Carbon dosing benefits explanation. Great video

[bcarl77]

Tagging along, funny I was considering using Reef Actif again for my tank last night. I used it on my tank about 4 years ago along with their actif salt line. I was about to order some anyways so timing and the extra 20% off was a sign! Interested to see what other opinions are that are regularly use their products.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

At least Tropic Marin will come in and reply to you when posed a question or two. Unlike some.

Yes, that is very useful.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

So after some study I have decided to try this method of carbon dosing. I've been steady at 25 - 50 nitrates and.05 - .1 phos for a while without gfo. Just a refugium and skimmer. I will be trying the balance. Algae in the display is minimal with just. Blasting the rock prior to water changes every 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing if phos bound up in bacteria instead of the water column makes a difference. Of course now I will have to test regularly for phos and nitrates until I know it's still balanced.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

So after some study I have decided to try this method of carbon dosing. I've been steady at 25 - 50 nitrates and.05 - .1 phos for a while without gfo. Just a refugium and skimmer. I will be trying the balance. Algae in the display is minimal with just. Blasting the rock prior to water changes every 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing if phos bound up in bacteria instead of the water column makes a difference. Of course now I will have to test regularly for phos and nitrates until I know it's still balanced.

I am definitely a fan of it! But keep on it, it might have just been a me problem but I accidently kept dosing elimi NP while my nutrients hit 0 and got dinos.

I don't blame the product, system worked amazing when I didn't essentially neglect my tank, but I personally feel like when you introduce something like this, you have to keep it consistent. And consistency eith the NP line requires you to have an idea of what your tank is doing.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

The balance is supposed to keep it steady where it currently is. With a 150 gallon system 1.5 ml per day, hoping it will be very low cost way to increase food for coral.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

The balance is supposed to keep it steady where it currently is. With a 150 gallon system 1.5 ml per day, hoping it will be very low cost way to increase food for coral.

My anecdotal experience is that they def get something out of it. It was a game changer for growth rates and colors for me. But it could have just been coincidence.

 

[goody]

The balance is supposed to keep it steady where it currently is. With a 150 gallon system 1.5 ml per day, hoping it will be very low cost way to increase food for coral.

I also watched the video yesterday and since I have never carbon dosed before will try the balance product.
I may hace missed it in the video, but is there a formula for how much to dose and how often?

 

[Spare time]

Lou is saying that corals do not use nitrate though - I always thought they preferred ammonia but would use nitrate as well. Do we know if it's one or the other with any certainty?

Lou is wrong and wants to sell you a product.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I also watched the video yesterday and since I have never carbon dosed before will try the balance product.
I may hace missed it in the video, but is there a formula for how much to dose and how often?

It will be in the instructions, but starting dose is .25 ml per 25 gallons. I will not be going over that unless I find a need. So for say a 75 gallon display with a 20 to 30 gallon sump, it would be 1 ml

 

[cjtabares]

Lou is wrong and wants to sell you a product.

I don’t think Lou said that coral did not use nitrates, think he said they prefer other sources like ammonium, which does seem to be the case. He then claimed that carbon dosing increases bacteria that will consume the nitrates, and the coral will consume the bacteria, so this not only helps keep nitrates down, but also provides the coral with nitrates.