Cheapest long term po4 and no3 removal??

[van7271]

Prosban reactor and instant ocean nitrate reducer. Have been using for years with no problems.

 

[Justin D]

I have a 350 gallon aquarium and 140 gallon sump my nitrates was 160 ppm and I keep it now at 40 ppm with po4 no3 I was trying everything out there and that works the best I have 32 fish

 

[K100286]

Alge scrubber, vinegar and water changes. After the initial cost algae scrubbers are free, vinegar is cheap and water changes should be done for the general health of the tank in any case.

 

[Batteredsav]

bio pellets work well for phosphate once established

 

[c-horse]

A sulfur denitrator and an algae scrubber I think is the best combo. I installed a DIY sulfur denitrator and an ATS by turbo aquatics and in two weeks my nitrate went down from 80 ppm to 0 - 5 ppm. The sulfur denitrator is my main nitrate remover and also help with phosphate some what, while the ATS works on phosphate and nitrate. The best thing is that the denitrator does not have to be clean or fiddle with and can be as simple as just putting some sulfur pellets into a chamber in your refugium.

 

[Kaysneezye]

Following

 

[Bunnee911]

Try a little iron for your macro algae. I had trouble keeping mine until I was taught about iron.

 

[Lemec]

Ummm, I thought algae scrubbers were supposed to be bad for SPS dominated tanks!? I have nothing but the usual "lore" of the self professed reef experts, but I'll I've found in doing searches on the matter was not to do it...anyone else?

 

[erk]

I got a 6 dollar 1L bottle of vodka and a skimmer. This keeps nutrients so low I've had to start feeding extra because my corals are turning pale. I've cut back on the amount of vodka I dose as well. Only algae issue is valonia and even that is slowly dying off.

 

[Kershaw]

So to those who are saying algae scrubbers or carbon dosing. Have you tried a fuge with just macro algae? I do bi- weekly water changes and my nutrients have never gotten to bad. I like to keep fat fish. Phosphate seems to be my only issue. I normally just use gfo but I am trying to limit that. I consider vodka dosing. But when I read the artical on reefkeeping.com it seems like more work then I want to do. Is it as tedious as it looks?

Also since adding the other light yesterday my sand looks cleaner I dunno if it can happen that fast.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Nopox and reef energy is the best combo I've used, not as cheap as a single option but twice as good since it covers all food for corals AND no3/po4 reduction.

 

[erk]

So to those who are saying algae scrubbers or carbon dosing. Have you tried a fuge with just macro algae? I do bi- weekly water changes and my nutrients have never gotten to bad. I like to keep fat fish. Phosphate seems to be my only issue. I normally just use gfo but I am trying to limit that. I consider vodka dosing. But when I read the artical on reefkeeping.com it seems like more work then I want to do. Is it as tedious as it looks?

Also since adding the other light yesterday my sand looks cleaner I dunno if it can happen that fast.

I ran a fuge with algae for nearly a year. It didn't consume nearly enough nutrients. I switched to carbon dosing and within a month, had nutrients under control. And I only carbon dose and skim. No other filtration.

 

[Kershaw]

I keep seeing people talking about nopox. I'm going to look it up.

 

[Kershaw]

I ran a fuge with algae for nearly a year. It didn't consume nearly enough nutrients. I switched to carbon dosing and within a month, had nutrients under control. And I only carbon dose and skim. No other filtration.

Thanks, so is carbon dosing as much work to get going as it looks?

 

[erk]

Thanks, so is carbon dosing as much work to get going as it looks?

If you vodka or vinegar dose, no. If you do a pellet reactor, then yes. Vinegar dosing, and vodka dosing as well, require you to slowly step up your dosing amount over the course of several weeks until you reach a point that your bacteria population can handle the nutrient import. Pellet reactors require the same type of tuning, but it's not as cut and dry as vodka dosing. You will need to keep track of the flow rates, amount of pellets, and rate at which pellets are being consumed. But once you get the reactor going and have a handle on it, then it should be pretty hands off except when adding more pellets. I also dose bacteria to keep the bacteria culture in the tank diverse. If one bacteria becomes dominant, then you can have negative side effects. I dose MB7, but only once a week if I remember.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

In the next few years chaeto reactor or ARID (Algae Remediation Illuminated Device) will grow chaeto inside of an led light reactor and grow it shrinking the footprint of that of an algae scrubber. But yeah algae scrubber as the cheapest method.

The ARID reactors are nice but from what I have seen they don't exactly have a smaller foot print than an ATS of the same "feeding size". Chaeto is also a good macro algae but IMO part of what makes ATS so good is they promote the growth of GHA which is very fast growing and also the more common kind to grow in a DT. So by encouraging it to grow on a scrubber it might be less likely to grow in a DT.

I got a 6 dollar 1L bottle of vodka and a skimmer.

dang. I wish vodka was that cheap in Australia. It's about $30 for a 700ml bottle of really cheap and nasty stuff here.

For what its worth (not much ) IMO I would go with an ATS. If you don't have the room above your sump for a waterfall scrubber lit on both sides then the hang on glass ones are just as good - you just need a bigger screen size. Both can be made quite cheaply and only ongoing cost is the power of the lights and pump. After almost 1 year algae free my DT was infested with thick mats of GHA within a couple of weeks (for a couple of reasons compiling on each other).

I am still coming back from it and still have a lot of GHA but it's getting way better and IMO it's all thanks to the ATS. I couldn't afford a pre made ATS so I did an all out acrylic box, LED lit, DIY one. I live in rural Aus so everything is expensive to begin with and then getting it shipped to me costs an arm and a leg as well but I did it (lights and all) for $250 ($100 was probably just shipping).

This is the first 6 harvests. Because the harvest weight was dropping off harvest number 7 I left for 13 days instead of 7 and I got 53g of algae!

First photo was taken before the ATS went online and second photo around the time of harvest number 4. My tank hasn't exactly gotten miles better since then but the algae also hasn't been growing back and is still very slowly receding. Full disclosure I did get 15odd good snails a month or so before the ATS went online but when they cleaned the algae it would grow back in a day or two. Same with just pulling it out, it would be back in a couple of days.

 

[cvicente]

The only thing that works for me is a batch denitrator set at three cycles every day. I use vodka instead of methanol.

 

[Joseph Pagnotta]

Besides all of the other recommendations that have and will work. I can actually swear by this product for Zero Nitrates, works for emergencys as well as maintenance

 

[blacktippr]

The only thing that works for me is a batch denitrator set at three cycles every day. I use vodka instead of methanol.

Could you explain, how this works. Do you use a auto dosing pump, or a Walmart timer.

 

[Joseph Pagnotta]

You follow the instructions on the label (simple) it breaks down how many drops per day for as many days until Nitrates are at zero. Then an adjusted maintenance dose thereafter. I have no stock in this company, but this product has worked for me on more than 1 occasion. Most recently when I had a bout with high nitrates (decaying mandarin) 80ppm. Of course you'll need to keep up with your water Changes and such. But this definitely works.. IMO