What exactly do they do?

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by steve wright, Jan 27, 2011.

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  1. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Just enquiring if there might be any interest in an experiment I am considering doing using various commercial additives, to find out for myself exactly what they do, to salt water parameters

    the products I am considering using are
    Purple Up
    Argamilk
    Argamight
    Brightwells part A and B Calcium and Alkalinity system

    the test will not be conducted on my reef tank

    1) I will be setting a 5 gallon BB tank up, with a HOB filter for water circulation only
    2) I will be using 5 gallons of water from my reef tank at water change time
    3) there will be no livestock in the system, just a piece of rock and water
    4) Water will be tested when 1st introduced for Calcium , Alkalinity and Magnesium
    5) one of the above products will be used in accordance with the basic instructions for a period of 2 weeks
    6) water will be tested at the end of 2 week period and we should know, what if anything the above product did to the parameters
    7) that water will be discarded and a new bacth of saltwater from my reef will be added so that the next product on the list can be tested

    is anyone interested?

    does anyone have any thoughts about my projected testing method?

    I can run these tests a couple of times over the course of a few weeks (as after all I will still have the product)

    anyone suggest any other commercial brand product they would like me to add to the list? ( bearing in mind availability as I might not have access to all variations mentioned)

    Steve
     
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  3. rc_mcwaters3

    rc_mcwaters3 Clown Trigger

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    Um im very interested in this thread and just subscribed LOL.
     
  4. telstar

    telstar Fire Worm

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    It will be interesting to see what your results will show. I don't know how reliable my information is but I have heard purple up is a waste of money. Let us know what you find out.
     
  5. ezz1r

    ezz1r Feather Star

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    Im in i currently dose with two of your test selections:

    Purple Up - once a week
    Argamilk - daily

    E
     
  6. FaceOfDeceit

    FaceOfDeceit Hockey Beard

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    From what I've read about PurpleUp, and people who have used it...it is a Calcium raising supplement that does not necessarily promote Coraline growth. It can if your Mag and Alk are stable...but so can any other Calcium supplement for that matter.

    Currently, I am using the Brightwell Aquatics supplements of Reef Code A/B and their Magnesion liquids. They are not raising my numbers substantially, but I am also using less than recommended (just in case).

    I will be following along with this. Kudos to you Steve.
     
  7. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    Should be interesting, but to test the "magic potion" claims by some advertisers, I'd think you would need to test more than parameters. This would be testable, but would need to be much more involved. This should be a great start though.

    How and what are you going to test though? I wonder if it would be worth sending out for external testing, to cover more parameters?

    Also, repeatability is important, so, if we could get a number of people to run the same experiment, that would be very useful. I'd be willing to do so.

    I think consistency is important within runs. For example, may want to start out with a big rock and break it up into 4 equal sized pieces (one for each product). Also, tank would need to be cleaned in between, so that there is no residual trace elements. That would need to be though out.

    That's just a start though, I'm sure there are a lot of other things that should be considered to avoid spurious results.

    Anyway, I'm subscribed and happy to help any way I can :)
     
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  9. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    You'll want to be careful using these products together Steve as they all contain calcium which may raise your levels too high. Aragamight is just Aragamilk without water added to it so you should only use one or the other, if at all.

    In a non-experimental tank, if you're already adding calcium, buffer and magnesium supplements, I don't see any need at all to use any of these products.
     
  10. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Steve

    Will this tank hold LR with coralline growth?

    Testing from the initial set-up, before a complete cycle would interest me. Just to see a trend. I know there will be little to no NH3 spike, the stability related to the age of the tank is what I am looking for.

    Lastly what test kit will you be using. Do you use any probes?

    :)
     
  11. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    Duh me. I clearly didn't read your post well enough Steve. Now that I realize that you are only using these products to conduct an experiment, please ignore my comments completely :lol:
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2011
  12. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    I will be using Salifert test kits
    the water will be aged
    the rock will be base rock and will be exchanged when I start with a new additive (so no cumulative effects will be recorded)

    I will be starting with Aragamilk ( On account I already have that product)
    next up will be Brightwell A and B calc and alk (on account I already have those 2)
    I will purchase purple up and Aragamight at weekend ( on account I know the shop has those 2 product)

    scientific it may not be

    fun - it will be

    Steve