New Stuff from Kent Marine

[MattM]

We recently got a box of samples from Kent Marine. I wanted to give everybody a heads up on what's coming out.

Nautilis TE Protein Skimmer

Tom (MickAv8r) is covering this in another thread.

Liqiud Reactor

A single part calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and strontium maintenance product. We have it on good authority that it is in fact aragonite, ground so fine as to be soluable. It should be the same as Aragamilk from Carib Sea.

Marine Biosediment

This is a 6lb jar of aragonite sand. The label recommneds it as a substrate for refugiums or main tanks. They make no outrageous claims on the label (i.e. this is not a Miracle Mud competitor). It might be handy when you need some aragonite sand and don't want to buy the 30lb bag from Carib Sea or the 50lb from Southdown.

Marine-C

A vitamin C supplement in a 1oz. bottle with dropper (same packaging as their Lugol's and Garlic Extreme).

ChromaPlex

A dead phytoplankon solution, similar to PhytoPlex, but its red in color. Its possibly the same as NatuRose from Brine Shrimp Direct.

That's it! We don't have pricing yet on anything except the skimmer, so we don't know yet if we'll be carrying them.

[ December 06, 2001: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[Mouse]

Thanks

 

[MattM]

Haematococcus pluvialis.

That's the phytoplankton we're pretty sure is in ChromaPlex.

 

[bigtank]

Do you think the Liquid Reactor works as well as the website says? I am starting to have second thoughts about using Turbo Calcium and Superbuffer dKH all the time, plus it would be easier to use only one product for calcium and alkalinity.

 

[Super Len]

A lot of credible people think Liquid Reactor is the same thing as Aragamilk - finely ground aragonite/calcium carbonate.

 

[bigtank]

Does Aragamilk work?

 

[MattM]

We don't have any good long-term results yet.

I will say that the only complaint I've heard is that it clouds the tank for about an hour.

 

[Super Len]

This is conjecture (as I'm far from a chemist), but I can't imagine aragamilk and similiar products working as well as a Ca reactor, calcium hydroxide, or calcium chloride/sodium bicarbonate. Calcium carbonate just doesn't stay in solution well. If you grind it to submicrons, it'll be more soluable, but it's hard to believe it'll be as effective as the other methods of calcium input. The fact that aragamilk clouds the waters suggests to me the very idea of it's insoluability in seawater.

Of course, they're a lot of other factors that play into any calcium addition (eg kalkwasser + CO2). So I can't confidently say one method is far better then another.

 

[Anonymous]

I've been looking around the boards for comments about users using Aragamilk. Few have used it, but those that have are quite happy. The only complaint I've found was from someone complaining about the cloudiness. This cloudiness goes away rather quickly.

I got this in an email recently from Kent. The result is a blend of ions in solution and very fine particles; when added to an aquarium, the aqueous ions quickly spread throughout the system, while the particles temporarily cloud the water as they dissolve. After an hour or so, the dissolution is complete, and the water is clear; for this reason, it’s recommended that the product be added at night, so that the nightly pH drop will be countered and the aquarium will be clear by the time you wake up in the morning.

There simply isn't enough people using the product right now to form an opinion. I have no reason to really doubt that it works, I'm willing to keep an open mind since they don't make any outrageous claims, Liquid Reactor isn't going to turn your tank into a liquid crystal or balance your checkbook.

 

[danmhippo]

Tom, can we ask your store to do a simple test. Free ion or not, we would like to see how soluble the powder is. Can you use a 5 gallon tank filled with freshly made sea water. The tank will be completely bare. Add the powder product according to the label instruction and let's see how soluable each product is. Since the tank is bare, any undissolved powder can be easily seen after 12 hours.

I personally doubt the soluability potential of all these aragonite powder product, and would really like the test to be conducted by a unbiased store.

Thanks in advance if you could perform the test.

Jimmy

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah we can do that no problem. Would be interesting to see. Will include tested water params like alk, pH and calcium b4 and after

 

[MattM]

O.K., we put about 6 gallons of RO/DI water into a new 10 gallon aquarium. Added Tropic Marin salt to a specific gravity of 1.025.

We then tested with the following results:

pH: 8.4
Alkalinity: 8 dkh, 2.86meq
Calcium: 400

We then added 3ml of Liquid Reactor. Water clouded up as expected. By the instructions on the bottle, that should bring the Calcium to about 500.

After 20 minutes we tested again. Water is still slightly cloudy, but no visible sediments are on the tank bottom.

pH: 8.55
Alkalinity: 8 dkh, 2.86meq
Calcium: 420

We will now leave the tank for 48 hours (since we're closed tomorrow

) and then test again and check for any sediments.

 

[MattM]

O.K., after 48 hours there is significant sediment on the tank bottom. Enough for Tom to write in it with his finger:

Water now tests as follows:

pH: 8.2
Alkalinity: 8 dkh, 2.86meq
Calcium: 420

It turns out that the dosage I referenced in the previous post is incorrect. 3ml in this volume of water should have brought the calcium up by 16.5 ppm, not 100 ppm. Tests show that it came up by 20 ppm, ±4 ppm, so I'd have to say it works.

So it looks like:

1) Yes it does leave some calcium carbonate dust in the bottom of the tank, and

2) This is taken into account in the recommended dosage and it does raise calcium by the expected amount.

We are now repeating the test using water that came from a system that is calcium deficient. It started out at 312 ppm Ca, and this time I added the right amount to bring it up by 100 ppm.

Will post results tomorrow!

[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[MattM]

O.K., we re-did the test using water from one of our systems that was a bit low in calcium. The initial parameters were:

SG: 1.022
Alkalinity: 5 dKH, 1.79 meq/L
pH: 8.1
Calcium: 312 ppm

We then added 18ml of Liquid Reactor, which should raise calcium by 100 ppm to 412.

After 24 hours, there is a heavy coating of CaCO3 dust on the bottom of the bare 10 gallon tank and the parameters test as follows:

Alkalinity: 5 DKH, 1.79 meq
pH: 8.0
Calcium: 300 ppm

So, I don't think we'll be carrying it. Long term use might be interesting to test, but there are already plenty of other, more reliable methods of maintaining calcium.

[ December 12, 2001: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[SPC]

Thanks Matt and Tom!

Steve

 

[tlc]

i used aragamight powder religiously for one month. it is supposed to be the dry form of aragamilk. i monitored my water very closely. i still had to use the exact same amount of alk and ca supplements as before. at first when i tried the aragamight i stopped adding alk and ca buffers. my levels dropped significantly. i saw no benefist of this product and discontinued use.

 

[jethro]

$169.95 at Flying Fish Express

 

[MattM]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jethro:
<strong>$169.95 at Flying Fish Express</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think you meant to post this on the Kent Protein Skimmer thread.