How long for nopox to show results?

[John08007]

I started to dose nopox last week to start to lower my nitrates. I've never done any carbon dosing except for biopellets yrs ago. How long does it take for this to take effect so that I can measure my nitrates again and adjust accordingly.

 

[Rmckoy]

I started to dose nopox last week to start to lower my nitrates. I've never done any carbon dosing except for biopellets yrs ago. How long does it take for this to take effect so that I can measure my nitrates again and adjust accordingly.

To be honest and this is only my personal experience .

instead of covering the issue with a band-aid find the cause for the issue and correct it that way .
No pox can be more hassle and issues later than it’s worth .

very easy to over dose .
once started , it’s almost impossible to quit dosing without some sort of algae or cyano outbreak and risk bottoming nutrients to a point of causing dinos

are you able to do large water changes , add cheato to your sump ( works amazing and knocks both nitrates and phosphates down .
Even dosing nitrifying bacteria can help

I’m on the other end of the board now .
I have to feed more and dose nitrates to keep them detectable

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I measure every 4 days to a week and adjust up or down depending on my phosphates/nitrates

 

[MaxTremors]

It can take a few weeks to start seeing noticeable reductions in nitrates when you start carbon dosing.

 

[Uncle99]

It took about 4 months daily dose to bring nitrate from 50ppm to 10ppm. Must run a skimmer and have rock and sand to support the increased bacteria. I used a marine pure block.

 

[John08007]

To be honest and this is only my personal experience .

instead of covering the issue with a band-aid find the cause for the issue and correct it that way .
No pox can be more hassle and issues later than it’s worth .

very easy to over dose .
once started , it’s almost impossible to quit dosing without some sort of algae or cyano outbreak and risk bottoming nutrients to a point of causing dinos

are you able to do large water changes , add cheato to your sump ( works amazing and knocks both nitrates and phosphates down .
Even dosing nitrifying bacteria can help

I’m on the other end of the board now .
I have to feed more and dose nitrates to keep them detectable

I'm trying to make my system more maintenance free. I picked up a redsea doser to replace my cheap jabao doser for ca, alk, MG. With the extra head I thought carbon dosing would be an easy way to get my nutrients in check.

I use to be able to grow chaeto, when I tried 6 mo ago it just melted. Maybe I will pick up some more and give it another shot.

I have a 75gal with prob 60-80lbs of rock, I can also add more bioblock to my sump.

I have a curve 7 skimmer and after watching a brs video removed my filter socks.

 

[Rmckoy]

I'm trying to make my system more maintenance free. I picked up a redsea doser to replace my cheap jabao doser for ca, alk, MG. With the extra head I thought carbon dosing would be an easy way to get my nutrients in check.

I use to be able to grow chaeto, when I tried 6 mo ago it just melted. Maybe I will pick up some more and give it another shot.

I have a 75gal with prob 60-80lbs of rock, I can also add more bioblock to my sump.

I have a curve 7 skimmer and after watching a brs video removed my filter socks.

For the longest time . I couldn’t grow cheato ,
As you mentioned it would melt away .
Actually same goes for zoas , and many other “easy” corals .
Ive tried nopox , vinegar , vodka for carbon dosing over the years but I didn’t have any luck with it . And all of a sudden nutrient levels would bottom to zero or a bad cyano outbreak that took forever to get rid of .
I now run carbon and rowaphos in reactors . Cheato in one compartment of my sump which grows very fast .
and a massive skimmer to remove organics

 

[Dan_P]

I started to dose nopox last week to start to lower my nitrates. I've never done any carbon dosing except for biopellets yrs ago. How long does it take for this to take effect so that I can measure my nitrates again and adjust accordingly.

It seems to depend on when you get the amount of carbon high enough to encourage rapid bacteria growth. Also, PO4 must be present.

If you are timid doser, it could take months. If you are bold doser, just weeks. Some never reach the point of vigorous bacteria growth and claim the approach does not work.

If you were dosing just vinegar, around 1 mL per gallon, bacteria growth takes off. For vodka, that might mean 1/8 of a mL per gallon. For NOPOX, somewhere in between.

 

[ASIN28]

To be honest and this is only my personal experience .

instead of covering the issue with a band-aid find the cause for the issue and correct it that way .
No pox can be more hassle and issues later than it’s worth .

very easy to over dose .
once started , it’s almost impossible to quit dosing without some sort of algae or cyano outbreak and risk bottoming nutrients to a point of causing dinos

are you able to do large water changes , add cheato to your sump ( works amazing and knocks both nitrates and phosphates down .
Even dosing nitrifying bacteria can help

I’m on the other end of the board now .
I have to feed more and dose nitrates to keep them detectable

I’m having this same issue. I need to bring my nitrates down for months now, I’ve added marine pure blocks, I have chaeto that grows like crazy that I prune every week, I do routine 25-30% water changes every week and also tried MB7 for a while and my nitrates or phosphates don’t want to move. I was thinking of resorting to Nopox but I’m kind of nervous too, can it do a lot of damage? Is it similar to lathanium chloride (phosphate-e) where it can be deadly to fish?

 

[blaxsun]

I’m having this same issue. I need to bring my nitrates down for months now, I’ve added marine pure blocks, I have chaeto that grows like crazy that I prune every week, I do routine 25-30% water changes every week and also tried MB7 for a while and my nitrates or phosphates don’t want to move. I was thinking of resorting to Nopox but I’m kind of nervous too, can it do a lot of damage? Is it similar to lathanium chloride (phosphate-e) where it can be deadly to fish?

Do you have a protein skimmer? How often do you change filter floss or replace sock filters? Also, what are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[blaxsun]

I started to dose nopox last week to start to lower my nitrates. I've never done any carbon dosing except for biopellets yrs ago. How long does it take for this to take effect so that I can measure my nitrates again and adjust accordingly.

Same questions. What are your nitrate levels currently, do you have a protein skimmer and how often are you changing out filter floss or sock filters?

 

[MaxTremors]

It seems to depend on when you get the amount of carbon high enough to encourage rapid bacteria growth. Also, PO4 must be present.

If you are timid doser, it could take months. If you are bold doser, just weeks. Some never reach the point of vigorous bacteria growth and claim the approach does not work.

If you were dosing just vinegar, around 1 mL per gallon, bacteria growth takes off. For vodka, that might mean 1/8 of a mL per gallon. For NOPOX, somewhere in between.

Yes, having some PO4 is absolutely necessary for carbon dosing to work, for any denitrification to work. I feel like a lot people who don’t see a nitrate reduction with carbon dosing don’t have enough phosphates for the bacteria to denitrify.

 

[John08007]

Same questions. What are your nitrate levels currently, do you have a protein skimmer and how often are you changing out filter floss or sock filters?

I've actually stopped using the nopox and changed around my filter some. Years ago I was able to grow chaeto, then it melted and I was no longer able to grow it. After a lot of reading I thought to give it another shot.

My water use to enter my sump, go through 2 socks, then skimmer chamber to refugium then return chamber.

I removed the socks after watching a brs video, unless they're changed several times per week waste is rotting away in them

I added chaeto to the 1st chamber with a much larger led grow light. Then it goes to the skimmer.

Since making the changes I have seen the chaeto growing a lot more. My skimmer is producing much darker skimate then it ever has.

I haven't checked my nitrate/phosphate yet buy they must be lower.

 

[blaxsun]

I removed the socks after watching a brs video, unless they're changed several times per week waste is rotting away in them. I haven't checked my nitrate/phosphate yet buy they must be lower.

Or they could be higher. I change my sock filters every 4-5 days, and they’re not filled with “waste rotting away in them”. Changing out filter socks (or equivalent) is the most effective nutrient export method. I haven’t dosed Nopox on my new system, and my nitrates have always been under 15ppm (currently hovering around 5ppm).

 

[Pistondog]

I've actually stopped using the nopox and changed around my filter some. Years ago I was able to grow chaeto, then it melted and I was no longer able to grow it. After a lot of reading I thought to give it another shot.

My water use to enter my sump, go through 2 socks, then skimmer chamber to refugium then return chamber.

I removed the socks after watching a brs video, unless they're changed several times per week waste is rotting away in them

I added chaeto to the 1st chamber with a much larger led grow light. Then it goes to the skimmer.

Since making the changes I have seen the chaeto growing a lot more. My skimmer is producing much darker skimate then it ever has.

I haven't checked my nitrate/phosphate yet buy they must be lower.

Congrats on the chaeto growth. No reason not to carbon dose in tandem, unless your nutrients are too low.

 

[John08007]

Congrats on the chaeto growth. No reason not to carbon dose in tandem, unless your nutrients are too low.

I may go back to it in the future if I need to. I just want to give the chaeto a chance to grow and see what it can do. I've added the chaeto grow supplement to jump start it.

 

[Pistondog]

I may go back to it in the future if I need to. I just want to give the chaeto a chance to grow and see what it can do. I've added the chaeto grow supplement to jump start it.

Likely the good light, I raise the chaeto to the surface, live rock underneath to maximize par.
Enjoy your sox free life.

 

[John08007]

Or they could be higher. I change my sock filters every 4-5 days, and they’re not filled with “waste rotting away in them”. Changing out filter socks (or equivalent) is the most effective nutrient export method. I haven’t dosed Nopox on my new system, and my nitrates have always been under 15ppm (currently hovering around 5ppm).

I can't find the video where they mentioned it and the exact wording they used. After 4-5 days mine are pretty dark so probably could use a changing much sooner.

I believe they mentioned that most of the things that a filter sock would stop would also be exported by the skimmer. I can attest that my skimmer is working much better than it ever has.

 

[blaxsun]

The one I watched was one of those 'BRS Investigates' where they were trying to figure out the optimal time with maximum benefit to leave sock filters in your tank, and they indicated that something like in excess of 75% of crap was exported simply by changing the socks. Skimmers accounted for another 15-20% or something like that.

 

[John08007]

Likely the good light, I raise the chaeto to the surface, live rock underneath to maximize par.
Enjoy your sox free life.

Possible, at one point I was going to build an algae scrubber and picked up 2 large led lights on Amazon, looks like it is 300 watts