Features
- 500ml / 17 fl. oz
- Replaces “vodka method” of microbial activity-enhancement
with a completely safe and biologically-sound, non-flammable alternative
to using vodka or ethanol.
- Indirectly benefits corals and other suspension-feeding invertebrates
by encouraging reproduction of bacterioplankton (an important food source
for suspension-feeding invertebrates).
- Encourages polyp-expansion in all corals.
- May be used to help expedite biological filtration in new set-ups.
- Formulated by a marine scientist.
Description
Reef BioFuel
Helps maintain a balanced nutrient-limited marine aquarium by enabling
the hobbyist to enhance the rate of microbial growth and reproduction, increasing
the rate of phosphate-reduction and denitrification; this is of particular
benefit in heavily-stocked, well-fed reef aquaria.
Technical Background
The concept of biological filtration is simply to utilize living organisms
to remove substances from aquatic systems as a natural result of their respiration
and metabolic processes. This mode of filtration is at work in any aquarium
system housing live organisms, though microbes (e.g. various types of bacteria)
are arguably responsible for the majority of nutrient-remineralization that
takes place; oceanographic studies have shown that up to 90% of the dissolved
organic carbon present in seawater may be assimilated by planktonic bacteria
(bacterioplankton) into new biomass. This nutrient assimilation simultaneously
removes nitrogen (as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) and phosphorus (as phosphate)
from the water, making bacterioplankton a very effective sink of dissolved
organic material that would otherwise fuel the growth of organisms such as
cyanobacteria and filamentous algae in aquaria.
Bacterioplankton are also an important food source for organisms that are
able to capture them from the water column. In a sense, utilizing these microbes
to control dissolved organic material and then gradually removing the microbes
themselves on a continuous basis through protein skimming and the feeding
activities of corals, clams, tube worms, tunicates, sponges, and their respective
allies, becomes an effective means of nutrient-harvest. Simultaneously, it
promotes the health of these suspension-feeding organisms through constant
feeding (encouraging polyp-expansion in many types of corals), and promotes
water quality. The entire process requires that adequate carbon be present
in a usable form. In aquaria with a tendency towards elevated phosphate and
nitrate concentrations, an appropriate source of carbon may quickly become
depleted. Reef BioFuel provides a source of bioavailable carbon to ensure
that nutrient remineralization is efficient and effective.
Instructions and Guidelines:
Shake product well before using. The main goal of using Reef BioFuel is to
provide a source of organic carbon to bacterioplankton, enabling them to assimilate
available phosphate and nitrate into new biomass (removing these nutrients
from the water column and making them unavailable for uptake by cyanobacteria
and algae); the resulting increase in bacterioplankton biomass is then removed
from the aquarium via protein skimming and through the feeding activities
of suspension-feeding invertebrates such as corals, clams, tube worms, tunicates,
sponges, and their respective allies. In this fashion, good water quality
is maintained, a food source is provided to many aquarium inhabitants, and
a large percentage of the assimilated nutrients are directly removed from
the system (via protein skimming). Do not use this product in any aquarium
in which active and effective protein skimming is not in use. The skimmer
may be turned off for a few (e.g. 2 - 6) hours following addition of Reef
BioFuel to the aquarium to enable nutrient uptake and assimilation, whereupon
skimming should be resumed; the use of a timer and automated doser to control
protein skimming and dosing is a simple and effective means of accomplishing
this. Alternately, the product may be effectively employed without turning
skimming off at all. Grossly overdosing Reef BioFuel will not significantly
increase the effectiveness of the product, nor the rate at which it enacts
changes in aquaria; in fact, it may have a deleterious effect on water quality
if not used as directed. The following recommendations are based upon extensive
testing and will produce the best results in most aquaria; dosage may be adjusted
according to perceived benefit to aquarium with time.
Medium- to High-nutrient Systems: Add 5 ml (1 capful) per 50 US-gallons (189.3
L) [˜2 drops per gallon (3.8 L)] of aquarium water daily. Monitor concentrations
of phosphate and nitrate with accurate test kits; phosphate and nitrate should
eventually become immeasurable (or nearly so) when a balance is reached between
the rates of nutrient-input and nutrient-assimilation. Thereafter, switch
to “low-nutrient” dosage (below).
Low-nutrient Systems: Add 5 ml (1 capful) per 100 US-gallons (378.5 L) [˜1
drop per gallon (3.8 L)] of aquarium water daily. With time, hobbyists may
determine that decreasing the dosage and/or dosing frequency by up to 50%
sufficiently maintains a low-nutrient environment. During changes in biological
filtration or when increasing the aquarium bioload, dose 1 drop per 50 US-gallons
daily for one week, then resume “low-nutrient” dosage.
Caution:
Keep out of reach of children. Not for human consumption.
Ingredients:
Purified water, proprietary blend of ACS-grade organic carbon sources.
