Prodibio - Page 23

marilynrn711 · #**551** 09/12/2006, 01:41 PM

I used bio-digest and bioptim for about 5 mos and rarely used the reef booster only 2-3 times.

Now I am battling an outbreak of cyano, which has gone on for the past 2 mos. I am not using anymore of this until I get the cyano under control. Nothing else has changed with the tank so not sure why this has happened. I am feeding the fish sparingly and parameters are all the same.

Do you think the cyano is due to the digest/bioptim?

marilynrn711 · #**552** 09/12/2006, 01:41 PM

I used bio-digest and bioptim for about 5 mos and rarely used the reef booster only 2-3 times.

Now I am battling an outbreak of cyano, which has gone on for the past 2 mos. I am not using anymore of this until I get the cyano under control. Nothing else has changed with the tank so not sure why this has happened. I am feeding the fish sparingly and parameters are all the same.

Do you think the cyano is due to the digest/bioptim?

marilynrn711 · #**553** 09/12/2006, 01:44 PM

Beats me as to why it posted twice!

melev · #**554** 09/12/2006, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marilynrn711
Beats me as to why it posted twice!

Obviously because you wanted twice as much attention.

I had cyano issues myself, but I was overfeeding Golden Pearls via the daily feedings and didn't figure that out for a long time.

I finally made a new batch of food, this time pearl-free, and there is hardly any in my reef at all. The refugium was a red mess, so I just tore it all out two night ago and started that zone anew. Hopefully what little bit survives will die off, or I dose with Chemi Clean to erradicate the last of it.

kirstenk · #**555** 09/12/2006, 02:09 PM

If it is the Prodibio products causing it, I would say its Bioptim and ya may want to dose less of that and see if the cyano stops.

kimoyo · #**556** 09/12/2006, 02:35 PM

I used bio-digest and bioptim for 2 months. Then cyano started growing 2 weeks ago so I stopped the prodibo stuff. Maybe I introduced the cyano in my tank and the bioptim helped it. I wasn't going to post but I guess I'm not the only one.

Acroholic · #**557** 09/12/2006, 03:16 PM

Well, actually I did'nt start having algae problems till I stopped the Bioptim & BioDigest. I Started these back up last week.....without the ReefBooster...

sprite · #**558** 09/12/2006, 04:26 PM

ok i read through 15 pages so far.. my question is for the ppl with the zoanthid issue after starting this...how are they reacting after being on it for awhile now?....will be back in th morning to start reading on page 16..lol

cerreta · #**559** 09/12/2006, 08:32 PM

Posted 9/12/06. 3 months. Pg 23
Ok, this is a good time for an update. I still have mixed feelings about Prodibio. My regime is different from recommended like many others.
To find my previous Update Logs:
Pg 6, 6/21/06 10days with reference pics.
Pg 9. 6/26/06 15days with pics.
Pg 20. 8/2/06. 7weeks. Written description.

My original additive regime is here:

Prodibio Bio Digest: (Sat) 1 amp every other week x 2 then 1/2 amp every other week.
Prodibio Bio Tim: (Sat) 1 amp every other week
Salifert Amino Acids: (Sun) 25cc weekly
Salifert All-in-One: (Mon) 25cc weekly
Salifert Trace Hard: (Tues) 25cc weekly
Salifert Natural Iodine: (Wed) 10cc weekly
Salifert pH/dKH buffer: (PRN) when needed for dKH between < 8
Salifert Coral Calcium: (PRN) 25cc when needed for Ca < 425
Vodka: (Daily) 4cc
Coral Food: (Daily) 1/4 tsp Phytoplan & 1/4 tsp ZoPlan & 1/4 tsp Cyclop-eeze whole freeze dried
Fish Food: (Twice Daily Varied) Formula Two and frozen mysis (cyclopeeze enriched)

My current additive regime:
I never did do the ½ amp of BioDigest. I always dosed 1 amp after determining that the vial is for UP TO 250 gallons. It was too hard trying to only dose ½ amp too.
Vodka dosing is 3cc daily.
Everything else is the same.
I also perform 25 gallon water changes monthly. Net system volume is 120 gallons.

9/12/06 3 month Tank Observations:

I still have a hair algae problem but the growth has been severely retarded. About two weeks ago, I dosed chemipure (recommended for red slime algae). I bought this because a the web page ad said it is for hair algae. But when I got the stuff, it was the red slime remover Chemipure. So I dosed it and turned off lighting (moon lights on at night) for two days. Then I had MH on for 2 hours x 2 days. Then 4 hours x 7 days. Now I am up to 6 hours for about three days. This worked extremely well. I used to clean the glass with a magnet cleaner daily. Now I perform the task about once every three days. This is a huge improvement. I have not done any manual pruning of the algae for two weeks. I will do some tuft pulling tonight or tomorrow.

With the algae problem in mind, I was wondering if my skimmer is not big enough for the load I am running. It is a Euroreef RC80. It is comparable to a Deltec external rated for 130 gallons. It skims very well, but it may not be enough.

I have solved my chiller problem and the tank runs at 78-80 degrees.
I have had ongoing issues with alkalinity swings, and my reactor was leaking. So, I replaced it and it was out of service for several days. The alk dropped to 5.4, then shot up to 12.5 as I overcompensated. Now it is back to 10.4 and I will try to keep it around 9-10. Ca stayed at 410 then came up to 435 as the alk increased. I have the reactor just about tweaked.

Coral Observations:

I have lost several large sps colonies to RTN and STN. I have even lost a few frags that were added. The sps recently have taken on a lightening of color. I am unsure this is a cause of Prodibio, since my previous alk swings caused the same problem. But, the colors were not so light before.

Other than problems with sps (and not all but most), the zoos, softies, and LPS have never looked better. Again, I do not think the previous bad look of the zoos was a result of Prodibio but rather a result of the hair algae. Everywhere I have read, algae, alk swings, and temp swings are detrimental. So, I have not yet given up on Prodibio, but with all the other corals looking there best as the algae subsides, it leaves me to wonder why the sps do not fare so well. Maybe it is just the recent alk swing?! I guess the other corals are not so sensitive to it.

As for my adjacent nano tank, (plumbed into same system) the algae has completely subsided after the light dimming and ChemiPure treatment. I crammed this tank full of Zoanthid colonies with a few LPS and softies. I am upgrading to a bigger nano, but time has occupied me.

So, I do not see any ill effects of Prodibio on these coral types. The algae bloom was causing the ill effects.

Future Plans:

I will manually pluck hair algae and treat the tank with another bout of Chemipure. I will also target problem spots of hair algae with the NEW Chem Marin Stop Hair Algae. I will keep increasing the lighting by two hours until I get back to 12 hour light cycles, maybe I will stop at ten. Any thoughts?

I will soon be running out of Salifert AA and will no longer use it. I believe I will get enough AA from the All-in-One product and Bio Tim. I have considered putting the UV sterilizer back in use, but it needed a new transformer. I got it back today and will likely hold off if all goes well.
I will try to post pictures soon.

melev · #**560** 09/12/2006, 08:56 PM

Scott, you said ChemiPure, but I'm thinking you mean Chemi Clean (by Boyd Industries), right?

cerreta · #**561** 09/12/2006, 09:41 PM

Yes, it's Chemi Clean thanks for the correction.

melev · #**562** 09/12/2006, 10:14 PM

That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for double checking.

Bebo77 · #**563** 09/12/2006, 10:23 PM

its funny i use prodibio for a little more than 2 months and it could not get rid of my algea problem. So i stopped using the product. I have been using Zeovit for 3 months and i have no algea at all any more. I have not done anything different with the tank, i just started zeo. I think prodibio is really a hit and miss product, it works for some but not all. JMO

marilynrn711 · #**564** 09/12/2006, 10:31 PM

I had an outbreak of cyano once in my old 55 g tank several years ago and dosed chemi clean. In that tank, I only had softies and

Melev, when you dosed the chem clean did you put in an air stone or something to increase the O2.

marilynrn711 · #**565** 09/12/2006, 10:34 PM

I cut off part of my post above.

I had softies and fish in the 55 g when I dosed the chem clean. With that tank, it got rid of the cyano and never returned,

Now I have sps, zoos and clams and am worried about dosing the chem clean. I read some previous posts about bad outcomes.

melev · #**566** 09/12/2006, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marilynrn711
I had an outbreak of cyano once in my old 55 g tank several years ago and dosed chemi clean. In that tank, I only had softies and

Melev, when you dosed the chem clean did you put in an air stone or something to increase the O2.

I did with my smaller tanks, but not with the 280g reef. The water dumping into the sump oxygenates it pretty well, plus I have nearly 12,000gph of flow going through the reef.

TryTheChi · #**567** 09/13/2006, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bebo77
its funny i use prodibio for a little more than 2 months and it could not get rid of my algea problem. So i stopped using the product. I have been using Zeovit for 3 months and i have no algea at all any more. I have not done anything different with the tank, i just started zeo. I think prodibio is really a hit and miss product, it works for some but not all. JMO

Another possibility is that prodi took your nutrients down and zeo finished the job. If a tank is sufferring from high levels of nutrients it takes time to clear up what is being leached back from th esand/rocks. Its possible had you waited with prodi - you may have got the results you were looking for. We'll never know now

Bebo77 · #**568** 09/13/2006, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TryTheChi
Another possibility is that prodi took your nutrients down and zeo finished the job. If a tank is sufferring from high levels of nutrients it takes time to clear up what is being leached back from th esand/rocks. Its possible had you waited with prodi - you may have got the results you were looking for. We'll never know now

thats what you would think but i did not start Zeo right away, i waited 2 months after prodi before i started Zeo because i did not want to nuke my tank. with prodi i had a bad cyano break out (did not have one before or have had one since)... IMO a nutrient deprived system like prodibio should not let this happen, but i see it over and over in this thread with people fighing algea blooms while using this product? go figure... even melev was fighting an algea bloom and he has been runing this product for months. For some yes it works but i really dont see consistant results from fellow reefers to make me want to use this product again. again JMO

i would love to see some people switch over to zeo for 3 months and post their results.. to see it i am not alone in this....

ROR · #**569** 09/13/2006, 10:28 AM

I am at 4 months now and my algae is all but gone. I thought it would never go away, but about 3 weeks ago it just started to disappear on it's own. The algae wasn't caused by Prodibio though, it started whern I switched to T5s 5 months ago. I can't say Prodibio made it go away either, it could have been that my tank just needed time to adjust to the changes I've made recently. Prodibio is so gentle IMO it's hard to tell if it's doing anything at all

I might try stopping in 2 months just to see if anything happens.

melev · #**570** 09/13/2006, 12:25 PM

I'm positive my cyano issue was due to the massive amount of Golden Pearls I added to my home made food. I totally forgot how potent that stuff was, and how badly it causes cyano to bloom if you overfeed with that stuff.

Prodibio surely had nothing to do with it. I stopped using that food, and the main tank has a tiny spec of it in three places now. And everything is looking cleaner at last. Here's a full tank shot:

mikeatjac · #**571** 09/13/2006, 12:27 PM

All I can say is I can't grow algae in my refug anymore. It all dissappeared about 2 months after I started prodibio.

I know several people that are using prodibio and all but one are happy. The one that is not happy is dosing vodka in addition to Prodibio.

Bebo77 · #**572** 09/13/2006, 12:29 PM

i am not saying that prodibio causes the algea bloom but it should stop it from ever happening... Low nurtrient systems dont have cyano...

tank look good Melev, but can you post a pic of the tank before prodi?

brentp · #**573** 09/13/2006, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bebo77
i am not saying that prodibio causes the algea bloom but it should stop it from ever happening... Low nurtrient systems dont have cyano...

tank look good Melev, but can you post a pic of the tank before prodi?

Adding bacteria to your system does not make it an instant low nutrient system. You can only manipulate your bacterial populations so much, they are always in flux and will always try to get back to what your system can support. On the other hand, it's very easy to add nutrients past the point of your biological filters being able to deal with them. I'm sure that's one of the reasons some people struggle with Zeo products too.

TryTheChi · #**574** 09/13/2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bebo77

i would love to see some people switch over to zeo for 3 months and post their results.. to see it i am not alone in this....

Since you asked

Three months into zeo basic 4: But there again, I had no algae problems with prodi for the preceeding 5 months.

TryTheChi · #**575** 09/13/2006, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by brentp
Adding bacteria to your system does not make it an instant low nutrient system. You can only manipulate your bacterial populations so much, they are always in flux and will always try to get back to what your system can support. On the other hand, it's very easy to add nutrients past the point of your biological filters being able to deal with them. I'm sure that's one of the reasons some people struggle with Zeo products too.

Spot on IMO. 2 months is a short time frame to turn arround an algae plagued reef. It took a fellow reefer I worked with in the UK 4 months to achieve alage free condition. Zeo themselves also counsel patience in expecting results - up to 11 months. I'm not so keen on oneupmanship in comparing these methods when the comparisons are not done in a fair way and without understanding the principles of how things work or interrelate with each other and over time- I just dont think it helps us take the agenda forward. Maybe sometimes the urge to see Iwan type results can make us a little impatient at times, and cut and run early? Understandable of course

Slow and steady, less is more