instantsquid
16-06-07, 20:58
I've seen a few references to folks with incorrectly labelled products. I'm beginning to suspect my UltraBak is not what it seems...
To cut a long story short - I've been attempting to attain an ULNS with the FM UltraLith system - Lith in a reactor, Bio, Min S and Bak dosed daily.
A month or so back, I realised that I had been increasing Min S and Bak at the same rate, even though they weren't being utilised at the same rate - I was getting real bad algae growing on the glass. So I altered my doses such that I was adding maximum dosage of UltraBak and minimum dosage of UltraMin S.
This seemed to have some effect, and the glass stopped getting the quick build up of thick algae, nuisance algaes disappeared, and all was starting to appear good in the world.
At this rate however, I was getting through a fair amount of UltraBak and I had to purchase another bottle. This was a couple of weeks ago.
I'm now back where I was months ago - with green algae growing on the glass, bryopsis sprouting from the rocks, a monumental explosion in the Aptaisia population. Even my nitrate and phosphate levels which had been going down and down, have started to come back up!
And then it occurred to me that if I was just adding Min S every day - it'd be no surprise that things have gone pear-shaped. If my UltraBak is actually UltraMin S, I'm adding more than the maximum dose for my tank! Not to mention that I'm not adding any UltraBak! :(
What with the other recent thread regarding UltraBio (I've got through two bottles now and have seen no benefits), I'm rapidly losing faith in the UltraLith system.
I'm not sure how I can ascertain what is actually in this bottle that I have? Colour doesn't seem to be much of an indicator as different batches apparently come out as different colours. Smell ought to be an indicator, but I have two bottles of Min S - both of which smell different, and my Bak smells like one of the Min S bottles. All very confusing.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I'm considering jacking in UltraLith in favour of Zeo. :(
To cut a long story short - I've been attempting to attain an ULNS with the FM UltraLith system - Lith in a reactor, Bio, Min S and Bak dosed daily.
A month or so back, I realised that I had been increasing Min S and Bak at the same rate, even though they weren't being utilised at the same rate - I was getting real bad algae growing on the glass. So I altered my doses such that I was adding maximum dosage of UltraBak and minimum dosage of UltraMin S.
This seemed to have some effect, and the glass stopped getting the quick build up of thick algae, nuisance algaes disappeared, and all was starting to appear good in the world.
At this rate however, I was getting through a fair amount of UltraBak and I had to purchase another bottle. This was a couple of weeks ago.
I'm now back where I was months ago - with green algae growing on the glass, bryopsis sprouting from the rocks, a monumental explosion in the Aptaisia population. Even my nitrate and phosphate levels which had been going down and down, have started to come back up!
And then it occurred to me that if I was just adding Min S every day - it'd be no surprise that things have gone pear-shaped. If my UltraBak is actually UltraMin S, I'm adding more than the maximum dose for my tank! Not to mention that I'm not adding any UltraBak! :(
What with the other recent thread regarding UltraBio (I've got through two bottles now and have seen no benefits), I'm rapidly losing faith in the UltraLith system.
I'm not sure how I can ascertain what is actually in this bottle that I have? Colour doesn't seem to be much of an indicator as different batches apparently come out as different colours. Smell ought to be an indicator, but I have two bottles of Min S - both of which smell different, and my Bak smells like one of the Min S bottles. All very confusing.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I'm considering jacking in UltraLith in favour of Zeo. :(