Amino Acids

Mekaeel

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ok guys.we've benn talking earlier today about Amino Acids.lets see if this may help us out.


Amino Acids
Proteins have been called "the building blocks" of animals. They are large molecules comprised of subunits called amino acids. Around 20 amino acids are found commonly in nature, and well over 100 are less common. Amino acids are small molecules with a relatively straightforward basic structure. At one end of the molecule is an organic acid group. An acid is simply a molecule that releases a proton, or hydrogen ion (H[SIZE=-1]+[/SIZE]), in a solution. The most common organic acids contain a -COOH group, which ionizes in water to become -COO[SIZE=-1]-[/SIZE] + H[SIZE=-1]+[/SIZE]. Vinegar is one of the simplest organic acids, and it can be represented by the formula, CH[SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE]COOH. Adding one -CH[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] group to vinegar gives CH[SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE]CH[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE]COOH, which has the common name of proprionic or propanoic acid.
The basic backbone of an amino is a proprionic acid molecule with an amine, or -NH[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE], group substituted for one of the hydrogen atoms on the middle carbon atom, giving the formula CH[SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE]HCNH[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE]COOH. This is the formula for one of the simplest amino acids, alanine, and it has the typical amino acid structure, which is shown below.
image002.jpg

Figure 1. The diagrammatic generalized structure of alanine, a simple amino acid. All amino acids have a similar basic structure possessing the acid and the amino groups; only the radical group differs between different amino acids.​

Proteins are assembled in a cell by chemically bonding a great many amino acids, with the structure and properties of all proteins ultimately determined by their amino acid sequence and how these molecules are folded into complex shapes. In living organisms, all larger molecules have a finite "lifetime," after which they are disposed of. When proteins are broken down, enzymes slice them back down into their component amino acids. These amino acids may or may not be further broken down and their constituents harvested for new uses in the cell. If they are broken down completely to their component parts, the critical part of each amino acid is the amino group. All other parts of amino acids can be recycled and reused by animals, but the amino groups cannot be disassembled into nitrogen and hydrogen atoms; they remain together, and therein is the problem.
Waste Extraction, the Invertebrate Way by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com
 
heres another good read i came across

Second Point: Animals Need To Feed On Organisms; They Don't Just Live On Photosynthetic Byproducts.
Photosynthesis produces only sugars. It is the process of using light energy to fuse six carbon dioxide molecules and six water molecules together to make a simple sugar. In doing so, it gives off six oxygen molecules as a waste byproduct. Sugar is called a carbohydrate, because it contains only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Carbohydrates are useful and necessary chemicals; they may be burned for fuel, converted to fats or starches to store fuel, or fashioned into long chains as structural molecules such as cellulose and chitin. What they can't do, however, is be used to directly make a protein.
Proteins are the building blocks of all animal tissues, and the major components of all cells in all organisms. They are made of subunits called amino acids, often hundreds of them, fastened together in long chains. Amino acids, as their name implies, are molecules that have both an acid and an ammonia residue attached to them. Over 150 amino acids are found in nature, but the vast majority of proteins are made from only about 20 of them. This large number of amino acids may be hooked together in an almost endless variety of ways. And animal chemistry can build, remodel, and modify proteins wonderfully well. What animal chemistry cannot do is synthesize an ammonia group from nitrogen and hydrogen, nor can animals utilize nitrate or nitrite to form ammonia. This synthesis is largely done by bacteria or photosynthetic organisms.
Animals cannot manufacture amino acids from such basic chemical constituents as an ammonia or amine group and an organic acid, consequently, they must get them from some other source. Coral reef animals have one or two options for obtaining their amino acids. If they have zooxanthellae, they may get some amino acids from the zooxanthellae. Unfortunately, this is a zero-sum situation. As the zooxanthellae live within their host, any ammonia that they can utilize must come from their hosts' tissues as a waste product. If such ammonia is a waste product of the host, it is largely a byproduct of the host's metabolism or digestion. This means that the hosts always will require more amino acids, by a very large margin, than the zooxanthellae can provide. What the zooxanthella may do, however, is provide particular types of nitrogenous products unavailable elsewhere. However, even so, zooxanthellate animals must be getting their nitrogenous chemicals from another source, and that source is from feeding of one sort or another. Animals without zooxanthellae will not, of course, have this option. They simply must fulfill all of their needs from feeding.
Marine animals typically require that between five percent and 60 percent of the dry weight of the diet must be protein. For optimal growth of fish, the diet must be from 30 percent to 60 percent, depending on the fish. The absolute requirement from most inactive invertebrates is toward the lower end of the range, but for highly active invertebrates such as squids, it is likely as high as fish. All of this protein must come from either eating some other animal, alga, or plant; direct absorption from the water around the animal, or from a zooxanthellate symbiont. Direct absorption of dissolved amino acids is typically efficiently done in most marine invertebrates, however, there really is very little of this material available in natural systems. In a coral reef aquarium, however, this may be major source of amino acid accumulation by many animals. Production of amino acids by a zooxanthellate symbiont is of limited value, as most animals require a far larger amount of amino acids than may be available from this source. However, this latter source may provide some essential materials. Most amino acids, however, probably come from the assimilation of foods, including bacteria. Bacteria, in fact, are an important food for most benthic or bottom-dwelling marine animals. This is because bacteria have higher nitrogen to carbon ratios in their cells than do either typical animals, plants or algae. As a consequence many marine animals are specialized to eat bacteria, either directly out of the water column or indirectly as a frosting on sediment or detritus particles.
Protein is often a critical resource for animals. Farmers and aquaculturists have long known that one way to get maximum growth in captive animals is to make sure that they have access to a high protein diet. Such diets promote rapid growth and seem to foster generally good health in animals. Unfortunately, such diets are quite unnatural in coral reef areas.
image003.jpg

Figure 2. One other common member of the gelatinous zooplankton food category of coral reef animals is yet another type of pelagic tunicate called a "salp." Salps are much like the benthic sea squirts, except that they live totally in the plankton as mobile colonial animals. They form long chains of individuals fastened together at the sides of their tunics. They move through the water propelled by the water they suck through themselves to filter it. This is actually a type of jet propulsion. Salp colonies may be huge. I have seen salp chains, colonies really, consisting of many thousands of individuals, in excess of 70 feet long, moving through the water. In this photo, the guts of the animals are clearly evident and the edges of the bodies are faintly visible. Each individual here is about an inch wide. Both living and dead salp individuals and chains are also common foods of reef animals, including fishes (see Figure 4).​

Feeding The Reef Aquarium, A New Paradigm - by Ronald L. Shimek - Reefkeeping.com
 
heres a short yet simple read

Why are amino acids required?
The skeletal material of corals is built-up with alternating layers of calcium carbonate and layers rich in amino acids.

These amino acids fulfill many important functions. They stabilize the skeletal material avoiding the transformation into a totally different crystal structure, and they also decrease the negative effect of phosphate on coral growth.

Furthermore amino acids serve as a food for most corals and beneficial bacteria.

There is sufficient evidence that around coral reefs the desirable amino acids occur in the water itself and are deposited on freshly formed calcium carbonate. The type of amino acids in solution and their relative proportions show a remarkable similarity to the amino acids found in coral skeletons. Therefore it is very likely that corals obtain these amino acids from the surrounding waters.

These amino acids originate from the many different life forms on coral reefs. An aquarium system lacking the bio-diversity of a huge reef may suffer from a lack of the proper amino acids.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~SF3291.html
 
I use Seachem Reef Plus, Concentrated Vitamin and Amino Acids.
hey Alfie.KZ products are a bit hard to come by.how many mls is the bottle and whats the dosage instructions like?how much is the bottle?oh and are you pleased with this product?sorry for the questions.trying to source out another Amino acid supplement
 
hey Alfie.KZ products are a bit hard to come by.how many mls is the bottle and whats the dosage instructions like?how much is the bottle?oh and are you pleased with this product?sorry for the questions.trying to source out another Amino acid supplement

No problem Mek. I use the 250 ml and that is good to treat 1000L of water. Use 5ml per 80l water twice a week depending on needs. I use it to soak food in as well as it helps boost the livestock as well. I must lie if I give you a price as I never really check:whistling:
 
Bump on an old thread, is anybody dosing amino acids?
 
Amino Acids is one of the ingredients of Zeofood7 .So yip, I am dosing it. Also need to get hold of plain Amino Acids.
Do you turn off your skimmer and anything else when dosing it? Do you dose at night or daytime?
 
i only dose kent marine calcium should i also dose amino acids
You don't HAVE TO dose amino acids, many people don't, some do, it is just another avenue I have been looking into to try and promote growth in my corals, there are so many additives out there from companies like Tropic Marin, Seachem etc. it's hard to choose which one to use.
 
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