Brightwell Coral Amino

[reefer916]

Found some pics of my tank before to current

 

 

Prior to dosing and pics were taken in Aug or Sept, 09

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/P1000363.jpg

 

I started dosing in Dec. 09

 

January, 2010

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_0230.jpg

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1010.jpg

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1055.jpg

 

Feb 2010

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1267.jpg

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1273.jpg

 

I hope this helps, but you could see a major difference in my tanks health from Sept 09 to January. I started dosing the 2nd week of December and I've continued it daily since.

[disaster999]

Found some pics of my tank before to current

 

 

Prior to dosing and pics were taken in Aug or Sept, 09

 

I started dosing in Dec. 09

 

January, 2010

 

Feb 2010

 

I hope this helps, but you could see a major difference in my tanks health from Sept 09 to January. I started dosing the 2nd week of December and I've continued it daily since.

 

fixed that for you

 

its pretty hard to really tell the difference actually, sure a lot of changed, but youve added corals, moved then around, different lighting, changed tanks...etc etc. all these factors is sure going to change ANY tank whether if they use the product or not.

 

if you can take a before and after picture of a coral and or a FTS with no significant change in lighting, or the way the picture was taken (phone vs dslr), then it would be more accurate to show the significant change

[reefer916]

Thanks, I agree.. I kept the same tank and same lighting, but moved the corals around and fragged a bunch and added a bunch. The growth could be due to many other factors, feeding, WC, and just natural progression. I just found an old pic and noticed how much my tanks changed. Not much of a difference between the Jan and Feb pics, but there was significant growth in my acans and my zoas colored up really nicely. The bright orange Aztec Sundial palys went from 3 polyps to 35 polyps from Sept-Jan. I fragged a bunch in Feb., but the polyps are much larger as well. Anyways, I do have to take a pic and let them be then retake a pic in a few months.

 

I got some browned out ORA acros in a trade, so I'll take some pics and show the progression over the next few months. I'll try not to move them around, but I can't promise anything:) I've got so many corals that I want and will probably frag and transfer some corals to my 95 gallon.

[AFRobert568]

I keep hearing great stuff about this product, but I have a few questions that you users may be able to answer. Does this stuff need to be refrigerated, since it sounds like a “fatty” substance? How has that whole thing about the corals getting upset and turning brown when people have stopped dosing this stuff? I don’t want my tank to get hooked on this stuff.

 

Oh yeah 916 do you buy it local or do you go online? I’m not sure if the price of shipping will defeat the savings.

[reefer916]

I keep hearing great stuff about this product, but I have a few questions that you users may be able to answer. Does this stuff need to be refrigerated, since it sounds like a “fatty” substance? How has that whole thing about the corals getting upset and turning brown when people have stopped dosing this stuff? I don’t want my tank to get hooked on this stuff.

 

Oh yeah 916 do you buy it local or do you go online? I’m not sure if the price of shipping will defeat the savings.

 

It doesn't need to be refrigerated. I believe it can't be placed in direct sunlight for some reason, but I just leave it in my stand. I haven't stopped using it to see if my corals brown out, but I put browned out corals in my tank and they color up nicely.

 

I buy mine locally at my LFS"s. I bought the 4 oz bottle I believe and pay about $34 for it. I've seen the 2 oz bottles go for $15.50-$22 in my local LFS's. I ran out and needed some, so I paid a little extra to get it for the 4 oz. The LFS I usually get it from sells the 4oz bottles for $28. The 2 oz bottle lasted me about 4 months doing 10 drops daily in my 24 gallon.

 

It could be snake oil, but I'm afraid to stop because my corals look so healthy now. Either that or my reefing skills have increased.. I began singing lalabyes to the corals at night...lol What ever works right:) Happy reefing!!

 

Robert528:

 

I noticed your in Sac as well. I get my dry goods from Aquarium Depot in Roseville because they have the cheapest prices in town. I buy my food, salt, and supplements from them. Unless I'm doing a big supplement order online from Marine Depot, but I like to help out the local businesses.

[bird]

Well, I am pretty much convinced that it works.

 

I restarted using 2x Saturday ago after some of my sps went brown. (pic of them in above post)

 

They are coloring back up, and all I can think is the BCA is what is doing it as no other changes have occurred.

Here couple week ago almost.

 

tri-color was totally brown Sat. before last.

 

 

I think you really need to have fairly low nutrients to get the max out of it.

what ever this is it was totally brown a week ago. Now the tips are going blue.

 

a purple something coloring back.

 

and the ones that stayed nice are popping now. (untouched photos)

 

Sweet stuff that Brightwell amino acids.

.

[bird]

this 2 Sat ago

and now

[AFRobert568]

Thanks Reefer916, they do have the best prices. I plan on getting a bottle when my oyster feast runs out. I haven’t noticed much with that, but I don’t feed nearly as often.

[PODPIMP]

I can't dose this stuff anymore. It seems to cause cyano almost instantly in my tank I can't say that I saw a difference anyway. Corals will grow and color up in any healthy tank. I think you guys are giving this product too much credit.

[guia x]

I have alot more cyano growing now too. I've been dosing for about a couple of weeks. I can't really say my system is a ULNS. I feed very heavily and I know I've got alot of nitrates even though it reads 0 on my test kit. I'm not going to blame it all on BCA. I've got to take care of the nutrients and quite possibly flow problems first before I start adding this stuff. I haven't really notice much difference yet in my corals colors. Then again, most of my corals already have nice colors to begin with. Only a couple that are not happy right now. When I fix my cyano problem, maybe I'll give it another shot.

[bird]

I had some cyano problems the first time I used it.

No problems now, but I have my tank with very low nutrients now so that seems to make a big difference at least for me.

If I was having cyano again I would stop using it and get my parameters in check first.

There again, parameters can be different for many.

Growing sps I understand that ULNS is really a must or at least close to that in order to get the best color and growth.

LPS system, well, there is an amino acid for LPS, don't know why, maybe because it is made for systems that do not have to rely on ULNS.

I don't know, jsut do know that it is working pretty well now that I have my nutrient levels in check.

[reefer916]

I haven't had any major issues with cyano, but I do daily 1 gallon water changes in my 24. I probably pull out a lot of the excess nutrients, so the algae and cyano don't have time to eat it. For the most part I'll do my water change about an hour or two after I dose. I'm not running a skimmer, but I'm thinking about getting one.

 

Podpimp: Your SPS tank is pretty killer.. What are you feeding your tank? I've been feeding my tank Oyster, phyto, roti- feast daily. Just a few drops, but I wanted to see if I could cut it back so I could do a little less water changes.

[billgil1]

I haven't had any major issues with cyano, but I do daily 1 gallon water changes in my 24. I probably pull out a lot of the excess nutrients, so the algae and cyano don't have time to eat it. For the most part I'll do my water change about an hour or two after I dose. I'm not running a skimmer, but I'm thinking about getting one.

 

Podpimp: Your SPS tank is pretty killer.. What are you feeding your tank? I've been feeding my tank Oyster, phyto, roti- feast daily. Just a few drops, but I wanted to see if I could cut it back so I could do a little less water changes.

I have a 24 also and only dose twice a week with the brightwells product(amino acids) and also the oyster feast. Corals are starting to color up nice. I have several sps corals and I am running the 20" NEP over my aquapod 24gal tank. Does anyone out their think I need to dose the amino acids more or just do it twice a week???? Thanks Bill....

[reefer916]

I have a 24 also and only dose twice a week with the brightwells product(amino acids) and also the oyster feast. Corals are starting to color up nice. I have several sps corals and I am running the 20" NEP over my aquapod 24gal tank. Does anyone out their think I need to dose the amino acids more or just do it twice a week???? Thanks Bill....

 

If it's working I wouldn't change it. However, if you want you could just gradually add a day and see what happens. I started off with 10 drops and went to 15 drops daily. I noticed that there was some algae growing on my back wall so I cut it back down to 10 drops. It probably depends on your coral load as well.

[nikeSB]

I can't dose this stuff anymore. It seems to cause cyano almost instantly in my tank I can't say that I saw a difference anyway. Corals will grow and color up in any healthy tank. I think you guys are giving this product too much credit.

 

i have to agree here. alot of my sps are brown when i receive them but they color up in time usually around the 2-3 weeks mark. and thats just by not touching them and leaving them alone

[Carlton'sTank]

I cut down drastically after the appearance of nuisance algae on my sand bed. Corals are the same colors as before so I am thinking that some of my other variables (new bulb/salt and running carbon) might have attributed more to color and growth than this product did. Still have 3/4 of a bottle that I will use sparingly as long as the algae does not return.

[bird]

This is a product that probably needs some thought given to it.

Some it seems it works good for and others causes problems for.

 

Amino acid supplementation seems more popular in UK, Germany and such.

The acro systems are all pretty much run as Ultra Low Nutrient System.

This seems to be the mindset that the tank has to be basically run as a ULNS on a continuous basis.

Posts claim that results may not be seen for 6 months, especially if it is a system that has been running for a year or more (aged).

I am thinking of trying vodka once I get my livestock decided upon and see if that will help move it along.

The ultimate ULNS is by using zeolite minerals and adding/growing/feeding bacterias that do not normally grow in the average reef.

These bacteria, from what I understand, feed upon phosphates. They grow on the zeolite rocks. There is much more to it like having to have a very efficient skimmer along with flushing the rocks daily.

 

Pretty much most of the systems using the ULNS seem to gain the most from amino acid supplentaion from what I gather.

[bird]

Any updates from anyone on how this product is working?

 

I am not going to say beyond a doubt that the aminos are responsible for the increase in coloration since there have been some that have reported no change.

I am not familiar enough with sps and other corals to be able to determine personally that the product is responsible for the change, or if it is coincidence.

I had thought at first it was increasing colors, but the more I read the more I am even more so lost about keeping sps then ever.

 

Here is a small frag that I have had for quite some time. It has never really did too much except to stay a mutted color, close to brown.

In the last week it has started to turn for the better.

I am not 100% but I believe that this is one I bought from a local as

Tubb Blue or something like that.

I have been using the BCA this time for a good 3 weeks at least and daily though there may have been a few days I forgot to dose in that time.

[reefer916]

Lookin good...

 

All of my corals look great, but I did have a wild colony brown out. I moved it to my 95 gallon a few weeks ago to see it'll color up. Also, I got a bunch of corals from bird, so I needed to make some room:)

 

I would have to agree with a lot of you guys... I'm not sure if the aminos caused the drastic coloration and growth of my corals or it's just good husbandry. The aminos don't hurt anything and all of my SPS are coloring up or have colored up really nicely. I really don't want to stop dosing it to see if it'll have an ill effect on my corals because I'm so happy with them right now... This is a horrible blurry picture and I'll take a new one later. This acro was bought with just being yellow with some white polyps. Now it's one of the nicest acros in my tank... I've had it for about 6 weeks now..

 

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1331.jpg

[bird]

Lookin good...

 

All of my corals look great, but I did have a wild colony brown out. I moved it to my 95 gallon a few weeks ago to see it'll color up. Also, I got a bunch of corals from bird, so I needed to make some room:)

 

I would have to agree with a lot of you guys... I'm not sure if the aminos caused the drastic coloration and growth of my corals or it's just good husbandry. The aminos don't hurt anything and all of my SPS are coloring up or have colored up really nicely. I really don't want to stop dosing it to see if it'll have an ill effect on my corals because I'm so happy with them right now... This is a horrible blurry picture and I'll take a new one later. This acro was bought with just being yellow with some white polyps. Now it's one of the nicest acros in my tank... I've had it for about 6 weeks now..

 

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1331.jpg

Sweet looking. Can't get a sharper image of it?

I know aquaculture is really the way to go, but isn't it awesome when you get a dull wild and it colors up like that?

I have had a wild that is just starting to color up.

I almost had given it away cause the room situation in the tank is tight and it wasn't doing much.

Now starting to look better just in the last week.

 

 

How is the aqua colored bottle doing?

It was really starting to get some nice hues when I sent it.

[reefer916]

Sweet looking. Can't get a sharper image of it?

I know aquaculture is really the way to go, but isn't it awesome when you get a dull wild and it colors up like that?

I have had a wild that is just starting to color up.

I almost had given it away cause the room situation in the tank is tight and it wasn't doing much.

Now starting to look better just in the last week.

 

 

How is the aqua colored bottle doing?

It was really starting to get some nice hues when I sent it.

 

I'll try to get some better pics.. I just borrowed my mother inlaws camera.. I've been real happy with that wild colony... The wild colonies are pretty cool, but the aquacultured stuff also has it's own appeal. At least you know that they do well in captivity and the color won't morph as much.

 

The little bottle brush is coloring up nicely and the polyp extension is insane. It's only riveled by my Red Planet frag:) My tank is now officially full, thanks to you..haha Everything I got from you looks great. Here's a pic I took last Saturday. Don't mind the algae I was just beginning a water change..

 

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1339.jpg

[bird]

I'll try to get some better pics.. I just borrowed my mother inlaws camera.. I've been real happy with that wild colony... The wild colonies are pretty cool, but the aquacultured stuff also has it's own appeal. At least you know that they do well in captivity and the color won't morph as much.

 

The little bottle brush is coloring up nicely and the polyp extension is insane. It's only riveled by my Red Planet frag:) My tank is now officially full, thanks to you..haha Everything I got from you looks great. Here's a pic I took last Saturday. Don't mind the algae I was just beginning a water change..

 

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv202/n...16/IMG_1339.jpg

Awesome tank you have there.

Did I send any of the purple macro to you?

[shan]

Just wanted to do an update. I posted a couple months ago. I just started using Brightwells Coral Amino after noticing a few of my zoas losing some color. Im always hesistant to use these type products as I dont want to do ANYTHING that could possibly cause unwanted algae. But I started dosing 5ml of this product in my 34g solana 2-3 times a week about 3 weeks ago, and there is a noticable difference in my softies and a few of my SPS. I have a small colony of nuclear greens that had faded quite a bit, and had lost their intense green color. Now they are as bright green as can be. I cant be 100% sure that it is the amino, but I have not changed anything else. BTW, no algae problems so far!!!

[reefer916]

Awesome tank you have there.

Did I send any of the purple macro to you?

 

 

Thanks, but your tank is looking pretty nice. The lagoon is sweet!!!

I did get a little of the purple macro on the Sunny D colony, but I think my hermits ate it. Next time I buy something from you or we do a trade it would be awesome to add some to my tank..

[bird]

Thanks, but your tank is looking pretty nice. The lagoon is sweet!!!

I did get a little of the purple macro on the Sunny D colony, but I think my hermits ate it. Next time I buy something from you or we do a trade it would be awesome to add some to my tank..

Any time. I still have it growing in a couple of places pretty strong. I added a small Tuxedo urchin, 2 Scarlet hermits and a small Mexican Turbo that are all doing a fair job at keeping it from spreading out of control.

They are also doing a great job at getting rid of the red turf that keeps popping up.

 

If you want some of the macro just pay shipping and I will send some.

Only thing is is that with the heat it may not make it 2-3 day. Maybe it will cool down a little soon, at least for a few days. I have cold packs but don't think they would last that long.

 

I am still adding the coral amino but right now I am in limbo whether it is really doing anything.

The first bottle seemed to work great, but this bottle I am not so sure.

 

I wonder if the formula was changed.

Chris at Brightwell had said that it may change with time as they try to prefect it...