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Nualgi additive review and testing...


Islandoftiki

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Islandoftiki

Monday Mar 25 - DAY ONE!

 

After getting home yesterday evening, I did a pretty thorough look-over of the tank to see what's different. Not too much at this point. The corals look great as usual. No change in the small spots of hair algae. There is a diatom bloom in one spot, but curiously, it's the same spot that I had a diatom bloom a week after my O. Scyllarus mantis shrimp molted which I attributed to a small nutrient spike from the large amount of molt shell that she either ate, buried or discarded. Anyhow, diatoms, same spot, maybe 3 to 4 square inches total. Also, skimmer skimmate production was about double and a little wetter than average.

 

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* On a side note, I'm going to be switching skimmers on this tank from the Innovative Marine skimmer to a CAD Lights PLS-50. I'm currently breaking that skimmer in in a bucket in the basement. The bucket is full of water that I pulled out of my 25 gallon tank during a water change and contains lots of detritus that I stirred up, it also has a couple pieces of live rock with some hair algae that will die off from lack of light, there's a powerhead and a heater in there. That should give that skimmer plenty to skim. I'll switch them over once it's fully broken in. I don't expect it will change much in terms of tank water nutrient levels as both skimmers are about the same size, and are probably have about the same performance.

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Thanks for the update Tiki.

 

 

Hey Kat,

 

 

We shipped your 18ml Free Sample today! Let us know when you get it…

This sample will last you 12 weeks which should be plenty of time to evaluate Nualgi Aquarium.

  • For your 45 gallon saltwater tank, you need to dose 1.5 ml per week. If your algae is really bad then dose it once every 4 days until it normalizes. After that return to once per week.
  • While you are waiting, please be sure to read our FAQ page for more in-depth info.
  • I also encourage you to join our forum where you can interact with other people already using Nualgi in their tanks.

 

 

**IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT YOUR TRIAL

 

 

Please save or print this email to refer to when your order comes.

 

  • WHAT TO EXPECT
  • You should see less buildup on the glass and eventually you’ll be able to reduce the frequency of your water changes. If you have coral, you should see them open up, and many people are reporting new growth. In all tanks water should look clearer and fish more active & vibrant.
  • BEFORE YOU DOSE
  • Shake the bottle vigorously and apply the correct dosage of Nualgi into the tank or sump.
  • TIMING YOUR DOSE
  • At least 4 hours of lighting after dosing are recommended for Diatom growth. To maximize the effectiveness of Nualgi, dose at the beginning of your lighting cycle.
  • HOW MUCH TO DOSE
  • Saltwater: Apply 1ml of Nualgi for every 30gl of water in your tank (including sump).
  • Freshwater: Apply 1.25ml of Nualgi for every 30gl of water in your tank (including sump).
  • FREQUENCY
  • Saltwater – Dose once a week or every 4 days if your nuisance algae problem is severe.
  • Freshwater - Dose once every 4 days.
  • STORAGE
  • Store in a dark cool place - Nualgi does not need to be refrigerated but should be stored away from direct light.

 

  • DOSAGE REFERENCE TABLE

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We’d really appreciate it if you could take pictures and make notes on the changes you see during your trial period. Your comments and before/after photos will help us understand how our product performs in different tank environments, and the more data you can give us, the better!

 

 

Thanks for participating and don’t hesitate to jump on the forum to ask us a question.

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I read the RHF article on silica dosing and I'm still on the fence. I understand his reasoning, but if you don't have tunicates, sponges or mollusks, why not feed the tank phtyoplankton and just skip the whole danger zone of diatoms? You are supplementing the food chain that way, so not having the diatoms shouldn't matter. On the other hand, it may actually matter. It might be better to start as low as possible, deal with the diatom uglies for a week or so and let the rest of it take off. I'm really intrigued by the two possibilities.

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Islandoftiki

Ok, I got a reply regarding the recommendation to discontinue the use of kalk with dosing Nualgi...

 

Nualgi contains Calcium in bio-available form. That is why a weekly dose of Nualgi can replace a daily dose of Kalkwasser. Because the aquarist community is used to using traditional additives (which are absorbed only partially) it is a challenge for them understand nano scale products such as Nualgi. Please read our FAQ page explanation of “bio-available” and “nano”.

 

I'm a little nervous about suddenly discontinuing kalk dosing. What do you guys think?

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Ok, I got a reply regarding the recommendation to discontinue the use of kalk with dosing Nualgi...

 

 

I'm a little nervous about suddenly discontinuing kalk dosing. What do you guys think?

I'd only be nervous if you were using it to keep your pH up. Otherwise I think you should just keep a close eye on alk and calc. I can't see how adding 4ml/week is going to replace the 30tsp of calc that I normally add.

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Islandoftiki

I'd only be nervous if you were using it to keep your pH up. Otherwise I think you should just keep a close eye on alk and calc. I can't see how adding 4ml/week is going to replace the 30tsp of calc that I normally add.

 

Well, yes, it was initially to help boost pH during the winter when the house was all closed up. It should be less of an issue now that we're getting back into the good weather and letting some fresh air in. My pH without it would be 7.7 to 7.8 without the kalk in the winter.

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Islandoftiki

My other option would be to discontinue the kalk and up my alk dosing pump to compensate. I'll have to manually dose for calcium then... or buy another dosing pump...

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jedimasterben

When you click on notifications, in the upper right of the drop down thing it says options. I have the ones for instant notifications of quotes, likes checked - I didn't alter anything but it just randomly stopped telling me I had ben quoted. For instance, your quote didn't notify me, nor did Tiki's.

When you are subscribed to a thread, you get no quote notifications from within that thread.

 

I'm getting the impression their PR person doesn't really know what they're talking about.

I don't really think that any of them truly know what they're talking about. ;)

 

Ok, I got a reply regarding the recommendation to discontinue the use of kalk with dosing Nualgi...

 

 

I'm a little nervous about suddenly discontinuing kalk dosing. What do you guys think?

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I'd only be nervous if you were using it to keep your pH up. Otherwise I think you should just keep a close eye on alk and calc. I can't see how adding 4ml/week is going to replace the 30tsp of calc that I normally add.

It won't. They need to get a handle on their support people.

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Tiki, you could always hold off on dosing for a few days as you start the nualgi and see if you actually need it or not. If you do, add it back. If not, leave it be.



When you are subscribed to a thread, you get no quote notifications from within that thread.

I was wondering about that. Thanks, Ben.

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Islandoftiki

Ok, might switch gears here and not fix what ain't broke. My 25 gallon tank is probably a way better candidate for this stuff than my 30 gallon tank. The 25 gallon tank is currently dealing with a minor hair algae outbreak because I got distracted and didn't change my phosphate media a while back, so my phosphates got up to around .09. When I started noticing some hair algae, I did a little testing and got the issue corrected, but not before ending up with a little bit of hair algae to deal with. That tank is considerably lower tech and cointains almost exclusively mushroom corals and a little bit of euphyllia, so I don't have to dose anything in that tank. It might be interesting to see what improvements could be made to that low-tech tank. I didn't find anything about not using kalk in their FAQ before starting and it would probably have swayed my decision to try Nualgi on this tank as I've really got this tank dialed in and stable now.

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Islandoftiki

Ok, so I asked them what I should be using to supplement alk and calc:

 

We recommend you do not use kalk or alkalinity supplement but do monitor your parameters and reach out if something is out of whack!

 

I'll be looking at alkalinity dropping to 5 to 6 dkh by the end of the week if I stop alk and kalk dosing. I'm not sure I can put my trust in .85 ml of Nualgi keeping all of my levels in check.

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jedimasterben

I'll be looking at alkalinity dropping to 5 to 6 dkh by the end of the week if I stop alk and kalk dosing. I'm not sure I can put my trust in .85 ml of Nualgi keeping all of my levels in check.

You shouldn't, because it can't do what they're saying it can. It would need to contain, well, basically kalk to be able to supplement cal and alk.

 

Again, I really don't think that these people have much of a clue about what they're saying, and should NOT be giving advice about it.

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You shouldn't, because it can't do what they're saying it can. It would need to contain, well, basically kalk to be able to supplement cal and alk.

 

Again, I really don't think that these people have much of a clue about what they're saying, and should NOT be giving advice about it.

I am inclined to agree.

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One danger I see with this product (I'll leave the issue of claiming to fix alkalinity/pH in such low doses alone) is how exact and precise one needs to be to make it work. I think that will hinder people from using it - use the incorrect dose? Boom your tank could get out of whack and their response will likely be "Told you not to do that..."

 

Anything that is THAT finnicky might be more trouble than it's worth. Again, feeding phyto and other liquid foods may help the zooplankton more and therefore the overall tank without the hassle of being exact.

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Islandoftiki

One of the issues is that their FAQ is missing a lot of this information. There was nothing about not dosing any alkalinity or calcium supplements to maintain normal stable levels in the FAQ, so this news is coming out just now, and it's kind of an important thing for saltwater aquariums that have more than just fish in them.

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One of the issues is that their FAQ is missing a lot of this information. There was nothing about not dosing any alkalinity or calcium supplements to maintain normal stable levels in the FAQ, so this news is coming out just now, and it's kind of an important thing for saltwater aquariums that have more than just fish in them.

Yeah, I asked them a question regarding overall balance in an email and they pointed me to their forums. They should be giving me the information - not letting people on forums speculate about it. Their product may work, but I'll be damned if I let them get away with saying it's scientifically backed. No publication, no references, no actual data other than anecdotal evidence from people who had luck with their product. Again, we don't see ANY of the negative reviews (likely they don't want to put them up, or those who were unhappy didn't feel it worth their time to complain or continue contact with them).

 

This stuff definitely could work - though I doubt such small doses would alter your pH and alkalinity... Think of how much kalk you have to use regularly to keep it going, and this stuff in 1ml dose/30g is going to change that? I find that suspect.

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It takes 10 tsp of dowflake to raise my calc 30ppm. 4ml/week isn't gonna do jack shit. I'm up around 80ml of my alk solution/day as well.



I was onboard as maintaining a steady population of diatoms seems feasible, however, they're claiming it's gonna replace dosing altogether? Nah.. #### nah..

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Islandoftiki

They seem to keep harping on the "bio-available nano particles" as some sort of replacement for having to keep stable parameters, or at least that's how I read it.

 

That added to my forum question about kalk:

 

Take a look at James Conrey videos of nualgi trial. He has plenty of corals. At the end of the day it’s your call .. You can gradually wean away… This is where science meets art !



I think I might be the first person to take a more scientific approach to the product so far.

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I did find one entry on the forum titled alk, calc, mag and the OP states he has a calc reactor and their response was to keep using the calc reactor and try to ween yourself off it if you can. It also has a video of a 20 gallon saltwater tank with some rock and 2 anenomes. I'm losing interest by the minute here.

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It would just about have to contain pure lye to do so in those concentrations & be bottled in borosilicate to ensure safe containment. And include a tersely-worded MSDS for safe handling.

 

I'm just not getting it... the product appears to bind up nutrients by provoking a diatom bloom - but that implies you need to have a hearty clean-up crew present to eat the resulting bloom to get the shiny happy tanks they cite. Yes, corals would probably love the food, but not if they're completely buried by a coating of diatoms. Or are the individuals representing the company giving advice that's more along the lines of fish-only-live-rock setups, where chemistry just doesn't have the same urgency about it? The FAQ implies that you should not be dosing ANYTHING while using this product.

 

No bones about it... I WANT something like this to exist & work, I mean, who wouldn't want a simple, safe product you use a just a few of drops a week or so to fix everything?

 

Edit: As MikeTR points out - diatoms might outcompete cyanobacteria and nuisance algae and be overall more beneficial to have present in the tank as almost everything we want present will eat them. I could easily see this replacing amino supplements or zooplankton prepared foods - especially in systems with lots of filter feeders

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