Diatoms and carbon dosing

ksed · Mar 18, 2016

Actually I found quite the opposite. I dosed HP to fight Dinos and it only made it worse. I figured I had to out compete the dinos to have a fighting chance. It is not completely eradicated but its less than half of what I had before , so for me its working better than anything else. BTW I am dosing vinegar.

duden said:
Could be dino. Lowering nutrients won't solve it

duden · Mar 19, 2016

interesting, I am one of those who believe that Dino is a result of bacterial imbalance . Feels like carbon dosing to reduce nutrients is counterproductive in terms of biodiversity to compete with dinos. Anyway, bacterial conditions will most certainly change as a carbon source is added, perhaps to a more balanced state (guessing wildly now). First off, OP should figure out what he's up against

Avp · Mar 19, 2016

Pretty sure they aren't dinos.

ksed · Mar 19, 2016

Yes! I firmly believe some carbon dosing keeps thing in balance. If you add to much then it can tip the other way as well as not enough.

duden said:
interesting, I am one of those who believe that Dino is a result of bacterial imbalance . Feels like carbon dosing to reduce nutrients is counterproductive in terms of biodiversity to compete with dinos. Anyway, bacterial conditions will most certainly change as a carbon source is added, perhaps to a more balanced state (guessing wildly now). First off, OP should figure out what he's up against

Cory · Mar 20, 2016

I doubt reducing po4 will do much, unless there is more nuissance algae besides diatoms. Look for your source if silicate. Thats what is allowing tnem to grow.

Avp · Mar 21, 2016

Are there any downsides to carbon dosing? From what I've read, it seems like the only downsides are the time and effort involved in testing and figuring out the correct dosing.

Cory · Mar 21, 2016

Avp said:
Are there any downsides to carbon dosing? From what I've read, it seems like the only downsides are the time and effort involved in testing and figuring out the correct dosing.

Carbon dosing is scary for me. Ive personally noticed negative effects from dosing sugar and vodka, which is why 6 or 8 years ago i suggested on another site that we need a solid carbon source like they use in biodegradable plastic bags, and now we have biopellets. My idea was borrowed lol.

So i suggest a biodegradable plastic instead of a liquid source that can attack coral tissues and fish skin. Bacteria and viruses are very optimistic feeders so i wouldnt like them to grow all over the tank. However lots of people have dosed it with no harm, but i wouldnt dose sugar, that was bad.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2016

Avp said:
Are there any downsides to carbon dosing? From what I've read, it seems like the only downsides are the time and effort involved in testing and figuring out the correct dosing.

The primary downsides are the potential for cyanobacteira to grow more, and the rare but possible effect of driving a pathogenic bacteria that causes problems with corals.

I compare methods here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

ksed · Mar 21, 2016

edited due to posting in wrong thread

Avp · Mar 21, 2016

Thanks Randy. That was a good read.

ksed · Mar 21, 2016

Sorry , Randy would you be able to delete my post above. It was supposed to be posted on another thread.

Thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 22, 2016

Sure.

Avp · Mar 22, 2016

Randy, if the cyanobacteria does become a problem, should I stop the carbon dosing?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 22, 2016

Avp said:
Randy, if the cyanobacteria does become a problem, should I stop the carbon dosing?

I would either stop, reduce dose, or switch to a different carbon source.

I switched from vodka to vinegar for that reason.

Karliefish · Nov 20, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I would either stop, reduce dose, or switch to a different carbon source.

I switched from vodka to vinegar for that reason.

Randy
Can I ask what you carbon dosing mixture is? How much and do you have a calculator that can help tell me determine how much I should be using nightly? Right now I am using a vodka & Brown sugar mixture.

Reefahholic · Nov 21, 2023

I’d make sure exactly what you have in there. Could be Dino’s. They also disappear at night.

If you’re sure it’s Diatom’s, the question I have is do you know your actual Si level. Diatoms will not usually bloom as you describe until your Si is about 2,000-3,000 ug/L. This could be resolved fairly easily by adding a silicate buster in your DI stage “IF” it’s coming through your filters. If not, it could be in your food or something else supplemented to the system.

My honest opinion is that your PO4 is too low. If you let NO3 and PO4 get too low or bottom out, you’ll end up with a huge diatom or cyano bloom. Not saying that’s what it is, but .02 is basically depleted and could definitely make it worse. The margin of error is about that, and with NO3 being around 7 ppm that could be your problem or part of your problem. I wouldn’t Carbon dose your system with nutrients that low.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 21, 2023

Karliefish said:
Randy
Can I ask what you carbon dosing mixture is? How much and do you have a calculator that can help tell me determine how much I should be using nightly? Right now I am using a vodka & Brown sugar mixture.

Why do you want to switch?

I generally prefer vinegar due to the very wide array of organisms that consume it, including bacteria, corals, sponges, etc.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 21, 2023

Reefahholic said:
I’d make sure exactly what you have in there. Could be Dino’s. They also disappear at night.

If you’re sure it’s Diatom’s, the question I have is do you know your actual Si level. Diatoms will not usually bloom as you describe until your Si is about 2,000-3,000 ug/L. This could be resolved fairly easily by adding a silicate buster in your DI stage “IF” it’s coming through your filters. If not, it could be in your food or something else supplemented to the system.

My honest opinion is that your PO4 is too low. If you let NO3 and PO4 get too low or bottom out, you’ll end up with a huge diatom or cyano bloom. Not saying that’s what it is, but .02 is basically depleted and could definitely make it worse. The margin of error is about that, and with NO3 being around 7 ppm that could be your problem or part of your problem. I wouldn’t Carbon dose your system with nutrients that low.

If you are responding to the op, don’t expect an answer. He has not been on in over a year.

Karliefish · Nov 22, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Why do you want to switch?

I generally prefer vinegar due to the very wide array of organisms that consume it, including bacteria, corals, sponges, etc.

Getting occasional Cyno outbreaks even though I nitrates at around 10.0 and phosphate around 8.0