Let's of questions, let's start with Nugio first.
"what is PH rock? Would this type of system be able to support any type of algae, such as macro in a refugium?"
pH rock is a rock that happened to have a lots nature trace element that is used in this system to buffer the pH and calcium. On the surface it's just a rock, nothing really special about it.
pH Rock
This type of system is not a good choice for growing any type of algae. The nutrient is very low in this system algae will have difficult time to grow, you can still use refugium for housing small coral or injure fish not for macro algae.
Diver_1298
"After sitting here for 5 minutes the only thing that comes to mind is that you are going to be tied to the manufacturer of the bacteria for replacement?? Is it a self sustaining colony? Will the regular process of the Nitrogen cycle be affected? Once the tank is well established can the addition of the bacteria stop?
The Right Now Bacteria is a self sustaining colony after its introduce to the tank, about every six month or so you can add just a pinch to the tank. The only time you need to restart the colony is that you completely remove all the carbon from the filter and replace with new one, and that only need to be done about every 2-5 years. The regular process of the Nitrogen cycle does not occur if you use this system; if you add the RN bacteria to a tank that has gone through the regular nitrogen cycle, the RN will take over the existing bacteria in a very short time period. Once the tank is establish the bacteria will continue to multiply as long as filter is kept clean.
Matt
"In addition to the other questions, can you speak more about your personal experience testing this? As it is now, this reads like a promo. I'd be curious to hear how long you tested this setup and your personal observations."
It's great to hear from you Matt, my personal experience well lets see..
I been setting up tank with this method for about a year now, the current tank is a 220 gallons reef a part of the 5 tank system I building for my coral wholesale business. So far I am very please with the result, it save me a lots time and money. I was able to eliminate most the equipments I would otherwise need with the regular setup, what impress me is how simple it is to setup and maintain. The growth rate of the corals were incredibly fast even with a regular fluorescent light that I am using. Take a look the photo below, this brown carpet was added last Friday, it was only about the size of baseball.
This photo was taken yesterday afternoon, look at the size of anemone just a few short day.
It also drop the fish death rate from 40% a week to less then 1% a week soon as I turn on the new system. It's like magic, all of sudden the fish quit dying. I mean I was kicking myself in the head for not find out about this earler, it would have save me tone of money I loss for all those dead fish. It's really too bad that most people don't believe this works.
"What were your testing methods to validate this cycle?"
Well Raven, the only way to validate the claim is to setup a tank and put it to the test. I setup one tank follow the protocol and antoher tank with the regular cycle. Test the water on both tank every day, compare the nubmers. The tank with the Aerobic Nitrogen cycle have fish in it the same day, the one with the regular cycle didn't have fish until almost 3 weeks. Then you break the tank down and start it again to see if you can duplicated the result.
I hope I answer everyone's questions.
