely. Fish still look good, corals still look good and are growing, and the skimmer continues to churn out some funky looking and smelling skimmate. I do still have some whispy algae so I don't think this would be a great alternative for dealing with bryopsis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Do you feel the benefits are worth the costs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 At this point and on this tank, yes. Would this system be very economical on a 400 gallon tank? Absolutely not, but what IS economical for a tank that size anyway. At the rate I'm dosing this stuff, it will probably last another year or so. This puts the price at under 10 dollars a month. I spend more on supplements and carbon monthly so I feel that this isn't too costly. The downside is that on a large tank, you would have to buy a new kit every three months or so, making it much less cost effective. Another very important thing to remember is that if I do decide to stop dosing at some point, I have to ween my tank off the "steroids" persay. Corals do not like rapid changes in water chemistry so to get off the juice, I'd have to gradually reduce the dosing amount until my tank was drug free. While I've been dosing I've had to clean the glass less often so that's another plus as my time is worth its weight in gold dontknow.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Speaking of Carbon... were you able to get any Hydrocarbon in? If not I may order some soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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