treesprite July 13, 2009 Share July 13, 2009 Prodibio today from Aquarium One. I feel like I can't screw up using the pre-meaured vials - I only did vodka for 2 weeks because I felt there was too much uncertainty in the dosing. I didn't use the vodka long enough to drastically lower the nitrate, but got a good enough kickstart to have now been completely cyano and hair algae free for a couple of months. I'll start with it after I do my water change this week. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boret July 13, 2009 Share July 13, 2009 You could take some before and after pictures to show the process and success of that stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 13, 2009 Author Share July 13, 2009 You could take some before and after pictures to show the process and success of that stuff! I AM expecting my corals to color up! The vodka got them starting to color up, and I am sure there would have been a dramtic change had I kept dosing and reached the proper maintanence dose, but with all the dosage adjustments that are required I was just too uneasy to continue. After the fragfest I surprised myself with the realization that for the first time my desire to have a bigger tank is that I have no room for my frags to grow, instead of that I want to have tangs that I can keep to full maturity. It overcame the twinge of feeling like giving up that I had recently had, and so, with the vodka "cheap method" being something I feel I can't do, I saw no option left besides commiting myself to Prodibio (I used that term because Prodibio can't simply be stopped on a whim without potential for serious chemistry problems). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 13, 2009 Author Share July 13, 2009 Does wanting a tank for coral space rather than fish make me officially a reefer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawdawg05 July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Really? Do a lot of people recommend this? What does it do exacty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Really? Do a lot of people recommend this? What does it do exacty? It seperates you from your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawdawg05 July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 It seperates you from your money. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Instead of resorting to yet another scheme- Amquel, DSB, Xenia, Vodka, Prodibio- why not try the naturally filtered set-up like mine? My tank has been running for over a year now and I haven't had any of the problems that you have had. I have less than 12 ppm N03 and I feed the fish heavily. No nuisance algae, no cyano, no coral discoloration, good sps growth. What more could you ask for? I know, the LFS needs you to buy a cone skimmer, otherwise your tank just won't be healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Instead of resorting to yet another scheme- Amquel, DSB, Xenia, Vodka, Prodibio- why not try the naturally filtered set-up like mine? My tank has been running for over a year now and I haven't had any of the problems that you have had. I have less than 12 ppm N03 and I feed the fish heavily. No nuisance algae, no cyano, no coral discoloration, good sps growth. What more could you ask for?I know, the LFS needs you to buy a cone skimmer, otherwise your tank just won't be healthy. So exactly how is your system set up? What's your routine? Can you elaborate? Your pics look great and I believe you've got something good going. I'd really like to check it out. My 75 gallon has just finished cycling and I wouldn't mind experimenting for a while. Let us know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfoxfox July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Rob's hidden point ( and mine also) Don't chase it. If you have ever maintained a pool or a hot tub, you definately know what I am talking about. Take a reading do an adjustment then lock the cabinet for days. Wait for the 'fix/or no fix' to work its wonders. Most folks here will let the tank cycle, etc. what is the difference when you do other things? Let what ever you do have the time to work. My 2 cents PS: I don't dose anything, I do 10% water changes weekly, all my SPS, LPS, etc are growing - maybe slow - but they are fine :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Okay, thank you. I think I understand....don't make it happen? Let happen on it's own and address whatever comes up? Do you use a skimmer? Rob's hidden point ( and mine also) Don't chase it. If you have ever maintained a pool or a hot tub, you definately know what I am talking about. Take a reading do an adjustment then lock the cabinet for days. Wait for the 'fix/or no fix' to work its wonders. Most folks here will let the tank cycle, etc. what is the difference when you do other things? Let what ever you do have the time to work. My 2 cents PS: I don't dose anything, I do 10% water changes weekly, all my SPS, LPS, etc are growing - maybe slow - but they are fine :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfoxfox July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Oh yeah :-) I have a semi cheap hob skimmer. I am not as good as Rob - lol - my fuge made the difference for me. I was running 15 to 25 Nitrate until I got the fuge and Rob gave me 4 different types of macro - 1 of which you now have :-) The dragons breath is nnice to look at and sucks up the Nitrates :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 14, 2009 Author Share July 14, 2009 My old 16g office nano was nitrate-free with no filtration besides macros and deep sand, and I only did water changes like every couple months. I know how to operate a tank with perfect water almost effortlessly with no special equipment. My problem is not maintanence routine to control incoming nutrients, it is getting rid of old nitrate that is leeching from what can only be my liverock (water source reads zero). I did a 100% system re-do with 100% new water, at which time I scrubbed every large and tiny piece of rock with a toothbrush and rinsed repeatedly, and washed my sand. Within a day of putting that scrubbed/rinsed liverock in 100% new water, the nitrate reading when from zero to about 40ppm. Once that probelm is resolved, I can slowly start decreasing the dosing and see how things go. I starve my fish, I do excessive water changes and go through large amounts of salt. I have macros in my refugium. I should not have to change 30 - 50% of my water every freaking week when I only have a few fish which I only usually feed 4 times a week, yet that has been the situation month after month after month after month. Dosing is a last resort for me, not a lazy neglectful way out. If anyone has a solution for leeching that has nothing to do with things I already do, have already tried, would require fancy equipment, would require replacing my rock, or would be to simply quit, please do share that miracle with the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelson_crn July 14, 2009 Share July 14, 2009 Maybe your live rock needs to be "cooked". Unfortunately that probably isn't realistic unless you're planning on breaking down your tank for a period of time. I've never used prodibio but have heard/read good things about it. Keep us updated on your results. It would be good to know if this works vs. breaking down a tank or trying to find a way to fit a huge fuge into your system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 16, 2009 Author Share July 16, 2009 HERE WE GO! I'm about to add the first dose. To start out I'm supposed to add 6 of the vials, then only 1 every 2 weeks - I thought the dose was more than that and bought a pack of 30, so I won't be buying any additional for a long while! I just read some stuff about Prodibio being a "Liverock Purger", meaning that it purges the nitrate out of liverock. This is EXACTLY why I wanted to dose the Prodibio, to get the nitrate out of the rock so I can get rid of it with my regular water changes as is usually the case for a non liverock-leeching tank. Along with that, it seems some first-time dosers experience sudden algae and cyano outbreaks, because after dosing, the nitrate that has been trapped in the rock suddenly leeches out in a large enough amount to cause such blooms. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 26, 2009 Author Share July 26, 2009 So I am now up to day 11 and the first "regular" sized dose is Wednesday (the first wat 6 vials). I suddently have cyano in my tank after not seeing any since I dosed the vodka a couple months ago. I read the idea that the reason people get cyano after initial dosing of Prodibio is that nitrate is being released from the liverock - if that is the case, I'm happy to suffer cyano a couple of weeks, but will not be happy at all if it doesn't go away again with subsequent doses. The most notale other change is the darkening of a couple frags of the same acro (don't know the name). The one that is lower in the tank was a lot darker than the higher ones, but the higher ones are now equally dark. Is it possible that getting adjusted to the light would create that pronounced of a change in a week's time, or was it the Prodibio, or something I'm not aware of happening in the tank? Things seem to be growing faster over the past week, but maybe that's my imagination. I haven't tested for nitrate for a week, but if I'm seeing cyano I know it's there. Weekly water change scheduled for tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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