carbon dosing
- Thread starter mike007
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Swordfish215
Community Member
Back in the day(and rarely these days) you had to test for phospates in the carbon you were using....Phosphate leached by the carbon can def. cause an algae problem.....Phosphate is present in carbon when the manufacturer rinses it(with acids) inappropriately for the aquarium trade....But nowadays about any major brand is good and PO4 Free...I recommend pelletized....Yes 0 Nitrates are the goal...Good luck man.
OP
OP
Yes i am dosing with Redsea Nopox. The algae is yellowish , hairy type algae mainly growing on glass. I have been told that if nitrate levels and phosphate get too low you will get a bloom.
No, they don't get to low for a bloom. I used to dose Vodka, and at one time Vinegar, and I got Cyano with Vodka, and a brownish algae with Vinegar. So it will happen, its a biproduct of the bacteria.
fragmatic
retired reefer
Instead of carbon dosing to grow more bacteria I have chosen to go on a heavy feeding discipline. The reason I mention this is I think it accomplishes the same results without the down side.
You have to increase your feeding slowly in tiny increments to grow the larger bacteria crop to handle the additional food. I now feed my 90 display a cube for the fish (I have 9 smalls), a cube of coral food, and about a half tea spoon of phyto. My water is crystal clear. What I did not expect is that with this feeding, lights on my under tank refuge 13 hours and the displays for 11 hours, I have had a huge reduction in algae in the main display. I do not turn off my pumps, and I pour the food in from a glass of tank water it was thawed out in at a location which causes the food to be dispersed well through out the tank. Then what does go down the overflow feeds the refugiums. Yes, the skimmer catches some, but not much on the first trip through.
My tank became much more robust and healthier when I made this change in my routine... I was carbon dosing with Rum, and it worked well, plus when sometimes it spilled into my coke, it didn't go to waste. But, I was looking for a way to increase nutriments so it made sense to change methods.
You do have to be sure to feed the tank though, or you could experience a bacteria die off... crash. But carbon dosing has the same kick back.
.. I just thought I'd offer this perspective.
You have to increase your feeding slowly in tiny increments to grow the larger bacteria crop to handle the additional food. I now feed my 90 display a cube for the fish (I have 9 smalls), a cube of coral food, and about a half tea spoon of phyto. My water is crystal clear. What I did not expect is that with this feeding, lights on my under tank refuge 13 hours and the displays for 11 hours, I have had a huge reduction in algae in the main display. I do not turn off my pumps, and I pour the food in from a glass of tank water it was thawed out in at a location which causes the food to be dispersed well through out the tank. Then what does go down the overflow feeds the refugiums. Yes, the skimmer catches some, but not much on the first trip through.
My tank became much more robust and healthier when I made this change in my routine... I was carbon dosing with Rum, and it worked well, plus when sometimes it spilled into my coke, it didn't go to waste. But, I was looking for a way to increase nutriments so it made sense to change methods.
You do have to be sure to feed the tank though, or you could experience a bacteria die off... crash. But carbon dosing has the same kick back.
.. I just thought I'd offer this perspective.
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OP
OP
I thought about going with vodka but some how it evaporated right out of the bottle. Did some research and discovered a product called Nopox for short made by Redsea. Since using it i have no hair algae just a small bloom. I have contacted Bob Goeman with salt corner and he told me that was normal and to cut down on the dosage and keep the skimmer working .
Yea, but when you cut back, it allows the Trates to slowly creep back up, thats why you get to a daily dosage that basically keeps them where they are, and lowering it, raises the Nitrates back up. Its slow, but it will happen.
