Orca Nitra Guard Bio Cube - A New Way of Carbon Dosing?

[Gouldian]

Some of you may have read the Article by Reef Builders on Nov 2012.

Herewith a review I stumbled across at MASA and Salty Reef.

Herewith is the description the product taken from Reef Central:

Other companies are trying to use bacteria to do the work for them. What makes these cubes so unique? I am using yeast cells to do the work and not bacteria. Yeast is so much easier to work with and they are so easily manipulated. This is how I am able to break / bend the laws of nature like Redfield's Ratio. What I have done there is I used a nano particulated substrate that is titanium based. The yeast are able to take the titanium into the cells and they basically become "Cyborg" yeast. Half living biological organism and half synthetic nano particulated inert metal. Put the 2 together and you have an organism that behaves like a synthetic chemical, but, reproduces like a living biological organism. It also has a very basic "Artificial Intelligence" built into it because all organisms are programmed to survive. If there is enough nutrients to support the colony, they will grow the colony to that size, if the nutrient levels drop, the colony will die off to a size that can be maintained. This "Artificial Intelligence" control system is what makes the cubes last so long. Unlike pellets that get eroded through micro-abrasion in the reactors, cubes only erode through yeast cell consumption. This means that the product will grow or shrink according to your needs and they do this automatically without you needing to do anything and without any waste. Very basically put, within 11 days the cubes become self aware and start learning what your needs and habits are. After 11 days they assimilate the colony to what you need them to be. Unlike other products where we have to adjust ourselves and our systems to what that product requires in order for it to work, this is a product that will become what you and your system needs it to become. To do this with bacteria is almost impossible and you have to be really smart...and I have never been that smart to begin with! This is also the reason that the cubes need so much oxygen (apart from the gentle scrubbing action it provides) because yeast cells need oxygen, they do not operate very well under anaerobic conditions. This is why I stress the oxygen part so much and also where people make the mistake of using reactors to operate this product in. As long as you can feed oxygen into that reactor you will be fine, but, all reactors that are produced do not have this option. This was when the bomb method was born.

Looks good, anyone here tried?

In December 2012, Reef Builders reported Polyplab have secured the distributions of Orca Nitra Guard.

It will be interesting to have them in Singapore soon.

[Gouldian]

Guys, its now available in Singapore. Anyone review locally?

http://freshnmarine.com.sg/estore/product_info.php?products_id=4007

[Evolutionz]

seems like product will only be available on freshnmarine on 26th march.. i wonder how does this fare against the NP biopellet XL.. both can be placed in filter bags instead of FR..

Edit : read the article and it sounds great.. simple media bag + airstone will do.. Anyone ordering 1 L from FreshnMarine and wish to share, i'll take 250ml.. cheaper to buy in bulk and share!

[chickyduck]

Does anyone know which LFS other than FreshnMarine carry this product? Thanks.

[ATcraz]

Keen to know as well if other LFS carries them.

[illumnae]

A few things in the Fresh n Marine description I don't really get:

"Bacteria consume the high carbohydrate food source found in the BIO-cubes...." - so is it Cyborg yeast + titanium, or is it bacteria with carbon source?

"The biomass is then skimmed out with a protein skimmer or is consumed as a food source by corals and clams..." - it's claimed to be usable in both fresh and marine environments. So what do freshwater hobbyists do to get rid of the biomass?

"For heavily stocked tanks, use 3ml to every 1 litre of aquarium water and for aquariums with lighter stock loads, add 3 to 4 ml to every 1 litre of aquarium water." - so for heavily stocked tanks, you use the same or less than lightly stocked tanks?

[reef garden]

I gather that the cyborg yeast comprises yeast and titanium to form a living cum synthetic product that is able to grow at different rates, depending on the availability of nitrates and phosphates. Bacteria are not mentioned in the original Orca Labs description although Fresh 'N' Marine mentioned it.

The absorption and conversion of nitrates and phosphates by the cyborg yeast into biomass are apparently oxygen demanding processes and release carbon dioxide. For freshwater systems, aquatic plants benefit from the carbon dioxide. Any biomass and excess carbon dioxide would likely be removed via water changes.

For lightly stocked tanks, the amount used is more, supposedly to provide more cyborg yeast to grow the colony faster and keep the process going.

This is just my understanding.

[rekian]

Anyone has tried this product for a local review?

[reef garden]

I'm currently trying it in a HOB filter without air stone. Let's see if it works. If not I will try another method with air stone.

[ATcraz]

Started on 24/4. Progressively added till 27/4. Approx 400ml in 560litres tank water(includes sump).

Cubes started to brown out. Those in white are recently added.it is at a compartment before return to main. Streams of water are flowing through it.

Nitrate btw 5ppm - 10ppm per salifert test kit on 27/4.

Due to Feeding regime(10 cubes frozen+4 times pellet) weeks back, nitrate went from 0-1ppm to 5-10ppm. Hope to observe a return to 0-1ppm range with bio-cubes.

Running ATS&skimmer&cheato&red bamboo&rowa.

[Gouldian]

[illumnae]

Looking forward to updates on this! If it works in freshwater I'm definitely interested to get them for my freshwater tanks too

[ATcraz]

4th May (7days later) still at 5-10ppm range. Added about 150ml of nitra guard.

Observation 4th May:Nitra guard added on 27th Apr turning even darker.

[ReefzLover]

Just started mine last night... will update here for results too.

[LittleBurger]

So far seems like got more negative feedback than positive. Negative being no reduction to the n & P

[rekian]

So far seems like got more negative feedback than positive. Negative being no reduction to the n & P

Feedback from?

[LittleBurger]

Feedback from?

reefcentral. Got some arguments ...

[ReefzLover]

So far mine is doing great.. did not do any water change after using it. After using it for about a week I tested my no3 again.

[reef garden]

Well, there wasn't any noticeable change in my tank when I used it in the HOB filter. So I transferred it to a Satellite Breeder Box where the air pump delivers oxygenated water to the box. There's still no change yet.

[LittleBurger]

If I remembered correctly the discussions. This media need oxygen. So putting it in places where it is devoid of oxygen, won't work. It is suggested to put an airstone at the bottom to provide o2. Pple did tat but nothing change. Maybe many not yet hit sweet spot

[ReefzLover]

Btw I put my Nitraguard in my skimmer body..

[lawrence.liow]

I received my Ntra Guard yesterday. I am going to put inside my sump tonight. My current nitrate level is 160ppm. Will update my result next week.

[lawrence.liow]

No change in Nitrate on the 7th day.