Does my system bioload realy can handle al that ?

[promotheus2070]

HI
I have a 12 month old reef , funny thing is i cant up my nitrates "naturally"
They will just bottom out when i cant test for it anymore .
I feed 3-5 times a day regular portion's frozen/granular .
Corals gets almost daily fed altered with AB+ / granulles / mysis etcetera
Fish load is butt followed
- 4 x anthias
- 2 x clowns
- 2 x cleaner shrimp
- 1 x foxface
- 1x shrimp/goby pair
iN a 300 liter system

I Use skimmer only as aeraetion and not collecting .
Using a reefmat on lowest progress setting so dirt stays as long in contact with system as possible .
Running some approx 2 liter of ceramic ring and 1 liter of matrix .
I dose regular no3 to not bottom out and i reach like 4-7ppm
Is my system just absorbing it that fast ?
I would like to up that level but more stable than dosing every day or even just not bottom out at a point i cant even measure it with hanna checkers .


I have a bit of bubble algea but not that crazy , it comes and goes frequently .

 

[sixty_reefer]

Try and reduce the AB+ for a few days I would suspect that would do a difference. How’s your phosphates?

 

[crazyfishmom]

AB dosing can function as carbon dosing.

Have you considered dosing ammonia instead? Might help.

 

[promotheus2070]

Try and reduce the AB+ for a few days I would suspect that would do a difference. How’s your phosphates?

Ohn did not know that , phospates at 0.13 with gfo running , since the start phos gets very high if i do not filter over gfo

 

[promotheus2070]

AB dosing can function as carbon dosing.

Have you considered dosing ammonia instead? Might help.

also i run over carbon can that be lowering no3 ?

 

[crazyfishmom]

also i run over carbon can that be lowering no3 ?

Depending on which type of carbon yes potentially but I meant more like carbon dosing and not activated carbon.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Ohn did not know that , phospates at 0.13 with gfo running , since the start phos gets very high if i do not filter over gfo

It would be expected since No3 keeps bottoming out. I would suggest you reading on carbon dosing as this product is working in a similar way.
Do you know what carbon dosing is?

 

[Pod_01]

Not sure why you want elevated NO3, anything over 1ppm suggests your system has enough N.
As was mentioned ammonia is better source of N for corals and anything not used will be converted to NO3.

Using a reefmat on lowest progress setting so dirt stays as long in contact with system as possible .
Running some approx 2 liter of ceramic ring and 1 liter of matrix .
I dose regular no3 to not bottom out and i reach like 4-7ppm
Is my system just absorbing it that fast ?

Ohn did not know that , phospates at 0.13 with gfo running ,

On one year old system you do have lot of filtration tools.
For example I only use skimmer and GAC on 250L system. I do use bit of carbon dosing 0.5ml a day of TM NP Bacto Ballance to feed bacteria so corals can feed on the bacteria.

My aim is for corals, sponges to be the main filter and I only supplement.

Good luck,

 

[promotheus2070]

It would be expected since No3 keeps bottoming out. I would suggest you reading on carbon dosing as this product is working in a similar way.
Do you know what carbon dosing is?

Yeah i started up dosing carbon in minimal amounts to get a healthy biohome . It does not alter my po4

 

[promotheus2070]

Not sure why you want elevated NO3, anything over 1ppm suggests your system has enough N.
As was mentioned ammonia is better source of N for corals and anything not used will be converted to NO3.




On one year old system you do have lot of filtration tools.
For example I only use skimmer and GAC on 250L system. I do use bit of carbon dosing 0.5ml a day of TM NP Bacto Ballance to feed bacteria so corals can feed on the bacteria.

My aim is for corals, sponges to be the main filter and I only supplement.

Good luck,

I will look into that
The idea was not to elevate but to replace my dosing to up no3 into some more natural or stable way . If i would not be dosing i would get 0ppm as shown on multiple icp test .
but i guess over capacity in filtering is a good thing maybe xd

 

[promotheus2070]

Maybe im just too much into looking for the numbers

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

but i guess over capacity in filtering is a good thing maybe xd

Depends on what that means, but IMO, excess nitrifying capacity is not desirable. It potentially steals ammonia from corals and makes them force down nitrate instead, which is like me eating kale. lol

 

[promotheus2070]

Depends on what that means, but IMO, excess nitrifying capacity is not desirable. It potentially steals ammonia from corals and makes them force down nitrate instead, which is like me eating kale. lol

Correct me if im wrong .
SInce my nitrate is already bottoming out in the "start" phase of my reef when demand is already low since i do not own big colonys of coral yet in the near future this could become a problem since demand wil only get bigger in time ?

 

[Pod_01]

but i guess over capacity in filtering is a good thing maybe xd

I read that statement as follow, I over filter the reef tank and then I add many things to add what was removed… This can lead to instability.

For example GFO removes PO4 but it also binds other things like trace elements etc…

Using large number of filtering methods at the same time can potentially work, but I was never successful with such approach. It is hard to track cause and effect.

In my opinion skimmer and GAC would over filter your tank. What you have is beyond but, I do get it, it is fun to experiment.

As mentioned I only use skimmer and GAC and corals look happy:

I am bit surprised with your zero NO3, and I suspect this is your cause:

approx 2 liter of ceramic ring and 1 liter of matrix

Just an opinion.

Good luck,

 

[Dan_P]

HI
I have a 12 month old reef , funny thing is i cant up my nitrates "naturally"
They will just bottom out when i cant test for it anymore .
I feed 3-5 times a day regular portion's frozen/granular .
Corals gets almost daily fed altered with AB+ / granulles / mysis etcetera
Fish load is butt followed
- 4 x anthias
- 2 x clowns
- 2 x cleaner shrimp
- 1 x foxface
- 1x shrimp/goby pair
iN a 300 liter system

I Use skimmer only as aeraetion and not collecting .
Using a reefmat on lowest progress setting so dirt stays as long in contact with system as possible .
Running some approx 2 liter of ceramic ring and 1 liter of matrix .
I dose regular no3 to not bottom out and i reach like 4-7ppm
Is my system just absorbing it that fast ?
I would like to up that level but more stable than dosing every day or even just not bottom out at a point i cant even measure it with hanna checkers .


I have a bit of bubble algea but not that crazy , it comes and goes frequently .

It seems new systems can be prone to nitrogen depletion. Photosynthetic organisms could be dominating your system’s ecology. Alternatively, the system’s carbon to nitrogen ratio could be high and heterotrophic bacteria are the culprits for the nitrogen depletion.

 

[rishma]

AB dosing can function as carbon dosing.

Really? I did not know that. Sorry if this sounds like I’m doubting you, but is that commonly observed? I have used AB+ for a while and now I am wondering. I shoot for stable nutrients and try to consistently manage the ins and outs, including carbon dosing. It has me wondering if my target feeding of AB+ is a variable l have not been considering properly.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Really? I did not know that. Sorry if this sounds like I’m doubting you, but is that commonly observed? I have used AB+ for a while and now I am wondering. I shoot for stable nutrients and try to consistently manage the ins and outs, including carbon dosing. It has me wondering if my target feeding of AB+ is a variable l have not been considering properly.

Amino acids have carbon backbones and they can be readily used by bacteria. They’re not as easy to use as simple sugars or alcohols but yes, they definitely can serve as a carbon source in our tanks. Particularly if you use them all the time you’re essentially selecting for bacterial strains that can readily use these compared to other nutrient sources.

 

[Spare time]

AB dosing can function as carbon dosing.

Have you considered dosing ammonia instead? Might help.

Reef energy is just aminos, fatty acids, and carbs. That would be like saying fish food is carbon dosing. It would also be incredibly weak if it were considered a source of carbon dosing given that overdosing it will raise nitrates and will not promote a pelagic bacterial bloom.

 

[Spare time]

It would be expected since No3 keeps bottoming out. I would suggest you reading on carbon dosing as this product is working in a similar way.
Do you know what carbon dosing is?

I think you are mistaking it for nopox.

 

[GARRIGA]

Ain’t broke. Don’t fix it. How’s the tank look?

Assuming heavy in and no trace it happened then wouldn’t it be a fair assumption something is consuming it including the idea that ammonium is being consumed directly by the coral therefore no sign of nitrates. Isn’t that in the end what we are seeking?

Tested this theory in FW by 8-10 feedings daily with plants and single cell algae as my only means of filtration and never once showed signs of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Starting to believe might work the same with corals and best test being the eye test. How’s everything looking