Carbon dosing question

[LIreefguy]

Been dosing with nopox for about 6 months now. Been going great, I lowered my nitrates from over 80 to like 10-20

Hard to read Red Sea exactly.
My question is I have about 600 gallons in my 4 tank system and it’s really starting to get expensive. I dose 50 ml of nopox a day
So I would like to change to vodka or vinegar. Or maybe a combo of both

Wanted to know if anyone has changed from nopox to one of these. And if so Whst dose did you use.
I currently dose 50 ml of nopox. What would the equivalent of vodka or vinegar too


Also witch one is better vodka or vinegar?

 

[andrewkw]

You can just copy the nopox with 375ml vodka, 500ml vinegar and 125 ro/di. If you don't use the ro/di it just becomes stronger. If you search "diy nopox" this recipe comes up both here and lots of other places.

I switched from the red sea to the diy about 4 years ago maybe longer. You could go to straight vinegar as the cheapest solution, that will require a bit of playing with the dosage. For me I'm not dosing too much so going with the diy nopox just made sense when I switched years ago and still happily using it.

 

[Reefnoobz90]

https://www.njreefers.org/threads/diy-nopox-recipe-revealed.96468/

Check out this thread

 

[LIreefguy]

So once I make the diy nopox. I can dose it the same levels as I dose nopox

 

[LIreefguy]

Also does brand of vodka matter

Will the more expensive ones has less impurities. Or doesn’t matter

 

[andrewkw]

Also does brand of vodka matter

Will the more expensive ones has less impurities. Or doesn’t matter

Brand does not matter, do not get flavored though.

So once I make the diy nopox. I can dose it the same levels as I dose nopox

Yes, its virtually identical, but probably not exactly identical. It would make sense to monitor closely when you switch but there won't be a drastic change like if you switched to straight vodka or vinegar.

 

[lapin]

I use the plastic bottles of both vodka and vinegar, just incase i drop one on the floor. What i did find is you might not need as much volume as you did with nopox. Once stable you can also play with reducing the total dosage. That might save you money on the vodka part.
You could also mix dosing nopox with the homemade solution until you are weened off nopox

 

[Pntbll687]

Would switching to biopellets as a carbon source be an option? Not nearly as expensive, and you're not DIYing chemicals going in your tank. I wouldn't want to see 600g system go down.

 

[LIreefguy]

Never used biopelets
System is mostly lps and zoas. So they should be a little hardy

 

[ricardh]

Would switching to biopellets as a carbon source be an option? Not nearly as expensive, and you're not DIYing chemicals going in your tank. I wouldn't want to see 600g system go down.

But biopellets may not have a constant carbon dosage to water, the first days arent the same that the lasts.

In the other hand, using nopox, vinegar or vodka, you can dosage exactly the same every day.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

But biopellets may not have a constant carbon dosage to water, the first days arent the same that the lasts.

In the other hand, using nopox, vinegar or vodka, you can dosage exactly the same every day.

I agree, I have used biopellets, Vinegar and nopox. biopellets are almost impossible to dial in. Vodka, vinegar and nopox all can be easily metered.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Would switching to biopellets as a carbon source be an option? Not nearly as expensive, and you're not DIYing chemicals going in your tank. I wouldn't want to see 600g system go down.

I don’t prefer pellets and wouldn’t assume they cost less. I expect it costs more. The diy aspect is nothing. If I bought them and resold them to you as Randys Reef chemicals, are they better? They already come with high assurance of purity if you use food grade vinegar and ethanol.

 

[LIreefguy]

I actually stopped using Gfo for this reason It’s so hard to dial in
I mush rather dose lc. Start low and progress up Was always scared to use it but now works great

Will do the diy nopox. Tired of paying 90 bucks for a month supply

Thanks guys