The "BEST" Amino Acid?

[metrokat]

Aquavitra fuel makes me cringe. smells like sulphur.

[ReviloM]

Aquavitra fuel makes me cringe. smells like sulphur.

Mine doesn't. I'm not sure why yours smell that way.Mine has like a faint sweet smell to it. I just sniffed at it again to confirm.

[Arkayology]

If you really want to spend some money on an amino acid supplement, get some Phol's Xtra. It almost certainly contains amino acids, among other things. It is one of the few zeovit products that I really notice a difference after dosing regularly. TBH though, I will not be buying any more supplements like this after I run out of the ones I bought when I was running full zeovit.

 

My advice is to feed your fish a lot.

[Grumblecakes]

my experience with 2 or 3 brands is that they pretty much are good for causing algae outbreaks. I personally think it just adds one more variable that isn't needed.

[hypostatic]

And yes, that I would say is really the thing that these should be dosed for, as just a means of making them eat more!

 

 

I'd recommend reading this recent article on AA:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/12/aafeature?utm_source=nivoslider&utm_medium=slider&utm_campaign=clickthru

 

"Dosing amino acids before a batch feeding may also stimulate polyp expansion and predation, possibly due to molecular receptors present at the surface of the polyp ectoderm."

 

Also from the article:

 

"Although this theoretical example has several limitations, such as the assumption that all particles are removed by the protein skimmer, it does clearly show that mechanical filters (which can include biofilters and sand filters) result in a significant waste of food."

 

[Andrew402]

Mine doesn't. I'm not sure why yours smell that way.Mine has like a faint sweet smell to it. I just sniffed at it again to confirm.

I think it smells like movie theatre butter. Hah. ill be picking up some acropower soon to try.. Ive had pretty good results with fuel and will compare. Fuel def. spurs algae growth though so ive had to adjust dose accordingly

[jestep]

I started using the expensive korallen zucht concentrated SPS stuff a few months ago and the difference is very noticeable in polyp extension and in skeletal growth rates.

Up to 100% increased growth of many SPS, even sensitive types such as Fiji and Tonga corals.

I'm extremely skeptical of any product that makes claims like the korallen stuff, especially at an absurd dose of 1 drop per 25 gallons, but in all observation it really works for me. I couldn't tell you if it's 100% increased growth but it's noticeable and that in itself is something.

I don't have the ability to do an A-B comparison of korallen and acro power but I would love to see objective comparisons of different Amino's and not just hearing subjective and uncontrolled and possibly completely anecdotal user experience stories. I don't think it is but my experience in SPS growth rates could be simply coincidental for all I know.

 

I do have a bottle of acro power that I started last week, and I will post if it seems to have a similar effect as the korallen stuff, I'm hoping it does just based on cost.

[jedimasterben]

There is so much bullshit that flies through the Zeovit guide it makes my head spin, but at least some of their products do work, some of which work well. Others are very dangerous to use, but some people keep chasing that almost-bleached color they love so much.

[metrokat]

This is my new theory: (of course with my nutrient levels I can never carry this out)

ULNS

Dose live zooxanthellae.

Boom.

[PRJ]

I picked up some AcroPower on Saturday. While I won't have much to compare to, I'll report back when/if I notice anything good/bad.

[metrokat]

How many acros do you have?

[evanski]

I'm not well versed in organic chemistry but being that they are organic compound I'd imagine that they would begin to decay significantly as soon as the bottle is opened.

 

I am, and you are correct. Most AAs are sensitive to temperature, pH, and oxidation.

 

JediBen is correct that the end-point of amino acid metabolism is nitrogenous waste (ammonia, urea, uric acid, etc). Claiming it does will not "raise your ammonia" is either ignorant or disingenuous.

 

IN MY OPINION, feeding and AA supplementation can help coral growth, as it is VERY hard/impossible for corals to synthesize AA acids when only photosynthesizing.

[basser1]

Hey Gang....

 

FWIW, Reef-Builders has given Acro-Power the top spot in their Best of 2013 List.....

 

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/01/06/reef-builders-editors-choice-products-2013/

 

I see where Julian Sprung was responsible for developing this product.

[urbaneks]

Like others that have posted here, I use the Zeo Amino as well as their Coral Vitalizer, Pohl's Xtra and their Bak without having the pastel colors.

 

I don't have chemical or molecular data to back my claims up but I can tell you that I stopped dosing all products over the summer and I saw a noticeable drop in color. I can't tell you which product is the most responsible but they do work.

[VABumpkin]

For someone without a skimmer is it better for my water quality to dose amino supplements or feed the corals?

[Andrew402]

Hey Gang....

 

FWIW, Reef-Builders has given Acro-Power the top spot in their Best of 2013 List.....

 

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/01/06/reef-builders-editors-choice-products-2013/

 

I see where Julian Sprung was responsible for developing this product.

This is what drew my attention to it.. But as others have said there are alot of variables at play as to why your corals may be growing faster/colored better, and id be interested in the results of some actual studies. Jake said in the review he isnt sure what makes it better than the other AA's he has used, but it just is.

[blasterman]

Seems if you avoided ULN conditions to begin with you wouldn't need to resort to these products.

[jestep]

I'm definitely not ULN. Low but nothing near what the zeo systems run. Even with that, I see acros browning at around .08 - .12ppm PO4.

[hypostatic]

article stolen from Albert Thiel's thread, that is of relevance to the discussion

 

http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/nutrition-6/amino-acids

[Arkayology]

Hey Gang....

 

FWIW, Reef-Builders has given Acro-Power the top spot in their Best of 2013 List.....

 

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/01/06/reef-builders-editors-choice-products-2013/

 

I see where Julian Sprung was responsible for developing this product.

Reef builders is just a site to market stuff. Ive never seen a bad review from them.

[ZephNYC]

Reef builders is just a site to market stuff. Ive never seen a bad review from them.

Lol...true this. It would all be far more reef suave to dump the marketed amino products and just pick up human grade free form aminos from the health food store. 10 X cheaper and 10X the volume. Just be sure to get a non flavored product, as most are flavored because they taste like crap.

[hypostatic]

Im going to start dosing RockStar.

 

But only two drops at night.

 

Paatay like a RockStar.

 

I just checked GNC, they have the all separated and cost more than Zeo. Can you post a link to a 21 AA capsule.

http://www.gnc.com/Sports-Nutrition-Amino-Acids/family.jsp?categoryId=12946244&sr=1&origkw=amino%20acids

http://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Amino-Complete-Caps/dp/B0013OQIEY

 

here's how many migs of AA there are per 4 capsules

http://www.nowfoods.com/Amino-Complete-360-Veg-Capsules.htm

[basser1]

Well I just got a bottle of AcroPower from inTank, so I'll keep you all posted on how it goes....

 

I think it's interesting to note, the label says it does have a 2 year shelf life if stored in a cool dark place. Just to be sure, I'm keeping it in the fridge.

[hypostatic]

The main benefit from amino acid supplements (IMHO the only real reason for dosing them specifically) is that proline, aspartic acid, and glutamine elicit a rapid and intense feeding response, aka polyp extension, after which they should be fed foods according to the typical particle size that the coral feeds upon.

 

Hey I thought you'd appreciate this:

 

 

Interestingly, they find that inhibitors of protein synthesis reduce the rate of calcification considerably. For example, reducing protein synthesis by 60-85% reduced calcification by 50%. A similar result was found by inhibiting glycoprotein synthesis. These results did not come about because of reduced metabolism, but rather by specific effects of reduced protein and glycoprotein synthesis. The most important conclusion in their paper may be that the rate of skeletogenesis may be more limited by the rate of biosynthesis and exocytosis of organic matrix proteins rather than by calcium deposition.

Interestingly, the apparently large need for a particular amino acid (aspartic acid) to synthesize these proteins is satisfied by external sources, not by either the coral itself or the zooxanthellae. For this reason, it might be interesting to see what added aspartic acid does to calcification rates in reef tanks.

 

From this article: Aquarium Chemistry: The Chemical and Biochemical Mechanisms of Calcification

[jservedio]

I really like the Elos Omega system which doses AAs along with their "Skimmer Food" together, they basically do the exact same thing that Ben was eluding to. Their system doses AAs to elicit a feeding responses and then doses food specifically sized to be taken up by SPS.

 

IMO between just feeding and adding the AAs/Acro food I haven't noticed much of a difference at all in growth, PE, color, etc.. The acro polyps have always been reaching as far out into the water as far as they possibly could and growth and color are much more closely tied in with nutrient levels. IMO the best part is that they raise nitrates without raising phosphates and I have been trying to increase my nitrates to around 2-5ppm from 1/10th that for a while now but have trouble doing it without raising phosphates too - this definitely helps.

 

But, I paid for it so I might as well use it all up...

 

I always dose my AAs about a half hour before I feed to try and get the most out of them. Be careful with all of the Amino Acids becuase as everyone poitned out, they break down to nitrates and overdoing it will lead to algae and cyano.