Reef On's new dosing system...

ATTENTION!!!

I am writing this response in hopes of trying to save my fellow reefers their hard-earned money and exposing a LFS that is knowingly making extremely false claims about a so-called miracle product and taking advantage of their customers' trust. To tell you a little about myself, my husband and I both teach in science department at two separate universities. My field is Biology and my beloved husband is the chemistry expert. I will attempt to pursuade you that ReefOn's new revolutionary dosing product makes scientific claims that are absolutely false and misleading.

ReefOn's "science" behind this product has been proven wrong on a couple other forums (WMAS and ReefCentral) and his response has been that he is not allowed to reveal additional information because of a "non-disclosure" agreement. Is it a coincidence that he began to explain all the details and complex chemistry behind it without hesitation, but when confronted with the proof of why his claims could never be true he suddenly is unable to explain any further?

One of the most respected chemists in the saltwater aquarium hobby, Randy Holmes-Farley, has said this, "I really don't understand what the product is claiming to be. It might just be nanaoparticle calcium carbonate, and even then I'd be surprised if they are using that term correctly. Might just be fine calcium carbonate. And that is a well known product (such as Aragamight or Kent Liquid Reactor) which really doesn't dissolve nor is it available to corals. I don't believe the passive uptake of any nanoparticles is going to be significant." To those who are unfamiliar with Randy, you can find info on him along with his very impressive credentials. If Randy and other science majors such as myself cannot understand, or disagree with this product, how is a LFS owner to know better?

If you wish to continue reading, I will go on to elaborate on some major points on how this product is making false claims:

ReefOn claims that this product contains no "carrier" molecule and is therefore more efficiently absorbed by corals. I'll start by saying that in liquid form, there is no such thing as a "carrier" molecule. The necessary particles such as calcium, carbonate, and magnesium, naturally separate from the so-called "carrier (sodium, chloride, sulfate)" as soon as it dissolved in water. When ReefOn was challenged by another reefer to approve of testing to determine whether or not the solutions contained the "carriers," as he claimed they didn't, he responded by saying this, "After speaking with the chemist I was informed that there will still be small traces of Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate in the solutions." ReefOn's original claim, "With no 'carrier' like chloride, sulfate or sodium, the mixtures we have are the calcium, carbonate (alkalinity) and magnesium in a pure h2o/water," was never true afterall. I have taken the liberty of testing these products myself. I have purchased them directly from Jerry and heard him preach about this "explosive growth." Testing the solution was simple. It revealed that the proportion of useful molecules to "carrier" molecules were indeed exactly the same as the proportion of any homemade calcium, magnesium or carbonate solution. This disproves this product's claim indefinitely. Almost every scientific claim about this product can easily be proven as a lie but I will not go any further. If there is any specific claim you would like me to elaborate on, please post your questions!

This product claims "explosive growth." This term is subjective so this paragraph will be purely my educated opinion based on my experience in growing sps corals for 10+ years. The growth pictures ReefOn has been posting have been, at best, average good growth. In my personal tank and tanks of others I know, sps corals grow just as fast as ReefOn's. Assuming he is being honest about the dates of the photos, ReefOn chooses to post growth shots of corals, such as the Red Planet, that are notoriously fast growers in any stable system. It is also known that the larger a coral colony becomes, the faster the growth rate will be. It should also be made known that ReefOn did not grow that Red Planet colony by themselves but purchased it from a reefer that was getting out of the hobby last Fall.

ReefOn claims that he (Jerry) has exclusive rights to this product. Does it really make sense that a major scientific research corporation makes a HUGE groundbreaking discovery that changes the laws of chemistry, and then chooses a small fish store in Utah to pioneer its distribution? In my opinion the answer is no. IF (and that's a big big "IF") half of these claims were possible, I believe that this secret corporation ReefOn has supposedly partnered with, would choose to maximize profits to recoup their research costs and approach a much larger well-known organization to advertise and distribute their product internationally.

To those that claim they are using this product and are observing results, I respect you and apologize if I have offend you. However, ask yourselves in all honesty either if the growth you are seeing is directly related to ReefOn's product, or if you are simply trying really hard to notice growth. If you believe in miracles in the form of secret bottled solutions, then please by all means buy this product. But if you are seeking a product with scientific background that says no lies, then this product is a waste of your hard-earned money. Instead, buy yourself that frag, fish, or equipment you have really been wanting (preferably from a LFS that does not lie to your face.)

I want to apologize to ReefOn for possibly jeopardizing their income from this product but I openly welcome any rebuttal that would disprove anything I have said. In other forums, ReefOn has avoided direct questions and has "beaten around the bush," simply said that he is not allowed to disclose information, and used fancy irrelevant words to further confuse fellow reefers. I expect ReefOn will either continue to do this, or completely ignore this.

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and post your honest concerns.