Alpha

A paramount factor in the proper maintenance of an aquarium is the dilution of accumulated waste by scheduled water changes. This requires the removal of chlorine or chloramine or both from the new water. With the advent of chloramine, thiosulfate has proven inadequate, causing the release of ammonia. At acid or neutral pH, this is not of serious consequence. However, at alkaline pH it can be devastating, particularly if the tap water is heavily treated with chloramines.

alpha™ is a concentrated conditioner for saltwater. It is 50% more active than our Prime® and 375% more active than the next closest competitor. alpha™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. It converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily utilized by beneficial bacteria and reef inhabitants such as clams. alpha™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. alpha™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. alpha™ also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat on fish. alpha™ is non-acidic and will not impact pH, nor will it over activate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.

Balance

A frequent occurrence in reef systems is low pH, while calcium and alkalinity are at optimal levels. Raise one and the others may fall. One of the primary reasons for this is an improper carbonate/bicarbonate ratio. The buffer ratio changes as a natural consequence of the buffer's ability to counteract acidifying sources such as organic acids (produced naturally from waste) or introduced from non-pH controlled husbandry products. In this case, adding more buffer would unnecessarily result in a rise in alkalinity and a drop in calcium. The first product of its kind, balance™ ends this see-saw effect. It resets this ratio by converting bicarbonate into carbonate in order to reassert a higher pH without affecting calcium level.

balance™ is an optimized blend of sodium and potassium hydroxides with a NSW ratio (27:1) of sodium to potassium to avoid ionic imbalance with long term use.

aquavitro® offers other solutions designed to address the unique challenge of raising pH in a reef environment. ions™ addresses the problem of low magnesium which is a cause of low buffering pK and pH. eight.four™ addresses deficiencies in pK found in competing products by providing a properly balanced (carbonate/bicarbonate) buffer system.

Calcification

calcification™ is a concentrated (140,000 mg/L) optimized blend of ionic and bioavailable gluconate-complexed calcium designed to restore and maintain calcium to levels found in natural seawater, without affecting pH. These two forms of calcium are combined in calcification™ to provide the hobbyist with a convenient way to ensure peak coral growth and health.

Ionic calcium is readily available, while the gluconate-complexed calcium confers several benefits. The uncharged calcium in calcification™ is readily absorbed with less physiological work than is required for the absorption of ionic calcium. Using calcification™, it is not necessary to maintain the excessively high concentrations of calcium (about 450 mg/L or more) often recommended by others. In fact, excellent growth of corals and coraline algae is achieved with total calcium concentrations as low as 380 mg/L. Used up to four times recommended maintenance dose, the gluconate polymer will not accumulate or encourage the growth of undesirable algae. The polymer itself is beneficial as a food source not only to the corals and other invertebrates, but also to denitrifying bacteria, actually promoting the natural anaerobic denitrification process in live rock and other substrate. Furthermore, the use of this gluconate polymer allows calcium, strontium, and magnesium to be utilized more readily than they would otherwise and also helps to stabilize them in solution without depleting alkalinity.

Some prefer not to use complexed calcium because of concern about adding organics to the aquarium. This is not a valid concern. The amount of organics added with complexed calcium is insignificantly small when compared to the organics released by most reef creatures, even in a no feed, no nutrients approach. Since complexed calcium products employ lactate or gluconate, the naive misconception that these products contain sugars has arisen. While these components are related to sugars, they are oxidized aldehydes and do not react or behave as sugars. Polygluconate contains no nitrogen or phosphorous, thus it is biologically impossible for it to lead to algae growth in a properly maintained reef system.

Unlike competing products that require multi-day interval dosing when combined with carbonate supplements, calcification™ can be dosed daily and within minutes of our eight.four™ as well as the entire aquavitro reef line.

Eight.four

Many competing buffers for reef aquaria are simply sodium bicarbonate. Such buffers have a pK of only 8.0 in saltwater and simply are unable to maintain a pH above 8.0. The low buffering pK is a function of the low carbonate/bicarbonate ratio.

eight.four™ supplies a properly balanced (carbonate/bicarbonate) buffer system that yields an industry leading pK of 8.6 which makes pH maintenance of 8.3-8.5 easy. A higher pK increases the buffer's ability to counteract inevitable acidic sources in the water. eight.four™ will safely raise marine pH while adjusting alkalinity. eight.four™ contains a concentrated, balanced blend of bicarbonate and carbonate salts designed to restore disrupted buffer systems and increase carbonate alkalinity.

If an alkalinity of 6 meq/L has been reached and a pH of at least 8.20 has not been attained, the system may be ionically unbalanced. Check magnesium levels. If magnesium is low, use ions™. However, if magnesium levels are within optimal range, the buffer ratio has likely been disrupted (the buffer ratio changes as a natural consequence of the buffer's ability to counteract acidifying sources such as organic acids). You can raise pH without raising alkalinity using balance™.

Unlike competing products that require multi-day interval dosing when combined with carbonate supplements, eight.four™ can be dosed daily and within minutes of our calcification™ as well as balance™ and ions™

Fuel

fuel™ is a comprehensive carbohydrate, vitamin, amino acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, and trace element supplement developed to address nutritional requirements commonly associated with corals. fuel™ contains ascorbic acid in a base of chlorella, which contains a rich assortment of amino acids and vitamins. The health benefits of chlorella are widely known and while spirulina, a similar algae, has been regularly used in the industry, aquavitro is the first to utilize the vastly superior chlorella. fuel™ is formulated to provide nutrients available from natural tropical reef waters.

Chlorella is a unique algae that grows in fresh water. It is extremely high in enzymes, vitamins and minerals, including the full vitamin-B Complex. It is over-flowing with unsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, and proteins. There are also vitamins found in Chlorella including: Vitamin C, pro-vitamin A (B-carotene), thiamine (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), pyridoxine (B₆), niacin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, Vitamin B₁₂, biotin, choline, Vitamin K, lipoic acid, and inositol. Minerals in Chlorella include: phosphorus, calcium, zinc, iodine, magnesium, iron, and copper. It contains a higher level of amino acids than spirulina and is FDA approved for use with ornamental fish.

Ions

Like calcium and strontium, magnesium is used in the calcification of skeletons of reef organisms. In many cases, magnesium is used in place of calcium for calcification. In addition to its role in calcification, magnesium is used by organisms ranging from bacteria, to coralline algae to fish.

How can you be sure if magnesium levels are deficient? There are a couple of indications; severely depleted levels of magnesium (below 800 mg/L) can cause depressed pH levels and an inability to maintain proper calcium levels (more on ionic imbalance).The best way to tell if you need a magnesium supplement, though, is to test for it using a magnesium test kit such as Seachem's Reef Status®: Magnesium & Carbonate and Borate Alkalinity.

If you've determined your magnesium levels are low, supplementation with ions™ is necessary. ions™ restores magnesium by employing the most concentrated (90,000 mg/L), fully dissolved magnesium and does so without adding any ammonia. Other liquid magnesium supplements inherently contain ammonia because the magnesium chloride used in their production contains ammonia. This is a result of the mechanisms for deriving and/or producing magnesium chloride. aquavitro has gone to considerable lengths to remove this contaminant and a proprietary process makes ions™ the first and only liquid magnesium supplement that does not contain ammonia.

Using a fully dissolved magnesium is critical. Some magnesium supplements use a magnesium source that is simply not soluble, that is, unavailable. This means it can never be utilized by reef organisms, and is, consequently, of no value. If the product itself is milky white or the instructions direct the user to shake well, more than likely, a substantial amount of magnesium is not being utilized (the same is true of calcium products). ions™ also includes strontium and boron in the NSW ratio of 1.7:1 to avoid ionic imbalance with long term use.

Vibrance

Iodide is a critical element for the health and formation of soft tissue in invertebrates (such as gorgonians, sarcophytons, etc). It has also been shown to be critical for the development of pigments in corals, corallimorpharia, and anemones, both the golden brown of zooxanthellae and the green and red colors of accessory pigments.

Most iodide supplements on the market are simply potassium iodide. When added to an aquarium environment, iodide becomes unstable converting to elemental iodine (which is biocidal) and iodate (which is useless to corals, toxic at elevated levels, and can't be tested for). Iodide is the only form of iodine available to corals for uptake. Because of this instability, iodide must be stabilized for aquarium use.

vibrance™ is a highly concentrated (10,000 mg/L) naturally stabilized potassium iodide source for reef aquaria that will restore and maintain iodide levels to those found in natural sea water. Our proprietary stabilization process makes vibrance™ the most stable iodide supplement available. It's also the most concentrated and comes with a pipette for precision dosing. It is formulated to provide a safe source of iodide that will not convert to toxic free iodine under storage or reef conditions.