Carbon dosing

[blacktippr]

Hi I currently have high nitrates like 30ppm Red Sea , but my phosphates are .08 Hanna. Will vinager dosing lower nitrates or will I need to dose phosphates to lower nitrates. Another thing is will I need to lower alkalinity now or could I wait for my nitrates to go down significantly .

 

[Squamosa]

like 30ppm Red Sea , but my phosphates are .08 Hanna

What corals do you predominantly keep?

I think your PO4 levels are too high, aim for 0.03 or less.

Will vinager dosing lower nitrates

Yes vinegar will, but it is 6-8 times less potent (depends on what you read) than vodka and dependent on the doses you may need, could affect your pH (downward) if you are pushing the carbon dosing hard.
For me a mix of vodka and vinegar works well to lower NO3 fast.

This is also dependent on your tank volume and your experience with dosing carbon in the past,so you know the signs to look out for i.e. bacterial film, lightening corals, dropping the dose at the correct times, skimming effectively and so on.

to lower alkalinity now

Lower nutrients and especially ULNS can result in tip burn in some acropora sp. if alk is too high, typically with a low nutrient system, we tend to keep alk at<=8 dKH

You can drop the NO3 values at any pace you like, it can be gradual or very fast as my graph shows?

The tank above is ~600L, but you have to test for NO3 every day and know when to back off the dosing from the signs you see, so a high degree of caution must be exercised if you push the carbon dosing this hard!
The above method was also accomplished with the addition of a bacterial source in prodibio, but stability or one of the other commercial brands would work, at their manufacturer's recommendations.

You will see bacterial strings and mats on your rock and exposed tank surfaces.

Your skimmer (has to be rated for above your system) will remove bacteria such as this!

There are many carbon dosing charts available but they really don't scale up too well, as my graph shows, you can push it if you have to!

I would let your alk drop together with your NO3 value.

Here is GlennF's dosing chart from his online calculator!

I hope this helps

 

[blacktippr]

What corals do you predominantly keep?

I think your PO4 levels are too high, aim for 0.03 or less.



Yes vinegar will, but it is 6-8 times less potent (depends on what you read) than vodka and dependent on the doses you may need, could affect your pH (downward) if you are pushing the carbon dosing hard.
For me a mix of vodka and vinegar works well to lower NO3 fast.

This is also dependent on your tank volume and your experience with dosing carbon in the past,so you know the signs to look out for i.e. bacterial film, lightening corals, dropping the dose at the correct times, skimming effectively and so on.



Lower nutrients and especially ULNS can result in tip burn in some acropora sp. if alk is too high, typically with a low nutrient system, we tend to keep alk at<=8 dKH

You can drop the NO3 values at any pace you like, it can be gradual or very fast as my graph shows?

The tank above is ~600L, but you have to test for NO3 every day and know when to back off the dosing from the signs you see, so a high degree of caution must be exercised if you push the carbon dosing this hard!
The above method was also accomplished with the addition of a bacterial source in prodibio, but stability or one of the other commercial brands would work, at their manufacturer's recommendations.

You will see bacterial strings and mats on your rock and exposed tank surfaces.

Your skimmer (has to be rated for above your system) will remove bacteria such as this!

There are many carbon dosing charts available but they really don't scale up too well, as my graph shows, you can push it if you have to!

I would let your alk drop together with your NO3 value.

Here is GlennF's dosing chart from his online calculator!

I hope this helps

My phosphates are down to .04 Hanna , my nitrates are around 12 Red Sea I've done close to 500 gallon water change this week.

Question is, phosphates being that low will it be limiting to reduction of nitrates via vodka dosing or a DIY NOPOX.

I also have vinager at hand but it affected my leather toadstool, last time I tried .
I started with 50ml vinager and this happened.

What would be a solution for this.

 

[Squamosa]

My phosphates are down to .04 Hanna , my nitrates are around 12 Red Sea I've done close to 500 gallon water change this week

I would be happy with a NO3 level of 1-3 ppm. A percentage water change will only reduce the NO3 by that number e.g. 50% water change will drop the NO3 by 50%, but it will start climbing back quickly after.

Question is, phosphates being that low will it be limiting to reduction of nitrates via vodka dosing or a DIY NOPOX.

I've never worried about PO4 being limiting. The reduction I posted was done with GFO running and the PO4 levels at 0.018 ppm (Triton test) and still the NO3 levels disappeared!

What would be a solution for this

NOPOX is just a solution of methanol and acetic acid...

and vodka is ethanol. I'm not sure what you mean by DIY NOPOX, but it would have to involve acetic acid/vinegar of some quantity.
You could stick with just vodka, but use 6x less or dilute it down.