I use Seachem Fuel and will nenver go back. Picked it up on accident. There was a bottle sitting on the counter at Elite when I was chekcing out, Mike rang it up as part of my order and I didnt realize it until I got home, BEST MISTAKE EVER! Use slime away for your cyano, Ive had great luck with it and never had any issues with it affecting my livestock, took about 3 days and a water cange and BAM, no more red slime!
Seachem Fuel
- Thread starter Ghosty
- Start date
From what I understand/researched, cyano growth is promoted by not just phosphate, but a PO4 - Nitrate imbalance. If you have phosphates and an absence of nitrates, you end up with cyano growth. If you have zero nutrients, obviously you have nothing to worry about...and if you have a balanced ratio, then macro algaes (or even nuisance algaes) are able to outcompete the cyanobacteria for PO4 consumption. Cyano also utilizes carbon for photosynthesis in the carbon fixation process...same as plants and algae. Vitamin-C is essentially a carbon source, which helps feed cyano.
Chances are if you have cyano under control, you would be fine to dose vitamin-C...but in my case whenever I added fuel to my tank my cyano immediately spread. I don't have a HUGE issue with it in my tank, and I have plenty of flow and good lighting. It's mainly just popping up in areas where detritus tends to collect on a few of my rocks. If my hermit crabs would stop eating my snails, I probably wouldn't have this problem.
I also got lazy and didn't change out the media in my GFO reactor for 8 weeks...and at week 6 I had done a tear-down of my tank to catch a coral-nipping fish. I should have replaced the GFO at that point.
In any case, it's almost under control again, but it's just always sleeping/hiding somewhere in the tank just waiting for a dose of fuel, lol. Last time I thought it was gone, I dosed some, and BAM it was back.
Chances are if you have cyano under control, you would be fine to dose vitamin-C...but in my case whenever I added fuel to my tank my cyano immediately spread. I don't have a HUGE issue with it in my tank, and I have plenty of flow and good lighting. It's mainly just popping up in areas where detritus tends to collect on a few of my rocks. If my hermit crabs would stop eating my snails, I probably wouldn't have this problem.
I also got lazy and didn't change out the media in my GFO reactor for 8 weeks...and at week 6 I had done a tear-down of my tank to catch a coral-nipping fish. I should have replaced the GFO at that point. In any case, it's almost under control again, but it's just always sleeping/hiding somewhere in the tank just waiting for a dose of fuel, lol. Last time I thought it was gone, I dosed some, and BAM it was back.
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I used it in my old system before I tore it down. After about a month my alk/ca consumption increased and I noticed visibly richer colors in my SPS. I have it auto dosed now, 6ml per day (.5ml every 2 hours). Not sure how well its doing in my new system since I have been using since day one. I think I do about half the recommended dose. Also, my system is recovering from 2 tank moves and a upgrade. I have faith it works though and will continue to use it.
Never had that issue and I have been dosing it for a few months now.
I sent Seachem a email in regards to this issue as well. Here is the correspondence:
According to the directions for fuel it states - shake well before using. I assume this means I cannot hook it up to a dosing pump for continuous feed?
Also, the ingredient list shows that it has ascorbic acid which is a known as a carbon source IIRC. Can this product be safely used alongside vinegar dosing without effecting my current regimen?
Their response:
Hey Kris,
We use dosing units on all of our show tanks with no problems with Fuel. While shaking will ensure the product is well blended, it does not settle out as quickly as many similar products. Depending on how larger your dosing container is and how quickly you will deplete it, you may just give it a little shake once or twice a week.
There should not be much of an impact on your vinegar dosing but it would not hurt to start off with a half dose and work you way up over a period of a week or so. If you notice a bacterial bloom, you can back off the dose a bit and see how things go. I really do not think there will be any complications but there are so many variables that it is impossible to say for sure. Please let us know if you have any trouble or additional questions.
Product Support
1080
I sent Seachem a email in regards to this issue as well. Here is the correspondence:
According to the directions for fuel it states - shake well before using. I assume this means I cannot hook it up to a dosing pump for continuous feed?
Also, the ingredient list shows that it has ascorbic acid which is a known as a carbon source IIRC. Can this product be safely used alongside vinegar dosing without effecting my current regimen?
Their response:
Hey Kris,
We use dosing units on all of our show tanks with no problems with Fuel. While shaking will ensure the product is well blended, it does not settle out as quickly as many similar products. Depending on how larger your dosing container is and how quickly you will deplete it, you may just give it a little shake once or twice a week.
There should not be much of an impact on your vinegar dosing but it would not hurt to start off with a half dose and work you way up over a period of a week or so. If you notice a bacterial bloom, you can back off the dose a bit and see how things go. I really do not think there will be any complications but there are so many variables that it is impossible to say for sure. Please let us know if you have any trouble or additional questions.
Product Support
1080
Interesting... that led me to find this:
"Q: I just noticed that my bottle of fuel says to refrigerate after opening. Is my bottle bad since I have not done so?
A: It is perfectly fine to not refrigerate this product. Refrigeration is recommended if the product will be kept for several months. Depending on how long you will be using the bottle for, you may consider refrigerating it to keep the nutrients intact. If you will use up the bottle within only a couple months, you can just keep it at room temperature."
Now I am curious to know why I had the slime issue with it. I'll try at it again with this new system and see if it does it again.
"Q: I just noticed that my bottle of fuel says to refrigerate after opening. Is my bottle bad since I have not done so?
A: It is perfectly fine to not refrigerate this product. Refrigeration is recommended if the product will be kept for several months. Depending on how long you will be using the bottle for, you may consider refrigerating it to keep the nutrients intact. If you will use up the bottle within only a couple months, you can just keep it at room temperature."
Now I am curious to know why I had the slime issue with it. I'll try at it again with this new system and see if it does it again.
