Anyone Dosing Carbon?

[RYcube2951]

RYcube2951
Community Member

JoinedApr 19, 2020Messages77Reaction score33
I have a Coralife Biocube 29G reef setup. Mostly softie corals and 3 fish. Filtration is Eshopps sponge, Tunze 9001 skimmer, and live rock. I do a 10 -15 percent weekly water change and make my own saltwater. RO/DI water and a quality salt mix. Feeding Blue Zoo mix (dry food) daily and Red Sea AB+ coral nutrition 2 times weekly (1ml per dose). I test my water with Nyos kits. Typical Phosphates are 0.25 and Nitrates are 20. I have some snails that keep my rocks clean but my sand does have some brown algae patches. I would like to lower both Phosphate/Nitrate and have considered dosing a liquid carbon or Phosphate E (lanthium chloride). Has anyone tried these methods?

 

[Doctorgori]

I used to do carbon and will do so again eventually.... you might and I mean might find just testing for phosphate and adjusting with lanthium might be easier for a small tank .. that’s what I do for my 60
for my large tanks I combo 1/2 dose gfo with weekly lanthium adj.
as for Nitrate...after decades of reefing, I just recently started regular Nitrate testing, thanks mostly to post here on R2R and B R S... honestly if my cheapo ATI Reef Master test kit showed under 20 and I didn’t see gha everywhere I didn’t worry ... now that’s changed

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing organic carbon will not likely do much to reduce phosphate. It's a fine thing to do, however, for other reasons. .

 

[DOJOLOACH]

I dose carbon right now but like Randy said it helps with NO3 more it seems. I'm trying to ween off of the carbon dosing to get my NO3 up to 10ppm or so... Everytime I ween off though the PO4 increases too. Quite the dilemma... Only dosing .5ml per day in a 45g system at that!

 

[RYcube2951]

Dosing organic carbon will not likely do much to reduce phosphate. It's a fine thing to do, however, for other reasons. .

I could use some advise on the best way to reduce my nutrient levels. PO4 averages 0.25 and NO3 @ 20. If I try carbon dosing, fo I dose for a low or high nutrient system and do I dose the full amount stated in the label or a lesser amount? Or, would it be better to use lanthium chloride to drop the phosphates faster then switch over to carbon dosing? I need a plan going forward to lower and manage these nutrients. I could also drop a bag of GFO in my rear compartment instead of dosing carbon. I have an AIO biocube tank so no room for a refugium or reactor.

 

[RYcube2951]

I used to do carbon and will do so again eventually.... you might and I mean might find just testing for phosphate and adjusting with lanthium might be easier for a small tank .. that’s what I do for my 60
for my large tanks I combo 1/2 dose gfo with weekly lanthium adj.
as for Nitrate...after decades of reefing, I just recently started regular Nitrate testing, thanks mostly to post here on R2R and B R S... honestly if my cheapo ATI Reef Master test kit showed under 20 and I didn’t see gha everywhere I didn’t worry ... now that’s changed

Thanks for your help. Do you use a filter sock when dosing lanthium chloride? There is no place in my setup for a filter sock. But, I do have a protein skimmer. Do you use a reactor for the GFO? I don't have room for a reactor. My tank is a AIO Coralife biocube29.

 

[SMSREEF]

I have used both GFO and lanthum.

For lanthum, you probably will want to get a 1 micron filter sock to collect the precipitate. Not sure how you would set that up.
Some say to dose into protein skimmer but when I did, the precipitate ended up all in my display and had to be collected in the sock.

I have also used GFO in a filter bag, but always in a sock because of the red dust. I always rinsed it with RODI first but still got dust in the sock. Maybe there is a better GFO or other phosphate reducing media that will release less dust than the one I used in the past.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I could use some advise on the best way to reduce my nutrient levels. PO4 averages 0.25 and NO3 @ 20. If I try carbon dosing, fo I dose for a low or high nutrient system and do I dose the full amount stated in the label or a lesser amount? Or, would it be better to use lanthium chloride to drop the phosphates faster then switch over to carbon dosing? I need a plan going forward to lower and manage these nutrients. I could also drop a bag of GFO in my rear compartment instead of dosing carbon. I have an AIO biocube tank so no room for a refugium or reactor.

There are lots of good ways to reduce those levels, if you want.

These articles detail and compare them:

Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

 

[Doctorgori]

Dosing organic carbon will not likely do much to reduce phosphate. It's a fine thing to do, however, for other reasons. .

Hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley provides a PSA and the OP pardons me for a small left turn: I got a bottle of Red Sea Nopox that says not to combine with other phosphate removers...So while it isn’t saying it’s redundant per se, it makes me ponder why... not challenging you at all as I’d lean toward skepticism with its phosphate claims

Thanks for your help. Do you use a filter sock when dosing lanthium chloride? There is no place in my setup for a filter sock. But, I do have a protein skimmer. Do you use a reactor for the GFO? I don't have room for a reactor. My tank is a AIO Coralife biocube29.

I’ve been rightly or wrongly summarily dumping it in my overflow, I’ve not observed any negative impact, but I’m dealing with 250 gallons also. Anyway, FWIW here’s one sample that’s pointing towards Lanthium ...I use Brightwells stuff but get more opinions

 

[Daddy-o]

I dose vinegar and Lanthnam Chloride. I think with a biocube your best best is to feed less, more flow, and a protein skimmer

 

[YankeeTankee]

I think using GFO will be easier/safer than lanthanum if you've not used either, a better place to start IMO. Have you thought about adding a fuge?

 

[RYcube2951]

I think using GFO will be easier/safer than lanthanum if you've not used either, a better place to start IMO. Have you thought about adding a fuge?

I might try a bag of GFO and place it in the 1rst chamber (intake from main display) or 3rd chamber (where main pump resides). Hopefully that would drop my phosphate from 0.25 to 0.10 or less. I don't know how much drop to expect from using a media bag. Guess the only way I'll find out is to try it.

 

[RYcube2951]

I think using GFO will be easier/safer than lanthanum if you've not used either, a better place to start IMO. Have you thought about adding a fuge?

Yes, I agree that GFO would be safer. I could get a chaeto holder from IN-TANK but that would be expensive since I would also have to buy a lamp. I could put it in my middle compartment next to my protein skimmer. Guessing the total cost would run me about $150. Or, I could use a filter media rack from IN-TANK instead of a fuge and buy various media. Not sure which setup would give me more bang for the buck?

 

[RYcube2951]

I dose vinegar and Lanthnam Chloride. I think with a biocube your best best is to feed less, more flow, and a protein skimmer

I am going to try and feed less. I just purchased a small powerhead to add some flow. I have a protein skimmer that has been running for 7 months.

 

[homer1475]

Better question is why do you want to lower those numbers?

If the tank is healthy, and thriving, leave well enough alone. Those numbers(20ppm nitrate, and .1 phosphates are well within range, and not what I would consider lowering one bit).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley provides a PSA and the OP pardons me for a small left turn: I got a bottle of Red Sea Nopox that says not to combine with other phosphate removers...So while it isn’t saying it’s redundant per se, it makes me ponder why... not challenging you at all as I’d lean toward skepticism with its phosphate claims

The concern is driving phosphate too low.

If you know that is not happening, you can do whatever you want.

 

[RYcube2951]

Better question is why do you want to lower those numbers?

If the tank is healthy, and thriving, leave well enough alone. Those numbers(20ppm nitrate, and .1 phosphates are well within range, and not what I would consider lowering one bit).

My phosphates average anywhere from 0.20 to 0.30. They have never been below 0.20. That being said, I always have what looks like patches of a film like algae or bacteria on my substrate. I have the Caribsea black aragonite sand so the patches look brown in color. I would love to know exactly what type of algae is on my substrate. I always read that reef tanks should ideally be at 0.10 or less for phosphates so am trying to achieve better nutrient control and exportation. The goal is to get my water as good as possible in order to minimize algae and give my corals the best conditions for growth and health. I also realize there are limitations in equipment that can be used in a AIO biocube tank. I

 

[RYcube2951]

I am going to try and feed less. I just purchased a small powerhead to add some flow. I have a protein skimmer that has been running for 7 months.

My son, who use to have a big tank tells me to just do larger weekly water changes which is easy for me. However, the cost of rodi water and salt mix makes this costly as well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My son, who use to have a big tank tells me to just do larger weekly water changes which is easy for me. However, the cost of rodi water and salt mix makes this costly as well.

Water changes are good for nitrate reduction, but not so good for phosphate. Even a 100% change will not eliminate it as there is a lot bound to rock and sand that will come off after the drop from a water change.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

I have carbon dosed about everything you can. I used to run my skimmer 24/7. I started turning it off for 3-4 hours at night to give bacteria a chance to multiply. My experience has been that doing this has been just like carbon dosing but without the danger of overdosing. My tank settled in with nitrates around 20 and phosphates .08-.1. The last remaining stubborn algae disappeared after 3-4 weeks. And the corals took off. Interesting thing is that my skimmer became more productive and mulm appeared on my mechanical filtration just like when I carbon dose.

If you do decide to carbon dose start at 25% to 30% of the recommended dosing. You actually need so little that I found the challenge was diluting for automatic dosing. Before I learned the skimmer trick, I was dosing drops with a pipette daily.