sdavi66572
Active Member
Currently running Gfo and carbon. Dosing alk and calcium. Nitrates running about 50 , phosphate. 09 , alk8 calcium 470 would like to know what's the best way to lower nitrates.. Thinking about vodka dosing
High Nitrates
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Feltman
Active Member
Best thing is to take a step back and look at ur general setup and house keeping techniques. Do u feel u have enough flow with no dead spots? Do u do regular maintenance including blowing rocks off and vacuming sandbed? Are you overstocked for your tank size? Is your skimmer adequately sized and in proper water lvls. Sometimes it's as easy as making housekeeping adjustments if not then carbon dosing is the next step. Biopellets and vodka apear to be the most popular. I went the pellet route because of the set it and forget it approach but vodka has its benefits as well.
Myka
Valuable Member
Could you tell us more about your system? Size? Which fish? Skimmer? Powerheads? Other filtration/medias? How often/size water changes? Gravel vacuum? Tap water or RO/DI? Etc...
Fwiw, I prefer vinegar dosing.
Fwiw, I prefer vinegar dosing.
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sdavi66572
Active Member
Currently I am using carbon in one of reactors. I have a skimmer rated at 300 gallons. My tank is 240 gallon. My sand bed is about 4" I was told not to disturb the sand also I have never blown off the live rock. I do have a little bit of stuff on the rocks
Feltman
Active Member
Sand is a bit differnt depending on who u talk to. I Def wouldn't do it all as u haven't touched it yet. When u do do it only vacuum the top 1/4 inch and in ur case not the whole bed at once so as to not disturb it all. But the rock regardless I personally believe should be blown off just before every water change.
DMan
Active Member
If your tank is still young, less than 6 months then it is still settling in. especially if you used live rock to start it. there will be some die off and the rotting organizms will cause higher nitrates. If you have space start a refugium with macro algae. If you are a real hands on and techie type, I would suggest starting with vodka dosing. It really forces you to learn how the process works, and with all the testing you have to do you can actually see the process at work. Vinegar dosing is also popular. There are lots of good articles on the subject.
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
sdavi66572
Active Member
Would it be ok to start vodka dosing to get the nitrates somewhat under control
If you went by the instructions for Vodka Dosing it would take you 7 months to see nitrates come down. If you are interested I can give you the instructions on bringing them down much faster.
Myka
Valuable Member
Playing Devil's Advocate here, but wow there are a lot of "fix it quick" replies. Why not look for the source? If you can learn to maintain a tank without using biopellets or vodka/vinegar or some other potion, why not? There is a reason the nitrate is high and it is almost certainly husbandry-based.
sdavi66572
Active Member
I thought vodka dosing was much faster. You hear a lot of people doing it . How do you lower your nitrates?
I use Vodka. Here look at this link, this is the instructions. But Melev is doing this as a test, so he's going very slow, it doesn't have to go that slow. I've gotten them to come down in a matter of weeks in other peoples tanks, without any issues.
http://melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html
http://melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html
