Unexpected results with elevated nitrates

Discussion in 'General Reef Discussion' started by huntindoc, Jun 8, 2016.

  1. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I have been carbon dosing for the last year or so, most of that time using vinegar. In Jan I changed over to NoPox (Red Sea product). I stopped about 4 weeks ago due to an out break of cyano in my sump which is a common side effect with carbon dosing on occasion.

    I've kept my nitrate around 4 with carbon dosing and had decent growth in some SPS but others have'nt grown at all. Since I quite dosing my nitrate has climbed to 8-10 but the amazing thing is my SPS growth AND color has increased dramatically! In addition some of my zoas which were chronically unhappy (my Rastas especially) have opened up and colored up beautifully.

    My question....which is responsible #1 eliminating the carbon dosing or #2 the increase in nitrate(traditional thought is that 8-10 is way too high)?

    For now I'm going to watch things and see how it goes. As long as my SPS is happy I'm not gonna change a thing. If they start looking bad I'll consider a different nitrate export method (biopellets, algae turf scrubber, etc.).
     
    DCHarrington likes this.
  2. graciesdad

    graciesdad Treasurer Staff Member

    Did you happen to get an increase in pH when you stopped dosing?
     
  3. ZoaFanatic79

    ZoaFanatic79 Plankton

    I keep my nitrates around 5 and I get excellent growth out of my zoas! When my tank is clean and all my levels are (where they should be) most of my coral seems to be just blah... So I would say the nitrate level is the answer.
     
  4. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    No I didn't Jason, but I was only dosing 8 cc of NoPox per day in 3 divided doses. I dosed by BRS pumps in 3 divided doses when pH is the highest (towards the end of my lighting schedule).

    ZoaFanatic, I agree. 5 is where I was trying to keep my nitrates. However, if they stabilize at 10 I'm going to leave it there. The zoas/palys love it and even the SPS seems to.
     
  5. ZoaFanatic79

    ZoaFanatic79 Plankton

    Cool let me know how it turns out!
     
  6. jonwright

    jonwright RRMAS Supporter

    I started carbon dosing right after turning up my 155 in November when nitrates were getting a bit too high. I mixed vinegar and vodka. Indeed my P and N have been brought down and I did the ramp up and back down accordingly. My N and P are now 0 and I'm working on decreasing the VV dose as well. I've noticed that the inhabitants are a bit happier (I've also been doing a few other things...dosed a bit more amino acids for example).

    I also took my whateves tank down (what am I going to put in there? Whateves I want). I had experimented with trying to grow turf algae and I intentionally left it dirty. It wound up being a cyano specialized environment. Now, I also took that down last week so it could be the corals are happier without cyano toxins in the water now. Also cyano isn't growing anywhere in the display tank nor the sump. Go figure.

    I'd like to see a bit more N and P in the water, actually. I think I'll try macro in the whateves tank next perhaps with more circulation.

    I wonder if I had 2 things going on: 1. The algae growing was deprived for nutrients by the VV dosing. 2. when the algae started to die off the cyano fed off of the algae remnants (the green slime would start, some GHA tuft then it would be covered in cyano). The few rocks and bottom of the tank were covered in black goo (it's also a detritus trap? if so, why did all that on the bottom turn black? Why wouldn't that feed the GHA???).

    So while the carbon dosing seems to have gotten me on track I'm on the path of cutting it back down/stopping it so I might be able to grow macro. If I see some GHA in the display now I'll be happy. How many times have you heard that?
     
    huntindoc likes this.

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