Carbon dosing - what do YOU use?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eienna
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users None
Hanna
Jump to Last
mainereefer said:
so if you have to much nitrates and phosphates just add chemicals instead of limmiting the addition of the problem? wow and we wonder why newb reefers have problems!!
Click to expand...

Do you feed??? Do your fish poop??? If so, you have waste and nutrient export was happening in your stable system...what did you do for maintenance in your system? Remember, there are lots of ways to maintain a stable system...carbon-dosing just provides food for nitrifying bacteria (part of a healthy ecosystem)...it's also a proven maintenance practice. It's not a good practice to poor mouth other people's methods just because they're different than your own.
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
mdbannister said:
Do you feed??? Do your fish poop??? If so, you have waste and nutrient export was happening in your stable system...what did you do for maintenance in your system? Remember, there are lots of ways to maintain a stable system...carbon-dosing just provides food for nitrifying bacteria (part of a healthy ecosystem)...it's also a proven maintenance practice. It's not a good practice to poor mouth other people's methods just because they're different than your own.
Click to expand...

weekly waterchanges plants and animals to export waste...
with a sw tank you are building an eco system not just a box of water with animals.

think of it like using fabreeze rather than cleaning. essentially thats what you are doing


" It's not a good practice to poor mouth other people's methods just because they're different than your own."

I concur
 
Last edited:
mainereefer said:
lol my 120 ran for 8 years without sump, skimmer........ again stability..... if you have a problem fix it dont put a band aid on it

so if you have to much nitrates and phosphates just add chemicals instead of limmiting the addition of the problem? wow and we wonder why newb reefers have problems!!
Click to expand...

Congratulations on running a healthy system with unconventional methods. I bet to make this work you had to have a lot of live rock, a low bio load and feed your fish very sparingly. Most people would not have the discipline to run a tank with these sorts of limitations. Carbon dosing is another way to maintain a healthy system and I tallies the reef keeper to maintain a higher bio load and feed more frequently and more often. A necessity in maintaining some types of fishes.

Your method is not wrong, and carbon dosing is not right, or vise versa. They are both ways to maintain a greatly system that both have their positives and negatives. The reef keeper needs to research what system will work with their goals for their tank and make a decision how they want to maintain their reef.
 
mainereefer said:
weekly waterchanges plants and animals to export waste...
with a sw tank you are building an eco system not just a box of water with animals.

think of it like using fabreeze rather than cleaning. essentially thats what you are doing


" It's not a good practice to poor mouth other people's methods just because they're different than your own."

I concur
Click to expand...

AH, but using carbon dosing doesn't just cover up, its just another form of removal from the system. It chews up nitrates turning them into harmless bacteria, then your skimmer removes it that way, instead of worrying about it getting it while its still in nitrate form. Doesn't cover it, it removes it.
Your maintenance requires you to change water in a 120g weekly, thats a form of removal, maintenance. We on the other hand use vodka, another way of removal, albet much cheaper than yours.
 
you are correct, I did my research and set up my tank accordingly. (the tank would still be up and running if I didnt upgrade 3 years ago)

I will let you all in on a secret :) I do dose Methylsulfonylmethane thats only because it is naturally most abundant in the ocean and there isnt anyone who has it in there tank (unless you use fresh rain water for your tank)
 
Reefing Madness said:
AH, but using carbon dosing doesn't just cover up, its just another form of removal from the system. It chews up nitrates turning them into harmless bacteria, then your skimmer removes it that way, instead of worrying about it getting it while its still in nitrate form. Doesn't cover it, it removes it.
Your maintenance requires you to change water in a 120g weekly, thats a form of removal, maintenance. We on the other hand use vodka, another way of removal, albet much cheaper than yours.
Click to expand...

so you are saying I dont need to do waterchanges if I use vodka,amquel to bind nitrate and ammonia then just add every other chemical and mineral the animals use in my tank? and thats cheaper??
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
mainereefer said:
you are correct, I did my research and set up my tank accordingly. (the tank would still be up and running if I didnt upgrade 3 years ago)

I will let you all in on a secret :) I do dose Methylsulfonylmethane thats only because it is naturally most abundant in the ocean and there isnt anyone who has it in there tank (unless you use fresh rain water for your tank)
Click to expand...
Its a drug. ?? Why would it only for those who use rain water??
 
mainereefer said:
so you are saying I dont need to do waterchanges if I use vodka,amquel to bind nitrate and ammonia then just add every other chemical and mineral the animals use in my tank? and thats cheaper??
Click to expand...
Starting to get out there a bit, but I'll indulge.
Skimmer, need to use a skimmer. This removes the organics that are built up. Then the answer is yes, you don't have to do water changes. There are plenty of Members on here who can attest to that fact, and have not done a water change in quite some time. If it ain't broke don't fix it, so to speak. Skimmer removes the bacteria, and my mechanical filter removes the gel substance that Brightwell Phosphate E makes to remove Phosphates. Now, my system is just as clean as your is, and Im not doing the water changes you are. Just a different way of going about it.
 
not a drug lol unless you consider water a drug. look it up. the reason it isnt added to our premix salt is it evaporates in 12-24 hrs
msm is in everything natural and we never get enough. I say rain water because msm evaporates then crystalizes in the clouds then comes back down with the rain
 
Last edited:
Tidal Gardens
mainereefer said:
so you are saying I dont need to do waterchanges if I use vodka,amquel to bind nitrate and ammonia then just add every other chemical and mineral the animals use in my tank? and thats cheaper??
Click to expand...

I love how even though your method of keeping a tank is unconventional, you think you have to try and punch holes in everyone else's method just because it is not what you would do. I carbon dose, and I still do water changes every week. I have my system set up where I can do a 20+ gallon water change in less than five minutes and not touch a bucket. To me the replenishment of trace elements that I can't test for is worth the cost of the salt. Once again, there are a lot of ways to keep a healthy system. Find one that works for you, and stick to it. This is where stability comes from. I have seen more reefers have problems when they jump from one method of keeping nutrients low to another, than I have from any one maintenance program carried out diligently.
 
Orphek OR3 reef aquarium LED bar
you agree with me, and say im trying to punch holes in others methods? waterchanges are a must not just to remove waste but to put minerals back in this is part of keeping a stable aquarium
 
mainereefer said:
you agree with me, and say im trying to punch holes in others methods? waterchanges are a must not just to remove waste but to put minerals back in this is part of keeping a stable aquarium
Click to expand...
AH, but in systems with to much coral and coralline, simply doing water changes is not enough. You must dose whats needed in a Reef tank in order to keep up with consumption. Or do water changes every other day to just keep up with mineral depletion.
 
What I am saying is that you continually try to say throughout this thread that carbon dosing is putting "poison" in your tank and just putting a "band-aid" on the problem. The point I was trying to make had nothing to do with water changes. I was trying to point out that not even everyone who carbon doses has exactly the same routine, but they can all work if carried out diligently. I am not saying that those who choose to go longer periods of time between water changes are wrong, just that I choose to have a different routine for reasons that are important to me.
 
Micro-biological reduction of algae nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) occur naturally in all anoxic areas of the aquarium (inside live rocks, porous filter media and substrates). Supporting the natural processes by regular dosing of a suitable carbon source and mineral co-factors, provides an easy and reliable method of incremental control of the algae nutrient levels to safely control both the presence of nuisance algae and the population of the symbiotic Zooxanthellae. Taken from Redsea.
There is more to carbon dosing besides controllong nitrates and phosphates. I suggest going to Redsea website where it can be explained fully.
 
mainereefer said:
weekly waterchanges plants and animals to export waste...
with a sw tank you are building an eco system not just a box of water with animals.

think of it like using fabreeze rather than cleaning. essentially thats what you are doing


" It's not a good practice to poor mouth other people's methods just because they're different than your own."

I concur
Click to expand...

Plants, animals, and bacteria export waste...you didn't read my posts (obvious from your fabreeze comment)...so I'd just ask you to go back and re-read what I already wrote. ;)

I don't think anyone has poor mouthed your method...though you have ours...
 
mainereefer said:
the problem is once you start you cant stop or the algae will come back with a vengeance! I'm a strong believer in stability and if your adding vodka or sugar your tank isnt stable and something is wrong. fix the problem and there is no need to add poisonous chemicals to the tank.
Click to expand...

It is true that once started carbon dosing needs to continue.
 
Last edited:
View ReefStash's latest YouTube video!
we can agree to disagree... adding chemicals to treat a symptom verse fixing the cause is not the way I do things.... and not logical
just a temporary fix to a permanent problem.

does it work yes but if you stop the carbon dosing you will have an algae outbreak. so yes a "band aid" is a good representation



y- I did the whole carbon thing about 10-12 years ago, I am speaking from experience.... the best I found was blackstrap molasses but I learned the hard way. hawaii also just learned the hard way what happens with carbon dosing.......
 
Last edited:

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
See comments…

New Posts

Reef Legends, for all your aquarium needs.
Dinkins Aquatic Gardens
Tidal Gardens
Top Shelf Aquatics
World Wide Corals
Deltec
Chewy.com
TCK Corals
Nutramar Foods
New Posts
Back
Top