Calling all Red Sea NoPox users!

[Sdoutreefer]

I have had great results... I underdose and even miss some days. It took a good month before I started seeing any real results. I can see it's working because my chaeto has shrunk more than half. No cyano in the dead spots anymore. I have a problem with sailors eyes and those are almost gone also. It was a slow but steady process.

My tests and even the LFS all showed "0" for nitrates and phosphates as well but obviously they are there. I have tried and tried to find the source...

Did you have an algae problem or did you just decide to start carbon dosing because of its benefits? And what are sailor eyes? I'm doing the minimum doseage as well, so I expected results to be slow but I thought I'd see something.

Is it recommended to keep alk lower while carbon dosing?

 

[Daddio]

Not an expert but I didn't lower my alk level. I started dosing because we couldn't find where my phosphates were coming from as well as for the overall benefits of having a healthy bacterial culture.

Sailors eyes are a spherical macro algae - they look like green marbles. They are kind of pretty though. Look like those cats eyes rocks. Came in on a couple of new rocks and mainly only grow on those but they are prolific. They are almost gone but you can see a couple tucked in they polyps...

 

[Daddio]

Sorry the photo is upside down and the blue light images it hard to shoot with an ipad.

 

[Daddio]

Pulled one out. This is a little bit better picture. Kind of interesting things though if they didn't spread and break loose and get caught in powerheads and returns. I had some that were larger than a quarter. All left are smaller than a dime now.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Pulled one out. This is a little bit better picture. Kind of interesting things though if they didn't spread and break loose and get caught in powerheads and returns. I had some that were larger than a quarter. All left are smaller than a dime now.

The pictures aren't showing for me.. Is it just bubble algae?

 

[MarkC]

The white cotton algae is actually bacteria, it's perfectly fine and proves that the NoPox is doing its job.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Where does this bacteria usually establish itself? I do vacuum my sand bed with every water change. The first time I vacuumed since dosing Nopox, the water/sand that was pulled out had a different smell. Pretty close to the smell of the Nopox. Every water change after that, that smell never came out again. Should I stop vacuuming my sand bed??

 

[Daddio]

Yes. Just a big bubble algae.

I don't vacuum my sand every time - sometimes because of laziness - but the way I understand it is that the good bacteria live in the anaerobic areas of the tank such as your sand and probably even more in your rock. I don't see why you should stop vacuuming your sand if you feel it needs it. I don't think you would be destroying anything. Think of all the people that go bare bottom... they don't have sand as a substrate to grow the cultures and I'm sure plenty of them dose carbon.

 

[Reeferdood]

The pictures aren't showing for me.. Is it just bubble algae?

Bubble Algae..Do not pop them because they release spores, manually try to remove them.

 

[iReefer]

I'm running over Size skimmer. Would it affect the result and instead removing the Solution out while skimming?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm running over Size skimmer. Would it affect the result and instead removing the Solution out while skimming?

No, the organics in NOPOX will not be skimmed out.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Give a shout out to @JMacedo about his experiance with NoPox. He uses it and shows off his incredible tank in a thread called Reef on the 10th floor. I had a chance to visit with him in Bangkok and hear how he manages his tank. It is worth the look at his thread. He uses both U.V. and Skimming in conjunction with NoPox. His pictures and video are very good and the tank is just as nice in real life!