Any experience with Aquavitro Fuel?

genesis

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Description

fuel™ is a comprehensive carbohydrate, vitamin, amino acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, and trace element supplement developed to address nutritional requirements commonly associated with corals. fuel™ contains ascorbic acid in a base of chlorella, which contains a rich assortment of amino acids and vitamins. The health benefits of chlorella are widely known and while spirulina, a similar algae, has been regularly used in the industry, aquavitro is the first to utilize the vastly superior chlorella. fuel™ is formulated to provide nutrients available from natural tropical reef waters.
Chlorella is a unique algae that grows in fresh water. It is extremely high in enzymes, vitamins and minerals, including the full vitamin-B Complex. It is over-flowing with unsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, and proteins. There are also vitamins found in Chlorella including: Vitamin C, pro-vitamin A (B-carotene), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), niacin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, Vitamin B12, biotin, choline, Vitamin K, lipoic acid, and inositol. Minerals in Chlorella include: phosphorus, calcium, zinc, iodine, magnesium, iron, and copper. It contains a higher level of amino acids than spirulina and is FDA approved for use with ornamental fish.
Directions

Shake well before using. Use one inner capful (7 ml) for every 110 L (30 gallons*) twice a week or as required to maintain coral growth.
Note: The aquavitro cap offers multiple dosing solutions depending on the size of your system. Each inner cap thread is approximately 2 mL. The inner cap contains 7 mL, while the outer ring contains 28 mL (35 mL when both are filled to the level of the inner cap.) When filled to the top, the cap contains 49 mL.
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I tried it about a year ago and it seemed to work well, I saw good PE. The only caution I could offer is to be careful of the temporary drop in oxygen levels.
 
Bcavalli;1039755 wrote: I tried it about a year ago and it seemed to work well, I saw good PE. The only caution I could offer is to be careful of the temporary drop in oxygen levels.

did you have issues with cyano or algae? I've heard that's a possibility in the first few months.
 
I bought the livestock from a guy and he gave me a gallon of this stuff. I used it for like a month and did see good coral response. The only trade off was I did get a diatom bloom on the sandbed and glass. I going to try using it again since I've seen a lost in colors for some of my corals the last couple of months. Some people I saw who used it would dose it directly into the water like other supplements, but others would target feed the corals especially when they had PE?
 
Crew;1039757 wrote: did you have issues with cyano or algae? I've heard that's a possibility in the first few months.

I'm sorry I don't really remember if I saw any type of algea or cyano. I only used it sparingly when I saw the drop in oxygen levels. It was enough to concern me, so I backed off using it. It may have been me just being to ocd about everything. Lol.
 
I have used it for a few years now at 50% of recommended dose and it works well expecially if your vodka dosing
 
Bcavalli;1039768 wrote: I'm sorry I don't really remember if I saw any type of algea or cyano. I only used it sparingly when I saw the drop in oxygen levels. It was enough to concern me, so I backed off using it. It may have been me just being to ocd about everything. Lol.

How are you measuring oxygen levels? ORP?
 
Crew;1039773 wrote: How are you measuring oxygen levels? ORP?


Yes sir, the orp level dropped over a 100 points immediately. Also if Im remembering correctly my pH levels dropped as well. If I'm not mistaken they have that related issue listed on their product information. I'll see if I can locate it.

I was incorrect it's not listed on their website. But, I'll see if I can find where I found that information.
 
It's a great product but I can't stand the noticable increase of algae growth. I like to wipe my tank only twice a week and Fuel makes the algae grow noticably faster. One thing you can consider is switching to HW marine mix salt, it's expensive but I believe it's the only salt that has amino acids mixed into its salt. I get it from bulk reef supply. I could be wrong but thats the route I took.
 
Bcavalli;1039781 wrote: Yes sir, the orp level dropped over a 100 points immediately.

Wow - that's nothing to sneeze at. Did it stay low? or rebound after a couple hours? I know certain things can cause massive drops for a few hours, and it's more due to the other oxidizers and not oxygen specifically - vitamin c, for example.
 
Bcavalli;1039783 wrote: Here's one analysis regarding ORP and oxygen levels while dosing fuel.

http://reefbuilders.com/2008/06/11/analysis-revew-seachem-laboratories-aqua-vitro/">http://reefbuilders.com/2008/06/11/analysis-revew-seachem-laboratories-aqua-vitro/</a>[/QUOTE]


Interesting read. So is there any serious negative effects on your tank from having a temporary drop in oxygen levels?
 
Genesis;1039788 wrote: Interesting read. So is there any serious negative effects on your tank from having a temporary drop in oxygen levels?

not typically if the drop is only for a few hours - and to be fair, we aren't 100% sure that oxygen is what actually dropped. Measuring dissolved oxygen with ORP is kind of like measuring Alkalinity with dKH. It gives us a general idea, but we aren't actually measuring oxygen.

ORP is actually measuring oxidizers (oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and a bunch of other oxygen radicals) in the water, and while it's a very good way to measure oxygen levels, it's not perfect. You can throw off the number by raising numbers on the other side of the equation and your ORP will go down while dissolved oxygen hasn't really moved all that much.
 
Crew;1039792 wrote: not typically if the drop is only for a few hours - and to be fair, we aren't 100% sure that oxygen is what actually dropped. Measuring dissolved oxygen with ORP is kind of like measuring Alkalinity with dKH. It gives us a general idea, but we aren't actually measuring oxygen.

ORP is actually measuring oxidizers (oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and a bunch of other oxygen radicals) in the water, and while it's a very good way to measure oxygen levels, it's not perfect. You can throw off the number by raising numbers on the other side of the equation and your ORP will go down while dissolved oxygen hasn't really moved all that much.

That's my understanding of ORP as well. It's just an indicator and generally not a reliable unit of measure. However, if my ORP suddenly drops, I know something is amiss in my system and it gives me a chance to make corrective actions, before it becomes an issue. It is a good indicator of your water quality as well.

Like Crew said something as simple as adding Prime will temporarily drop your ORP level.
 
Bcavalli;1039793 wrote: That's my understanding of ORP as well. It's just an indicator and generally not a reliable unit of measure. However, if my ORP suddenly drops I know something is amiss in my system and it gives me a chance to make corrective actions, before it becomes an issue.

I would agree for the most part, but in this instance, you added something to the tank and basically spiked the number of available reducers in the water column, which shifts the ratio in the reducers favor (and lowering the ORP number). The number will balance itself out as the oxidizers in the tank get a chance to react and get everything back into balance. You could counter this by dosing ozone while you dose fuel, or dose fuel over a longer period of time via dosing pump (probably too much effort for something that isn't even necessary in our hobby).

Now if your ORP drops or spikes without you having done anything to the tank - that is when corrective action should be taken.
 
Crew;1039794 wrote: I would agree for the most part, but in this instance, you added something to the tank and basically spiked the number of available reducers in the water column, which shifts the ratio in the reducers favor (and lowering the ORP number). The number will balance itself out as the oxidizers in the tank get a chance to react and get everything back into balance. You could counter this by dosing ozone while you dose fuel, or dose fuel over a longer period of time via dosing pump (probably too much effort for something that isn't even necessary in our hobby).

Now if your ORP drops or spikes without you having done anything to the tank - that is when corrective action should be taken.

Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread Genesis.

Crew are you measuring ORP as well? If so what's your ORP level? I know there's no perfect number and every system is different. I've also read that the high 300mV level would be a good target. Would you agree with that? It's hard to find relevant information on ORP for our reef aquariums and most of its beyond me. I'm still trying to get a grasp on it. Lol My system runs at 375mV and it may vary by 2 or 3mV on any given day.
 
I'm not measuring ORP - but I have a fairly thorough understanding of it from my past life.

I've actually been on the hump about whether or not I should start measuring it. There are definite benefits to having a running look into ORP and it's a fairly accurate method in terms of measurement. My thoughts are it's basically yet another heartbeat on our aquariums and will give us advanced warning of potential issues before they happen. The only downside I can see is the cost of getting a probe and the added stress from false alarms.

I think it's important to remember that ORP is essentially measuring the ratio of Oxidizers to Reducers in the water column. If you add one or the other, you are going to see a spike in one direction simply because you haven't given the system time to balance out. The trick is to make sure you don't let the number stray too far... Too low, and everything suffocates, too high and you destroy every organic at a molecular level.

That being said, it's a fairly difficult task to get ORP into a danger zone on either side of the equation, but for anyone that's looking at dosing an additive like Fuel, it might be something worth tracking. You aren't going to cause any harm in the short term, but if your dosing regimen knocks your ORP down and keeps it there, you are going to start seeing issues with your tank. Even without a probe, the fish are going to be a pretty obvious sign themselves when they stick to the surface of the tank.
 
Crew;1039821 wrote: I'm not measuring ORP - but I have a fairly thorough understanding of it from my past life.

I've actually been on the hump about whether or not I should start measuring it. There are definite benefits to having a running look into ORP and it's a fairly accurate method in terms of measurement. My thoughts are it's basically yet another heartbeat on our aquariums and will give us advanced warning of potential issues before they happen. The only downside I can see is the cost of getting a probe and the added stress from false alarms.

I think it's important to remember that ORP is essentially measuring the ratio of Oxidizers to Reducers in the water column. If you add one or the other, you are going to see a spike in one direction simply because you haven't given the system time to balance out. The trick is to make sure you don't let the number stray too far... Too low, and everything suffocates, too high and you destroy every organic at a molecular level.

That being said, it's a fairly difficult task to get ORP into a danger zone on either side of the equation, but for anyone that's looking at dosing an additive like Fuel, it might be something worth tracking. You aren't going to cause any harm in the short term, but if your dosing regimen knocks your ORP down and keeps it there, you are going to start seeing issues with your tank. Even without a probe, the fish are going to be a pretty obvious sign themselves when they stick to the surface of the tank.

Thank you for the explanation. That's great advice!
 
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