• Welcome back Guest!

    MARSH is a private reefing group. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, but please keep them positive and constructive. Negative threads, posts, or attacks will be removed from view and reviewed by the staff. Continually disruptive, argumentative, or flagrant rule breakers may be suspended or banned.

Reef Energy Ab+ (1 Viewer)

Users who are viewing this thread

DwPolcyn

Member Spotlight Contest Winner
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
308
Reaction score
296
Location
Denver
While looking for some Tropic Marine All for Reef I found some reef energy Ab+in stock on Saltwateraqarium.com and bought a bottle to try. How is everyones experience with this new formula?
 

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,283
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
It says it has carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins in it. If you’re feeding your fish a regular mixed diet then I don’t really see the need. It claims to meet the complete nutritional needs of corals. Fact is, the majority of corals energy comes from the symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae. In this research, they claim “In fact, as much as 90 percent of the organic material photosynthetically produced by the zooxanthellae is transferred to the host coral tissue (Sumich, 1996)”. I’ll link the article below. I see this stuff like humans taking vitamins. Does it hurt? Of course not. However, if you have a poor diet, then it could help. The difference between us and corals is that we don’t get up to 90% of our energy from photosynthesis. Vitamins have a bigger impact on us because 100% of our energy comes from eating. These types of compounds that a coral could eat or absorb have a much smaller influence on the health of your corals. Nitrogen (nitrates), phosphorus (phosphates), and carbon are MUCH more influential on the health of your corals than amino acids, etc, because those three elements are required for photosynthesis to take place.

 
OP
OP
DwPolcyn

DwPolcyn

Member Spotlight Contest Winner
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
308
Reaction score
296
Location
Denver
It says it has carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins in it. If you’re feeding your fish a regular mixed diet then I don’t really see the need. It claims to meet the complete nutritional needs of corals. Fact is, the majority of corals energy comes from the symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae. In this research, they claim “In fact, as much as 90 percent of the organic material photosynthetically produced by the zooxanthellae is transferred to the host coral tissue (Sumich, 1996)”. I’ll link the article below. I see this stuff like humans taking vitamins. Does it hurt? Of course not. However, if you have a poor diet, then it could help. The difference between us and corals is that we don’t get up to 90% of our energy from photosynthesis. Vitamins have a bigger impact on us because 100% of our energy comes from eating. These types of compounds that a coral could eat or absorb have a much smaller influence on the health of your corals. Nitrogen (nitrates), phosphorus (phosphates), and carbon are MUCH more influential on the health of your corals than amino acids, etc, because those three elements are required for photosynthesis to take place.

That makes sense, also a really good ELI5! I wonder if it is a more noticeable difference towards some of the softies and lps vs sps. I think this stuff will be perfect for my nano tank, I do not feed much since there is only 1 little goby in the tank.
 

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,283
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
That makes sense, also a really good ELI5! I wonder if it is a more noticeable difference towards some of the softies and lps vs sps. I think this stuff will be perfect for my nano tank, I do not feed much since there is only 1 little goby in the tank.
Thanks! I could actually boil it down a little more if someone didn’t understand, but I thought that was a happy medium. The “organic material” that photosynthesis produces is essentially carbohydrates or glucose, etc., aka the things that are in the additive. The dinoflagellate algae is doing up to 90% of the heavy lifting. Even if the zooanthelle polyps weren’t catching anything from the water column, up to 90% of its diet would be met. Your nano might be a good application for this type of product considering how little food is fed, however it could be a waste of money as well. Yes, larger tanks are fed more. However, they have more water volume. It’s the relationship between how much you feed and how many gallons you have. For instance, your nano might get a higher proportion of food to gallons than my 300 gallon system even though I feed so much more. It just depends on the situation.
 
Top