• Dosing Prodibio Products

    Prodibio is company based in France that has a complete line of products to dose your aquarium with. Their website (http://www.prodibio.com/) lists additives for freshwater, saltwater, fish disease treatment and pond treatment. Since we are primarily Reef Addicts here, I'd like to discuss how I'm using their saltwater dosing system for my reef.

    Iodine and Strontium are recognizable, but Bioptim, BioDigest and Reef Booster not so much. Bioptim adds micro-nutrients to the tank, which BioDigest consumes...BioDigest is a bacteria designed to consume nitrate, phosphate and organics. Reef Booster is very fine food (nutrient supplement) in liquid state. Regularly adding new bacteria is especially useful when running NP biopellets, and Prodibio fills this need nicely.

    Other items offered:
    Chloral Reset : to remove chloramines from fresh and saltwater [pdf]
    Start Up : to seed a new system with beneficial bacteria; combines Stop Ammo and BioDigest [pdf]
    Stop Ammo : neutralizes ammonia in the water, and reduces production of nitrites - useful for bagged fish as well [pdf]
    Safe Travel : reduces stress upon fish during tank moves, feeds on organic waste [pdf]
    BioClean Salt : Bioptim and BioDigest combined [pdf]



    As you can see, I have five different choices. Prodibio comes in different sized glass ampules, from Nano to Pro version. The sizes allow hobbyists to match the right dose to fit their aquarium's total water volume in gallons. Nano vials are rated for 15g, standard ampules for 50g, and Pro ampules for 250g. No matter what size tank you own, Prodibio has the right dose for you.



    The dosing regime listed on the packaging is very simple. Dose every 15 days to replenish what your reef consumed. Standard vials treat 50g each; the Pro version treats 250g to 500g each. Nano vials (not pictured) treat 15g... some packaging indicates as much as 30g while others suggest two vials for 30g. You'll want to research that point, nano-owners.



    When I dose, I do it all on the same day. I prefer to add the product directly in the sump's bubble trap baffles where flow is good and quick to distribute the fluid into my reef. To avoid mistakes, I pull out all the vials I will use that day, making sure they are on a stable surface to avoid accidental breakage (like rolling off the table).

    The recommended dosages are listed on the back of the packaging, but be sure to double check the instructions of each individual item. I say this because if you were to purchase the BioKit Reef [pdf] with all five items in a single box, the instructions make it sound like all ampules are matched perfectly. Be sure to compare equal sized packages to one another to avoid overdosing mistakes. Standard ampules and Pro ampules obviously different, as are the Nano vials.

    The packaging doesn't denote any kind of expiration date, and these can be stored at room temperature. The vials are sealed with an inert gas within to avoid spoilage. If you refrigerate it, be sure it is brought to room temperature before adding it to the tank, because that type of sudden change will likely reduce Prodibio's efficacy. Chilled bacteria at 42F added to 80F water -- do the math.



    You'll notice that the ampules come with a small piece of rubber tubing in every package. This is the holder used to break open the glass ampules. Shake the vial for a few seconds prior to cracking it open.

    This brief video shows you how easy it is to add. Remember I add it to my sump instead of a sudden dose hitting any one coral or fish full force. Once the vial is empty, I submerge it in the sump so it fills with saltwater and lift it out to drain the fluid including any remaining residue into the water.



    Reef Booster I handle a little differently. I like to dose that late at night after lights out. My corals are usually open at that time, feeding polyps and tentacles extended while the fish are at rest. Turning off the skimmer for the night, I'll dose three or four ampules of Reef Booster. The vial will still have some milky residue inside, so I'll dunk and drain it several times until it is clear. No reason to waste any, right? The next morning, I'll turn the skimmer back on. I only have this in standard ampules, so I'm using four instead of one Pro version.

    Once done, the glass tubes and the broken tips can be thrown in the trash. The plastic packaging can be recycled.

    So there you have it, a dosing regime that takes little time, doesn't require careful measuring and can be easily added to your calendar for those bi-monthly duties.

    If you are attending MACNA from September 28-30, 2012, be sure to visit with Nicolas and his team to ask your questions. They are making the trip from France to provide answers from the source, their own mouths.

    Dosing instructions from their site:
    Bioptim : http://www.prodibio.com/bioptim-nutr...cal-filtration
    BioDigest : http://www.prodibio.com/bacteria-tan...cal-filtration
    Reef Booster : http://www.prodibio.com/growth-devel...r-reef-booster
    Stronti + : http://www.prodibio.com/strontium-su...twater-stronti
    Iodi + : http://www.prodibio.com/iodine-suppl...saltwater-iodi









    The products used for this review were provided free of charge by Prodibio. They actually had to ask me several times before I'd agree to it because I wanted a stable tank to use it with. In all fairness, I used it years ago with my 280g and didn't see a difference at that time. It was assumed that my tank had some issues that were interfering with expected results. With my current set up, coral growth has been excellent and coralline growth is obvious. I've been using it for nearly 90 days at the time of this writing. - Sept 8, 2012


    Comments 14 Comments
    1. blakew's Avatar
      blakew -
      Thanks for the write up...I've actually been considering the Bioptim and BioDigest. Seems to be a lot of good evidence out there about the positive effects of bacterial diversity and frequent replenishment of bacteria.

      blakew
    1. michika's Avatar
      michika -
      Nice write up, informative.

      I love the idea, presentation, and some of the results I've seen come from Prodibio, I just shy away because of the costs. For a system my size, with 1000g in volume, its just not a finacially savy system for me. Other then that, I've seen a few very very lovely tanks running and attributing their success to Prodibio.

      Did you find your SPS or LPS, or even softies respond better to this system then the others? Was their a particular coral group that thrived on these products in a way that was very obvious to you?
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Overall, everything looks really good. I'd say the birdnest are the most responsive thus far, but they are a known fast grower. Still, they are also vivid. The anemones are huge, the fish fat, the water parameters stable, and everything is just doing well. I can't complain about anything.
    1. mos90's Avatar
      mos90 -
      melev.

      i just started bio-clean for my 75 gallon coral holding tank and i plan to dose it when i start up my 300g. im a little confused on the dosing amounts. on the bio-clean instuctions in says to dose 1 vial of each 50g every 2 weeks. but if you look at the instuctions for bio-digest it says 1 vial for up to 250g and bio-optim say 1 vial for 50g. i basically followed the bio-clean instructions and used 1 vial of each. im going to start with 1 and see how that works. is this ok?
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      mos90 - I have both here as well. Are your vials the same size? With BioClean, you have ampules of Bioptim and BioDigest. If you are using the Standard ampules, one BioDigest doses 30g to 250g. Bioptim is marked differently, but I only have the Pro size to compare. Let me double check and get back to you.
    1. cfsindorf's Avatar
      cfsindorf -
      What about your reactor. Do you turn it off while dosing or just let it do its thing?
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      No, I never turn it off.
    1. mos90's Avatar
      mos90 -
      Yes. They are the same size. The small vials.
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      I've not heard back yet, but will let you know when I get a response to my email.
    1. debdp's Avatar
      debdp -
      I've used both salt and freshwater BioClean but stopped using it for several months. I dosed the last two vials I had this week on the freshwater tank and the next morning the tank was visibly super clear. As soon as I can figure out where my phosphate issue is coming from and get that resolved I'll start dosing my SW tanks again. I didn't dose long enough in my SW tanks to see any difference. I started with the 6 vials of 3 BioDigest and 3 Bioptim and used that up. Purchased 30 vials and then never used it again. Nice to see this and see how it does for others. Thanks for the write up.
    1. twomonsters's Avatar
      twomonsters -
      Melev,

      I enjoy reading all your articles. I am currently battling Cotton Candy Algae, do you think that dosing Prodibio would help? I can't syphon it out fast enough. I am running GFO, carbon, and dosing vinegar. Weekly water changes of 15% on my 140 total water volume.
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Quote Originally Posted by MrReefAddict View Post
      Melev,

      I enjoy reading all your articles. I am currently battling Cotton Candy Algae, do you think that dosing Prodibio would help? I can't syphon it out fast enough. I am running GFO, carbon, and dosing vinegar. Weekly water changes of 15% on my 140 total water volume.

      While maintaining water quality is important because only you can limit nutrients and resolve saltwater parameters, you may want to get some Mexican Turbo Snails. Those big bulldozers like Cotton Candy Algae, and as far as I know are the only predator we can use. I would continue to siphon or pluck out as much as you can, and add those snails to your tank to devour what remains.
    1. twomonsters's Avatar
      twomonsters -
      One more question for you, do you primarily just dose BIOPTIM? With the biopellet reactor there isn't much need for the BIODIGEST, right? Seems they would compete against one and other.
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Quote Originally Posted by MrReefAddict View Post
      One more question for you, do you primarily just dose BIOPTIM? With the biopellet reactor there isn't much need for the BIODIGEST, right? Seems they would compete against one and other.
      Bioptim adds micro-nutrients to the tank, which BioDigest consumes...BioDigest is a bacteria designed to consume nitrate, phosphate and organics. There's no reason not to believe some of the BioDigest may replenish the bacteria in the biopellet reactor.